President Ramaphosa will bestow various awards to individuals who have positively contributed towards developing South Africa, the list includes veteran journalist, author and humanitarian Benjamin Pogrund.
Benjamin Pogrund is to be honoured with the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver, which is given to those who are outstanding in the spheres of art, journalism, culture and literature, on 25 April 2019.
Pogrund is a veteran journalist who worked for the uncompromising Rand Daily Mail, which took apartheid head on until it was banned. He is known as an author to many, while others regard him as a freedom fighter.
Pogrund has penned two important books which detail the lives of both Nelson Mandela, War Of Words, and Robert Sobukwe, How Can A Man Die Better. He was a very close friend of Robert Sobukwe, the founding president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
In a statement, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) said it was “delighted that acclaimed journalist, author and humanitarian Benjamin Pogrund was at the forefront of journalists who exposed the daily injustices of apartheid system.”
The SAJBD’s head of communications, Charisse Zeifert congratulated the veteran journalist and said that Pogrund has since devoted himself into advancing peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Kenneth Mokgatlhe
k.mokgatlhe@politicalanalysis.co.za
