What is well known is that the man, spoke against the evils and corruption of Apartheid.

Oom Bey, as we all know him, was the driver behind the formation in 1997 of what became Transparency South Africa - an anti-corruption NGO. Even at a frail age he became a founding member, the Chairperson of the Board, and later a Patron of the organisation.

His vision of integrity for the post 1994 government, private sectors and civil society became the cornerstone and inspiration for Transparency South Africa and was a catalysts for many others to take the post 1994 discourse and policy development on corruption, governance and ethics in the country to new heights and dimensions.

We wish to pay tribute to Oom Bey and to remember him as a person of great integrity.

Principles and values were of supreme importance to him, in fact, through his commitment to principles and values he created a process that allowed him to be informed on certain issues, which enabled him to see South Africa differently. More than that, he encouraged these values and principles to drive and inform him in pursuit of what he saw as wrong and fundamentally unjust in South Africa. He was able to see apartheid for what it crudely was and did not sit back; instead he was at the forefront in raising the alarm and campaigning for a democracy. Ultimately, he allowed these principles and values to shape his vision for a different South Africa. A vision shared with millions of South Africans. A vision, steeped in its values and principles, which he passionately tried to share with and transmit to many, in particular white South Africans.

In this process he angered many and he paid the price for that. However, in that process he inspired and supported many others who, even now, continue to pay tribute to him. Many of whom at the time rejected him and his message.

That journey of integrity did not end in the victory and celebrations of 1994 and the years of constructing and reconstructing a different South Africa.

Oom Bey's concerns about injustice remained: albeit as a legacy from Apartheid or the way we as post 1994 South Africans do not, in all respects, learn from our past. He remained true to the principles and values that helped shape the destination where we presently find ourselves. He remained the voice pleading that compromising our commitment socio-economic justice, transparency, and democracy through abuse of power - no matter who, no matter where and no matter how small- erodes the very fabric of values and principles which brought us where we are. An erosion – he believed – would undermine the vision and the very fabric of the new South Africa and thereby of the future South Africa.

Such was his path of commitment to integrity, a crusader of the cause, the liberation of Apartheid South Africa.

Warts and all, Oom Bey was an embodiment of integrity and a voice pleading for integrity, at all costs and by any means necessary.

This message and inspiration remains his legacy a true visionary that will be missed in our society.

For More comment:

Acting Chairperson

Hassen Lorgat

083 447 5061

Dr Darryl Balia

082 801 7362

Former Executive Director and family friend of the Naude’s

Dr. Stiaan Van Der Merwe

082 574 6201

Hassen Lorgat

Media and Communications Manager

Tel:0027 11 403 7746

Fax:0027 11 403 8703

Mobile: 083 447 5061

email:hlorgat@sangoco.org.za

URL:www.sangoco.org.za