David Webster (1 December 1944 – 1 May 1989) was an academic and anti-apartheid activist. He worked as an anthropologist at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

, where he was a senior lecturer at the time of his assassination. Webster was a founding member of the Detainees' Parents' Support Committee (DPSC) in 1981, a founder member of the Five Freedoms Forum, and a committed comrade in the United Democratic Front. Webster was also an active member of the

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

supporters' club and he assisted in the mobilisation and organisation of South African musicians during the Struggle in the 1980s. He was a long-term ethnographic researcher and his work near

Kosi Bay Kosi Bay is a series of four interlinked lakes in the Maputaland area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Ecology The lakes form part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The closest town is Manguzi, some away from it. K ...

on the Mozambican border resulted in a number of peer-reviewed academic publications. Webster was assassinated by apartheid security forces outside his home on 1 May 1989.

Early years

David Joseph Webster was born in 1944 in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodes ...

, where his father worked as a miner in the

Copperbelt The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining. Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...

. He studied at

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana Loc ...

, where he was involved in student politics. In 1970, Webster started teaching anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand. His doctorate had been written on a traditional topic of anthropology (kinship), but it was focused on a politically explosive field, namely migrant workers from Mozambique. In 1976, he taught for two years with

Peter Worsley Peter Maurice Worsley (6 May 1924 – 15 March 2013) was a noted British sociologist and social anthropologist. He was a major figure in both anthropology and sociology, and is noted for introducing the term '' Third World'' into English. ...

at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

. Webster was active in the political anti-apartheid movement, especially in the 1980s for the Detainees' Parents' Support Committee, an organisation advocating the release of political detainees held without trial in South Africa.

Assassination

Webster was shot dead outside his house at 13 Eleanor Street in Troyeville, Johannesburg, by assassins in the employ of the

Civil Cooperation Bureau The South African Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB), was a government-sponsored counterinsurgency unit, during the apartheid era. The CCB, operated under the authority of Defence Minister General Magnus Malan. The Truth and Reconciliation Com ...

, a clandestine agency of the apartheid state. The hit squad was paid R40,000 (at the time, equivalent to about US$8,000) for his murder. Ferdi Barnard, the man who pulled the trigger on the shotgun used, was later tried and found guilty in 1998; he was sentenced to two life terms plus 63 years for a number of crimes, including the murder of Webster. Barnard was released from prison on April 2, 2019, after his parole was approved by Justice and Correctional Services Minister

Michael Masutha Tshililo Michael Masutha is a South African advocate and retired politician. He was born in Valdezia in 1965 in Northern Transvaal, what is now Limpopo province, in South Africa. He is the former Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. Be ...

in March 2019. Although Barnard was released, his life sentence was not commuted. Therefore, he will serve the remainder of his sentence in the community, and be monitored by the Community Corrections Office. Thousands of people attended his funeral service at

St Mary's Cathedral, Johannesburg Saint Mary's Cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Johannesburg, South Africa. In late 2015 Xolani Dlwati was appointed as the dean until 27th of November 2022. Hist ...

Personal life

Dr Webster was an active member of the Orlando Pirates supporters' club. Members of the supporters' club formed a guard of honour around his coffin at his funeral.

Legacy

The house in Troyeville where Webster lived with his partner Maggie Friedman has been declared a heritage site. On the site of his assassination outside David Webster House there is a mosaic that includes the words "Assassinated here for his fight against apartheid. Lived for justice, peace and friendship". A nearby park in Clarence Street (previously called Bloemenhof Park) was renamed the David Webster Park on the 20th anniversary of his death. There is also a mosaic in the park by

Jacob Ramaboya Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ja ...

from the Spaza Gallery which commemorates his life. In 1992, the University of the Witwatersrand named a new Hall of Residence Webster's honour. The David Webster Hall of Residence is now home to 217 Wits University students.

Published works

* *Webster, D 1984. ''The reproduction of labour power and the struggle for survival in Soweto.'' (Carnegie Conference paper no.20) Rondebosch: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit. . * (Published posthumously) * (Published posthumously)

References

Citations

External links

Short Biography
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604202300/http://disa.nu.ac.za/articledisplaypage.asp?articletitle=Why+did+they+kill+David+Webster%3F&filename=GRMay89 Article in ''Grassroots'' vol. 10, no.2, May 1989, "Why did they kill David Webster", including photos of David Webster, of mourners at the funeral, and outside St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg]
Tribute by Lloyd Vogelman

Tribute by Edward (Eddie) Webster, a colleague at 'Wits', published in ''Transformation'', volume 9

Newspaper page with pictures of the scene of the assassination, as well as a photo of David Webster writing field notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, David 1944 births 1989 deaths Assassinated South African activists Deaths by firearm in South Africa Extrajudicial killings in South Africa People murdered in South Africa Rhodes University alumni South African people of British descent Zambian people of English descent South African anthropologists South African murder victims University of the Witwatersrand academics Zambian people of British descent Zambian emigrants to South Africa White South African anti-apartheid activists 20th-century anthropologists