FREDERIK VAN ZYL SLABBERT, soekende profeet

315pp., paperback, UJ Press, Johannesburg, 2024

ISBN: 9780906785270

A study of the life and contribution of academic and politician Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert (1940-2010), leader of the Progressive Federal Party, the official opposition in the House of Assembly of the South African Parliament, from 1979 to 1986.

Before entering politics he taught sociology at Stellenbosch University, Rhodes University and the University of Cape Town. In 1973, he was appointed head of the Sociology Department of the University of the Witwatersrand.

In 1986, Slabbert resigned from his position as leader of the opposition and, with Alex Boraine, formed the liberal think tank, the Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA). As head of IDASA, his efforts to initiate dialogue between white South Africans and the ANC led to the 1987 Dakar Conference, held in Senegal.

From the 1990s until his death, Slabbert was a successful entrepreneur and businessperson. He was appointed as the 13th chancellor of Stellenbosch University in August 2008 but resigned for health reasons in September 2009.

Albert Grundlingh is Emeritus Professor, Stellenbosch University. His books include War and Society: participation and remembrance, South African Black and Coloured troops in the First World War, 1914-1918; In Different Times, the war for Southern Africa, 1966-1989 and Fighting Their Own War, South African Blacks and the First World War.