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Rex Gibson died this week at his home in Hermanus.
One of the country’s bravest, apartheid-era journalists ... gone ... as quietly and with the dignity he lived.
He may well have been the last editor of the Rand Daily Mail.
But, he was “the” editor of the Sunday Express! That’s where we worked for him.
When the Express gate-crashed the Info Scandal and brought the apartheid government to a shock realisation that the pen truly was mightier than arrest, forced closures and banning orders.
Rex Gibson led the Express as the little sister tabloid of the Rand Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, often without precedent, did journalism that had never been done before.
Most remember the editor for his raw courage ... often in the face of a government that bullied, or destroyed every one and everything in its path.
The minister of justice, Jimmy Kruger, he of the Steve Biko scandal, phoned the newsroom in a rage.
“Who’s your editor?” he demanded.
“Mr Rex Gibson.” I faltered.
“Tell him to phone me!”
Ten minutes later he phoned back:
“Did you tell him?” He was getting really angry now.
“Yes, Mr Minister.”
“Well, what did he say?”
I hesitated: “Mr Minister, he said he doesn’t phone ministers: you can phone him!”
He slammed down the phone so hard you could hear it in Potchefstroom!
That was pure Rex Gibson. A real editor, who walked quietly and carried a big stick!
The first time I ever saw him was in an Express early morning news conference.
A colleague alongside scribbled me a note on his pad: it read: “Look at your new editor. His feet don’t even touch the ground!”
And they didn’t.
But you never doubted his stature or his integrity ... or his courage when it came to the news.
And as new scandals and controversies shook South Africa, there was no better editor to have at your back.
Small man. Big shadow. Serious balls!
• Russell Kay is a former bureau chief at The Sunday Express
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| City Press is an agenda-setting South African news brand that publishes across platforms. Its flagship print edition is distributed on a Sunday. |
