The founder and first chairperson of Radio Pretoria, Mossie van den Berg, died in hospital on Sunday. He was 79.
Van den Berg, a leading figure in conservative Afrikaner church and cultural circles, was born on November 13 1926 on the farm Kinkelspruit in Lichtenburg.
After completing matric in Lichtenburg, he studied theology at the University of Pretoria. His first calling was to the Nederduits Hervormde Kerk in Pietermaritzburg and then he moved to Lichtenburg. He also served the church in Tanzania, where he took part in hunting and played for the local rugby team. He was the first minister of the Hervormde student church at Tukkies. He retired in 1986.
Van den Berg was the church representative at the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurbewegings (FAK) and the first chairperson of the Afrikaner Kultuurbond. He also served on the Conservative Party’s provincial council in the then Transvaal.
In 1993, he was the chairperson of the committee that started Radio Pretoria, which is presently engaged in a licencing dispute.
He served on the executive board of the station until 2005 when he resigned.
The managing director of Radio Pretoria, Clem de Klerk, said Van den Berg was a ”man of God, man of the volk and family man”.
”He was respected by friend and foe and never wavered to make his viewpoint known.”
He said the station had been flooded by condolence messages from as far afield as Canada, Australia and Britain.
Van den Berg is survived by his wife Lucia, three daughters, two sons and 17 grandchildren. – Sapa