My Opinion – the legacy that is Prof Russell Botman

A lot has been written and said of the passing of Prof Russell Botman. Some things were in my view fair and richly gave credit where it was due.
Other things were utterly unjust and insensitive given the bereavement of the family. The latest headline I read was:” who killed Prof Botman.”

I have been very lucky to have had numerous interactions with Prof Russell, from structured chats to meeting each other in the street to catch up. At all times, I found him to be a man serving his vision and taking it steady step at a time.
For nothing ever worth going for takes a day, Prof Russell was well aware of the mountain he was trying to conquer and the personalities and minority factions that were opposed.

Last week when we attended his funeral, I was impressed by a few points during the whole service. As big as the funeral was, it was quite intimate – where most if not everyone felt that they were welcome and appreciated for showing support.

The VIP mourners and guests were not put up on an unreachable pedestal – their security teams were low key and them accessible. The service was conducted in English with translation services of Afrikaans to English for the speakers who were more Afrikaans versed.

The one part that stood out for me was the two songs that we sang, The Church has one foundation and How great thou art.
These great songs were sung in English, isiZulu/isiXhosa and Afrikaans. All three languages, beautifully sung. This I felt would have spoken to Prof Russell’s heart – someone we should all remember as one who brought people together.

We should focus on the good that he has brought into this world and refrain from speculating on things we cannot prove.

Let us learn from his life – be accommodating, caring and loving. Reaching out to those different to you and finding the humanity in all you come along.


Let us remember the “Pedagogy of Hope” as shared with us by Prof Russell.

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