He is dead

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
- Funeral Blues, W. H. Auden (1936)

I was lucky enough to spend time with some great writers this week, including Sue Grant Marshall, Gus Silber and Denis Beckett. One of the things we talked about was the passing of Deon Basson. Silber made a telling comment when he said that Basson's death was symbolic of the demise of investigative journalism in South Africa.

Moneyweb's Alec Hogg wrote a brilliant tribute to Basson, which is poignant particularly given that Basson had largely finished his book "Public Interest Warriors" and was planing to return to journalism.

Although I never knew him well, I was highly honoured to have spent time with Basson before his death. We had some email interchanges on the Naspers/Mugabe story, and met for lunch during which we talked about investigative journalism. I had deep respected for Basson, and followed his career and writing over an extended period so it was a great priviledge for me to meet him and talk about his career and life. Part of our discussion was recorded and was transcribed for Moneyweb, then there are a few video interviews with him on Zoopy.

Is this the symbolic death of investigative journalism? Fortunately investigative journalism is alive and well in our country at a time when it is most needed. However forensic journalism has suffered a huge loss.

Basson was unique in that he was a forensic business journalist with significant depth and huge experience which shows in his reporting on corruption and greed. He was relentless in his investigation and unafraid to uncover corporate rot. As such he often went where few journalists were prepared or dared to go. This is well explored in Reg Rumney's Thought Leader piece "In memory of Deon Basson, a great forensic business journalist."

Empassioned by the public interest, Basson's book will be an living tribute for his life's work, for Basson was South Africa's Public Interest Warrior. Peerless and fearless, he sacrificed much and fought for truth and justice to the end. I doubt if our country will see the likes of him again.