PATRICK VAN RENSBURG, rebel, visionary and radical educationist, a biography

354pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2020.

Anti-apartheid activist and educator Patrick van Rensburg (1931-2017)  was South African Vice-Consul in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) from February 1956 until May 1957, when he resigned in protest against the South African government's apartheid policies. He served briefly as organising secretary for the Transvaal branch of the Liberal Party before moving to the UK in 1959, where he helped organise the campaign to boycott South African goods. When he returned to South Africa in 1960, his passport was confiscated and he fled to Swaziland. In 1962 he moved to Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and founded Swaneng Hill School in Serowe. In the 1980s he founded Botswana's first independent newspaper, Mmegi wa Dikgang (The Reporter) and the Foundation for Education with Production. In 1981 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award "for developing replicable educational models for the third world majority".

"Kevin Shillington is to be commended for bringing Patrick van Rensburg's story to a wide audience. This book should be read by anyone interested in education, as Patrick's Education with Production model is relevant to the whole Education ladder, from early childhood through to university." Gaositwe Chiepe, former minister of education, Botswana 

Independent historian Kevin Shillington's books include Luka Jantjie: resistance hero of the South African frontier and History of Africa.