Devan Maistry (24.10.1952–24.10.2024): Journey’s End in Faraway Wolves Soccer Town for Durban Activist-Journalist

Devan Maistry honed his skills in journalism and activism and passed away in the United Kingdom– a then picture and now aged 72

Wolverhampton, England, is 14 035 kilometres from Durban, South Africa—marking the journey’s end for activist-journalist Devan Maistry. Originally from the suburb of Asherville in Durban, Maistry passed away just two days shy of his 72nd birthday.

Born into a family deeply rooted in community and sports, Maistry was the brother of Jeff Maistry, a prominent footballer who played for Bluebells United in the 1970s. The team, which competed in the non-racial Federation Professional League (FPL), attracted activist students from the Indian-based University of Durban-Westville to Currie’s Fountain Stadium in bustling Warwick Avenue. Their father, KT Maistry, was a respected community figure and educator, strictly shaping young minds in one of Durban’s earliest suburbs designated for Indians under the 1950s apartheid’s Group Areas Act.

In the early 1980s, as a reporter at The Leader newspaper in Durban’s Grey Street, Maistry received a scholarship to study in the United Kingdom (UK), which eventually became his home.

His funeral was held at Mercia Forest Crematorium in Wolverhampton on Saturday October 26. A tribute notice, shared with the Asherville Sports Memoir WhatsApp group, remembered him as a beloved husband, father, father-in-law, brother, and comrade. After the cremation, mourners gathered at Milan’s Restaurant in Birmingham, sharing stories that spanned his life, from the apartheid-era Durban to his years in the UK, where he remained an impassioned voice for socio-political change.

In the turbulent 1980s, Maistry was part of a committed group of black journalists-activists who founded the Media Workers Association of South Africa under Zwelakhe Sisulu’s leadership. The union, confronting powerful corporate interests, led a 14-week strike that won significant gains in working conditions and the reinstatement of more than 2 000 workers. These hard-won victories set a foundation for subsequent generations of journalists in South Africa.

Through a scholarship, Maistry continued his studies in the UK, choosing to stay abroad while many British Council contemporaries returned to South Africa’s media frontlines in the final push against apartheid. Among his colleagues, Neil Lewis, Ticks Chetty, Trevor Harris, Juggie Naran, and Nalini Naidoo, from Pietermaritzburg, represented a steadfast bloc of Durban journalists who received support from The Leader publisher, Sunny Bramdaw.

Bramdaw, a champion of outspoken journalism, led The Leader through some of its most challenging years. Respected as a fearless editor, he endured harassment and arrests under the National Party government. He maintained friendships with Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada and provided a platform for banned journalist Ismail Meer, courageously publishing Meer’s columns under a pseudonym. Under Bramdaw’s leadership, The Leader grew into a vital training ground for black journalists and won numerous awards, including the Nissan Capro Award for Best Regional Newspaper.

Today, the legend and legacy of these journalists endures, a testament to their dedication to journalism and the unyielding spirit of those who fought for freedom of expression and justice in South Africa.