Jakes Gerwel (18 January 1946 – 28 November 2012) was a South African academic and anti-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

activist. He served as Director-General of the Presidency when Nelson Mandela was in office. In 1999 Gerwel was instrumental in brokering the deal under which

Lockerbie bombing Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boe ...

suspects were extradited to Scotland. Following Mandela's presidency, Gerwel chaired the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the

Mandela Rhodes Foundation A Mandela Rhodes Scholarship provides full funding for up to a maximum of two years of postgraduate study for an African citizen under 30 years of age. The award is open to all African citizens under the age of 30 years and recipients must study t ...

, and also took up a number of academic and business positions until his death in November 2012.

Teaching career

Gerwel matriculated from Paterson High School in Port Elizabeth, and in 1967 earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

(UWC). He then lectured at the Hewat Teachers' Training College in Crawford, Cape Town for a short time before receiving a scholarship, in 1971, to study at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). On his return to South Africa, Gerwel first taught at Grassy Park High School and then returned to UWC as a lecturer.

Legacy

In 2015 Vanguard Drive, a major road running from Cape Town's southern suburbs to the Cape Flats (the M7 road), was renamed in Jakes Gerwel's honour. Jakes Gerwel Technical School in Bonnievale, Western Cape is named in after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerwel, Jakes Anti-apartheid activists 1946 births 2012 deaths