/ 19 September 2016

Journalist and political commentator Allister Sparks dies

Former Rand Daily Mail editor Allister Sparks' memorial is planned for October 14.
Former Rand Daily Mail editor Allister Sparks' memorial is planned for October 14.

Writer, journalist and political commentator Allister Sparks died on Monday morning at the Morningside clinic.

His son, Michael, sent out a media statement saying that it was with a heavy heart that he break the news about his father’s death, Netwerk24 reported.

Sparks, 83, was editor of the Rand Daily Mail when it broke the so-called Muldergate story in the late 1970s.

According to Michael, his father spent 12 days in the hospital due to an infection.

“It seemed as though he was getting over the infection over the past few days and he took less medication. The old soldier’s body could simply not go on.”

Sparks’s four sons, Michael, Simon, Andrew and Julian, spent his last days with him.

A memorial is being planned for Friday, October 14 at 11am at the Braamfontein Crematorium. — News24