A true renaissance man & national hero: Graeme Bloch remembered Friends and loved ones gathered at St George s Cathedral on Friday for a memorial. A screenshot of anti-apartheid activist Graeme Bloch. Picture: SABC Digital News/YouTube
3 hours ago
CAPE TOWN - Professor Graeme Bloch has been praised for dedicating his life to the struggle for freedom and humbly serving South Africans.
Friends and loved ones gathered at St George s Cathedral on Friday for a memorial.
In his tribute, Lance Bloch revealed the president had offered to give his brother a state funeral, but the family humbly declined because Bloch fought not for recognition for himself but for others.
Graeme Bloch: a life of commitment and love A leader in the fight against apartheid, he went on to write about the centrality of education and its failure to lift poor children out of the trap of a ‘second economy’ 12 April 2021 - 05:00 Trevor Manuel and Pippa Green Graeme Bloch at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection in Johannesburg, January 14 2013. Picture: ROBERT TSHABALALA
Shortly before his 21st birthday, Graeme Bloch was banned by the apartheid government. The restrictions meant he could not be with more than one person at a time, travel out of his magisterial district or attend educational institutions.
Throughout the morning of Friday 9 April, messages of condolences poured in on media platforms following the news of the death of democratic struggle stalwart, educationist, and activist Graeme Bloch.
“He passed away early this morning peacefully at Constantiaberg Hospital in Cape Town,” his brother Shaun Bloch said, confirming the news of his death to
Daily Maverick.
Bloch succumbed to an uncommon brain disorder affecting movement and control of walking, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), seven years after his diagnosis.
He had an illustrious political career and extensively fought against apartheid during his days as a student activist at the University of Cape Town.
Graeme Bloch was dedicated to the freedom of our people zimbabwestar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from zimbabwestar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Struggle activist and education expert Graeme Bloch has died
Graeme’s brother Lance took to social media on Friday morning to make the announcement.
Graeme was battling a neurodegenerative disease, according to his brother. He passed away this morning with his wife activist, Cheryl Carolus, by his side.
Bloch lectured at the University of the Western Cape for several years. He was a project manager at the Joint Education Trust and an executive member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and NECC (National Eduction Crisis Committee) in the eighties.
In 2009, he also published his book “The Toxic Mix: What s Wrong with South Africa’s Schools and how to Fix it”, in which he tackled the toxic mix of factors that are causing this crisis, taking government and teachers to task for not performing as they should and highlighting the socio-economic challenges that many learners face.