Jailed for Activities in Opposition to Apartheid and Censorship : Editor Percy Qoboza, Foe of S. African Regime, Dies

Journalist Percy Qoboza, who battled apartheid and government censorship during his 25-year career as a reporter and editor with black publications in South Africa, died Sunday at the age of 50.

Qoboza, who had most recently served as editor of the City Press, died at the Rand Clinic in Johannesburg, where he had been in serious condition since suffering a heart attack Christmas Day.

Qoboza had served as the editor of three anti-apartheid publications, two of which were shut down by the government.

Ordered Shut Down

Qoboza began his career with the World and was editor of the white-owned newspaper in 1977, when the government shut down the newspaper in response to its critical coverage of riots in the black township of Soweto. That same year, Qoboza spent more than five months in jail without ever being charged with a crime. Earlier, he was detained for violating South Africa’s pass laws, which required blacks to carry identity cards while in white areas.

“For every man you throw in jail for a pass offense, you release a potential enemy of the state,” Qoboza wrote of his incarceration. “Nobody who has gone through the humiliating experience of being locked up like a common criminal can understand this. Take it from me: it’s shocking.”

Qoboza then became editor of the Post, which succeeded the World as the South African newspaper with the largest circulation among black readers. In 1980, that newspaper also was ordered to cease publication by the white minority government.

Qoboza took over as editor of the City Press in 1985. Under his leadership, the paper’s circulation doubled to 200,000 to become the nation’s largest black-readership newspaper.

Militant Position

“Percy’s death is a great loss to journalism in South Africa,” said City Press Publisher Keith Lister. “Percy was both a leading black political voice and an extremely successful editor.”

Initially, Qoboza supported the militant Black Consciousness movement, which demanded majority rule, while opposing any compromise with the Pretoria regime. Qoboza later moderated his position, allowing for the possibility of negotiations with the government.

The recipient of a Nieman fellowship, Qoboza spent a year at Harvard University in 1975 and 1976. Qoboza returned to the United States in 1980 to serve for a year as editor-in-residence at the now-defunct Washington Star.

Qoboza’s other honors included the Golden Pen of Freedom, awarded by the International Foundation of Newspaper Proprietors.

Qoboza is survived by his wife, Ann, four daughters and a son.