Reflections on five years in Parliament (Part 2)

LES LABUSCHAGNE  MP

DIPLOMATIC DIGRESSIONS : OR OOPS

My first assignment was at the SA Embassy, Vienna, in May 1969 with the exalted rank of Third Secretary.  The only lower rank in the Foreign Service was that of Vice Consul!  Third Secretary also does not necessary mean that there is a First or Second Secretary.  I was the general dog’s body doing everything from political reporting, admin, accounts, visas to counting the silver teaspoons at the Ambassadors Residence.

At that stage our Embassy consisted of two Missions, one accredited to Austria and secondly to the International Atomic Energy Agency AEA.  One of the more effective UN agencies as the constitution, in which Don Sole I believed played a major part in drafting, balanced strict technical requirements for membership of the Board of Governors with political requirements for the rest.

Within days of my arrival there was a scare in that the Ambassador’s daughter had allegedly been kidnapped – she wasn’t and he had been appointed a Government Minister and had to return to South Africa.  She apparently was not keen to return.

This of course caused some alarm with the Counsellor (Kurt von S) who was due to go on leave, and had organized a yacht cruise with his family among the Greek isles.  Spurred by the specter of cancellations he exercised all his considerable diplomatic skills to persuade Head Office that the Embassy could safely be left in my sole charge.  He later went on to a most distinguished career which proves his persuasive skills!

Thus after six weeks I was in charge as charge d’affaires ad interim.  This doesn’t mean that I was in charge of the fairies as some deputy Minister, who shall remain unnamed, confusedly thought.

Of course when you are in charge all that can happen is that you can get into trouble.  You are expected to see that nothing goes wrong, you get no money and if something goes wrong it is assumed to be your fault!  There was however one perk.  I could use the ambassador’s car for any official duties.  Ambassador cars had special plates and we were WD001.

One of the tasks of the Third Secretary was the diplomatic pouch.  This object shrouded by mystery and speculation by many authors, was, in my case a very dirty, stout canvass bag which could contain the average piece of carry on luggage.  I had to take and fetch the incoming one every week personally from the pilot of the conveying aircraft.

Airport security in the late 1960’s was not like today and I knew my way around.  I always arranged with the taxi to be dropped off at the VIP entrance and dashed up back and side stairs.

As Chargé, I could use the Ambassadors car.  I duly told the driver to go to the VIP entrance.  As we swept down and around the corner we stopped at a red carpet surrounded by soldiers, police and extremely well dressed persons of obvious status.

When the car stopped, uniforms saluted, well dressed straightened up and began looking plussed and a senior gentleman flung open the door with a “Gruss Gott, Excellency”.

I, baby faced, bespectacled coke bottle glasses!, holding a great big canvass bag emerged, nodded and walked along the red carpet.  That was the first time I realised what non plussed looked like – after entry I scuttled up the nearest staircase.

I later learnt the crowd were expecting the King of Saudi Arabia.  On later reflection I recalled Churchill once commenting that “An empty taxi drew up at 10 Downing Street, and Clement Attlee got out”.

Having dispatched my diplomatic pouch I then received my first invitation to a reception (fancy name for a cocktail party).  Coming from Molteno I had never been to a cocktail party and here was an engraved invitation “Monsieur L Labuschagne, charge’d’Affairs a.i. Ambassade Afrique du Sud.  Nogal.  I still have it.

Duly armed with the card, into WD001, I arrived at a palace.  This was an eye-opener, chandeliers, gilt etc.  As I slowly moved around the various groups I discovered to my horror that everyone was speaking German.  Why not, it was Austria.

Now at that stage, the government didn’t believe in language training, it was up to you at your own expense.  My German consisted of “Gruss Gott, Ein Grosses bier vom fass, (large draft).  WC (If you had the first, you need the second!) and auf wiedersehn. 

Then suddenly, across a crowded room, I saw a lonely solitary individual, I hurried across, “Deutsch”, I said with a quizzical interrogative smile.  A head shook, Labuschagne I said extending my hand, grasped, a long Spanish name followed by Uruguay.  He couldn’t speak German either.  What a relief, short lived.  He couldn’t speak English, let alone Afrikaans.  Now we were stuck.  So standing side by side we engaged in ocular oscillation of the room for the next 24 hours.  I would oscillate to the left and he to the right, our eyes would meet in the middle, smile, toast and take a “sluk”. 

Of course you later learn the art of diplomatic extrication which is made easier if you and your wife form a team.  So I leave you with a cocktail tip.

Beware of the solitary individual, their might just be a good reason why he is thus.

The second digressions relate to my last posting in China 1992 to 1996.  I decided that as the major Western economies had got in first in the established Special Economic Zones that I should explore business opportunities in the more neglected inland provinces.  I persuaded some South African banks and businesses located in Hong Kong to join me in a visit to the interior.  We met in Chengdu in the Sizuan Province where we boarded a “Lucky 7” aeroplane.  This 20 odd seater looked like a biplane without the bottom wing.  The seat backs could move backwards or forwards to accommodate, I suppose those coming or going.  I never found out because at the conclusion of our visit to Panzhihua we were told that we could not fly out as the Communist Party had commandeered the plane to attend a congress.  Now we know where Comrade Bob Mugabe got his ideas from.

Our hosts however had booked us on an overnight train.  My wife, self, my no two Iaan Basson and Claude Pearce from Nedbank occupied the one compartment with the Hong Kong group in the other, next to the Chinese gang, i.e. guard, conductor, police and army.

Having consumed our box lunches kindly provided by our hosts we gathered the debris carefully and I asked Iaan to ask the Chinese how we could dispose of same.  He returned with a bemused broad smile.  He went to the guards’ compartment and asked what to do.  The female guard said no problem, took the parcel and chucked it out of the open window.  I suppose that it was bio-degradable.

One of the customs of the African Embassies located in Beijing was for all of us to gather on New Year’s eve for party which culminated in dancing.  This entailed us forming a large dancing circle with two persons then performing solo dances in the middle.  They then would move and touch one of the other dancers who would then take their place to do his or her solo in the centre.

On our way home my wife informed me that every time I danced in the middle all the little black kids virtually rolled on the ground in mirth at my gyrations.

I must confess that I was pretty miffed as I thought I moved with a certain gazelle like elegance.  After all, any Afrikaner whose family had been in South Africa for over 280 years must have acquired a rhythmic gene along the way.  Let’s park this for a moment.

I decided to visit the province of Xinyang, the North West Province bordering on Pakistan, Kirgizstan, Usbekistan.  This province had a predominantly Muslim population which was restless.

After visiting the ancient city of Kashgar, on the old silk road, we went to the ancient city of Yarkand as I had expressed an interest in agriculture.  This city was irrigated by underground channels or Karezes carrying water miles underground.

I call this visit the desert snowball.

We crossed part of the Gobi desert and started the visit.  On arrival the next morning we found a long bus awaiting my party of my wife, self, second secretary, interpreter, Chinese official and our silent partner who I later ascertained was a Chinese KGB equivalent body guard.  We visited the Mayor, the Agricultural authorities and at each stop the bus got fuller and fuller and we collected first one then a second police car.  

About midday we came to our last meeting, a local farmer.  By this time I was famished and thank goodness there were bowls of fruit, which I welcomed both on the grounds of courtesy and hunger.  I was then given a bowl of thick vegetable soup and fortified, was ready to face the Gobi and return to Kashgar.  Bidding goodbye to mine host I was then told we were now going to lunch!

Our entourage which now consisted of a full bus, two police cars and another then came to a stop at a vineyard.

On the road between the vines we found a small dance floor, a three piece band, a single woman and an elderly gentleman with a long white beard wearing a long white nightshirt and a Muslim cap who welcomed us.  Our group ensconced ourselves on the blankets, the band played.

I was given a skewer with five small roasted bits  -  thank goodness not too heavy a meal   -  however on close inspection were deep fried pigeon heads.  .

When I declined a second helping but suggested that my wife would be delighted to oblige. You know, it’s amazing what long memories women have.

This was followed by a bowl of colourless liquid and fist sized chunks of meat.  The colourless liquid helped enormously.

In China one never drinks alone at will.  Most impolite.  You therefore if you wish to drink would catch someone’s eye, raise glasses in a toast and quaff.  Unfortunately every time I looked up I caught the eye of one of the six persons sitting opposite me and I quaffed, and quaffed.

By now the musicians sang a song.  Roughly translated was that although we are Muslims and do not drink, we welcome guests from afar and therefore we can drink to their health.  These guys obviously loved having guests hence the bus and police cars.

We now discovered that the purpose of the single female was to dance with my wife.  Then it was my turn with my dance partner for the banquet, namely the guy with the night shirt.  Well we danced under the vines watched on the other side of the dance floor by a goodly selection of the village, children and women who would move closer, then someone would shoo them away, but not for long.  I have never seen such dusty kids in my life, but then even the water in the irrigation channels was dusty.

A solitary inspection of the vines revealed a half skinned sheep being lightly roasted for second helpings and then it was time to go.  We left our desert snowball behind and our tiny group crossed the Gobi to catch our plane back from Kashgar to Urumqi.

The flight being quite uneventful apart from the pilot’s dilemma whether to turn back due to a possible fuel shortage but when we got halfway the question became academic while I reflected on the uncomplicated hospitality of my trip to Yarkand.

Of course after returning to Beijing and later viewing the video of me and my dancing partner, I must sadly confess that I do not have a rhythmic gene in my DNA.
   

Reflection on five years in Parliament (Part 1)

Les Labuschagne (DALE 1955 – 59)

On midnight, 22 April 2009 I ceased to be a Member of Parliament after  five interesting and sometimes frustrating years.

Due to family reasons I decided not to stand for Parliament in Cape Town, but rather make myself available for the Gauteng Provincial Legislature which meant living at home (Pretoria).  Fortunately I was elected and I thus embarked on my third political career out of the usual sync.  The traditional “cursus honorum” (for those who had Mr. Searle for Latin) being City Council, Provincial Legislature and finally Parliament.

When I was originally elected I thought of another ex -Molteno old Dalian who had preceded me to Parliament, albeit a number of years prior, namely Jack Wainwright, MP who originally, in the late 1950’s, had stimulated my interest in politics.

Parliament as I had originally envisaged it had changed, no longer emulating the Westminster system. Our original Chamber was based on the House of Commons from layout : same green benches with the “table” separating Government and Opposition.  The intimacy of the historic chamber of about 180 members had been replaced by a modern large chamber of 400 seats which, due to TV, we are more familiar with.  The old Assembly Chamber, scene of history and drama, declaration of war, assassination and resignation is now a place of ghosts although still used on occasion as a committee, informal prayer or meeting room.

I did consider it a privilege to make my maiden speech in this Chamber during an extended committee on the Foreign Affairs budget and, speaking from the traditional Leader of the Opposition’s seat facing the Minister, at least gave me a feel of what it was like in the days of my original aspirations.

Post 1994 our democracy has now an expanded franchise and a Parliament for 40 million (not 4 million) as in the past, resulting in a current House of 400 MPs.  No longer predominantly elderly white males wearing dark suits, but a kaleidoscope of colour (physical and attire),language culture, religion and a goodly number of women.     

Unfortunately the exuberance of the new democracy, while vocal in terms of clapping, singing (on occasion) and attire, did not result in a correspondingly  high quality of debate.  In fact,sadly, there is no real debate.  Speeches are now read from the rostrum (sometimes read with all the amazement of someone seeing a road map for the first time in his/her life).  Previously it was forbidden to read a speech, now it is de rigueur; spontaneity is lost.

The House did of course sometimes have lighter moments and the current resident humorous character was  Koos van der Merwe of the IFP, also the longest serving MP.  His classic bon mots included ,on being asked by the Speaker to withdraw a remark, answered, “Madam, I will always withdraw if you ask me”.  Koos also got into trouble for smuggling a cake with one long candle into the House to designate the anniversary of his request for an appointment with President Mbeki which was still outstanding. 

The Deputy Speaker lost it during exchanges and Koos was kicked out. The size of the massive chamber of course inhibits clever interjections.  You really have to shout, and that venerable tradition of witty exchanges - part of a great parliamentary tradition – is being eroded.  A clever interjection loses something if it has to be bellowed.

Apart from the front benches accommodating two persons, the back benches are very long, accommodating about 12 MPs.  Mine had a slight broken spring that was never fixed.  The compensation was that for part of the term I was forced “hip to hip” with an attractive benchmate, but less so after she was replaced with a pleasant, but male MP from Limpopo! 

Sitting on the spring originally made me wonder how people could fall asleep as is often alleged by the public.  However, a long badly read monologue by an ANC Member in the late afternoon does have a soporific effect.

There were, however, interesting times. Tony Leon was always a delight to listen to.  His intelligent, well crafted, excellently delivered speeches were intently listened to even by the ANC, judging by the intense silence.  At the first debate of the 2004 Parliament when he ended by saying to President Mbeki  that we both want the same for South Africa and that the DA were opponents and not enemies, followed by going to shake Mbeki’s hand, flummoxed the ANC . They were not sure how to react and only on the second day did a Minister react and comment that a shake of a hand doesn’t mean or change anything.

There was high drama when President Mbeki announced Zuma’s sacking as Deputy President and again when he , in turn, was “redeployed”.  Tony Leon’s farewell and the tribute to Helen Suzman on her death were moving and memorable and of course the controversial “crossovers” and subsequent repeal of the Act, as well as the public chastisement of the few Travelgate (small fish) MPs as opposed to prosecution, also stand out.

The House is a place for speeches and grandstanding today.  The real work of the country is done in the Portfolio Committees, which I gather, have assumed a more powerful role than the Committees of the previous Parliaments.

It is in these Committees where public hearings are held and the public comes, whether as individuals or representing firms, organizations, to comment on Bills and make inputs, where they are heard and are questioned by Members of the Portfolio Committee.  This is where the civil servants of government Departments appear for interrogation as part of Parliamentary oversight.

It was very interesting to see during my last year, after Mbeki was deposed, how much more critical and enquiring ANC MPs had suddenly become of Departments.  Previously they often seemed to see the Department as an extension of the Minister and criticism would be tantamount to criticizing the ANC.  No doubt all this was linked to whether the relevant deployed cadres were seen as pro -Zuma or pro- Mbeki.

The establishment of COPE just before the end of 2008 and virtually no sessions between late January and March 2009 prior to the elections meant that we could not have as much fun as we could have with embarrassed MPs, who were also busy polishing their marbles and more concerned whether the Party would drop them or not.

I found that if one built up a position of mutual respect with Committee members and avoided grandstanding then one could actually get legislation changed.  The challenge was to get the majority ANC MPs to not only listen to you, but to actually hear you (or vice versa) and avoid forcing a political or ideological standoff and I did in fact succeed in amending legislation.

I served on the Trade and Industry Portfolio Committee for the full five years and considered it my main responsibility.  I also served on Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs and Labour for different periods.

Prior to 1994, Parliament sat for the traditional January to June session and wives and families all went down as also the diplomatic corps and set the Cape Town social scene.  Now Parliament sits from late January to early December and most MPs commute for the week. 

From the DA side only about three non Western Cape wives and no families spent time in Cape Town on a permanent basis. From Johannesburg to Cape Town was roughly a 4½ hour door to door journey twice a week for five years.  Now I live at home and the 67km to the legislature in Johannesburg (old City Hall) takes me not quite as long.  But I can’t wait for the finalization of the road works, and hopefully removal of the truck that is always stuck between Allendale and New roads on the N1 every day. 

Despite the up and down, boring speeches and interminable travel it was a wonderful five year experience which I shall always cherish and remain humbled at the privilege of having been a Member of Parliament.

Eli Bitzer - memories of Havana

...  and some have Greatness thrust upon them.”

In September 2006 I was p“rivileged to visit the historical city of Havana for a second time, not as a mere tourist but as a member of the South African delegation accompanying then President Thabo Mbeki as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad to the XIV NAM Summit.  As the only member of the Department aside from the PA of the Deputy Minister, my responsibility was to arrange and manage all the bilaterals for both the Principal and the Deputy Minister.  

Air Iberia had chosen to keep my luggage safely for me at OR Tambo Airport, only delivering it 5 days later (day before my return flight).  Being a stranger in town, I had only managed to purchase in the hotel lobby one Cuban shirt (collar recently replaced because of frequent and fond use),   Aside from that I had taken the precaution of carrying one T-shirt and one dress shirt in my cabin bag.   This left me rushing up and down the Spanish-speaking corridors of a hot and humid Havana Conference Centre in search of other delegations to arrange bilaterals with, wearing one shirt while the other was in the hotel laundry, being readied for the next day.   And so it came to pass that I returned to my hotel room one night to realise that I had forgotten my own birthday!

One morning I was standing at the bottom of broad stairs leading up to the entrance of the hotel, waiting for transport to the Conference Centre.  I suddenly felt myself shoved against a wall as a contigent of security personnel cleared the way for what was evidently a descending dignatory, being led by an equally important personality.;  That is to say, important for those who were able to recognise them - under which I did not count.  The first was Leonel Fernandez, President of the Dominican Republic, and the second was his Forein Minister, Charles Savarin.   Suddenly the Foreign Minister, for no recognisable reason whatsoever, noted me in the crowd and abruptly started redirecting his President towards me.  Surprised delegates parted like the Red Sea, while the Foreign Minister addressed both his President and a virage of Spanish words in my direction, with hands stretched out to greet and introduce the one and only me. 

The next morning I was again approached at breakfast by Minister Savarin, this time to very politely appologise that he had confused me with our dear and very hard working colleague Louis Pienaar, then Counsellor at our Mission in Havana responsible for the Dominicanm Republic and in the process of arranging a visit for them to South Africa.   When I later relayed this adventure to Louis, he typically only smiled demurely, neither commenting on his fame nor on the fact that I had been mistaken for looking like him.

But my true story does not end here.  Of course in the process of arranging bilaterals I was privileged to see, if seldom actually meet, colourful personalities such as Raoul Castro, Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales.  The first ever female Head of Government of a Caribbean country, Prime Minister  Portia Simpson Miller of Jamaica had just assumed office (and also sadly departed from office soon after).   She had requested a bilateral with Presiden Mbeki and I had to schedule a suitable time with the Jamaican delegation seated in plenary.   As I entered the hall I realised that President Mbeki had the podium as Chair of the G77 and China Group.   But low and behold, he was addressing that great audience of Heads of State and Government using words I recognised as my own!     As NAM Desk Officer I had been told by the Presidency to draft a speech, which Adv. Pillay, the Personal Assistant, had received without any changes at all except to insert a long introduction praising Comrade President Fidel Castro, then not well enough to himself attend the Summit.  

I was literally, although unfortunately only privately, gloating in my own greatness.  Tchaikovsky’s 1812 cannons were exploding all around me.    Through the smoke of the discharge I did notice a long-legged (further extended by very high heels) and very vivacious lady also waiting in the entrance behind the rows of chairs.  Furthermore, she seemed to be observing me.  Could it be that she knew I was the writer of the speech being presented here by the same person who had equalled Martin Luther King with his “I am an African” speech ?!!   And indeed, as President Mbeki concluded, she side-stepped in my direction and transfrormed herself into a magical Jamaican mirage simply by asking me in her unmistakable accent where I was from.  

I should not have answered.  I tried to reflect much later on whether it was a Flamenco or Tango dancer descending on me (probably the first), but her response was an excited bestowing of the name “Nelson” on me and then flinging her arms around me in a manner that completely disallowed any thought of resistance.   The bilateral was arranged soon after.   Sadly, the breakaway room was full to capacity and I was not allowed a second chance.   Not much later history in Jamaica also moved on without her.  

What a privilege, as insignificant foreign affairs functionaries, to be afforded  so many opportunities to witness history and have greatness thrust upon us.

Eli

(In fond memory of departed colleague Annabel Haslop, who did know Fidel Castro).

~~o~~

A loving tribute penned by Donna in memory of her Tom (Part 2)

After his return from Turkey in 2001, Tom served as Chief Director: Latin America in the Department of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2003 when he retired – for 16 hours. The next day, Tom began his second career as Chief Operating Officer for the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). 

It was the perfect retirement job. It kept Tom connected to and participating in the international community and allowed him to do what he did so well: facilitating connections between people and being a living resource of information. He was always generous with his time and more than willing to aid those doing research on South Africa’s international relations.

Over the next 11 years of his “step-down retirement,” at SAIIA one of his roles would be in media relations. This gave Tom the opportunity to realize, indirectly, his early dream of becoming a radio announcer when he began to provide media commentary for numerous radio and TV channels. Later he was asked to write a weekly commentary on some international issue (under his own byline) for The New Age newspaper. 

The connections he made through working at SAIIA and his new persona as a “journalist” provided yet more opportunities to travel.

In 2006 he visited Germany as a guest of the Foreign Ministry. In 2013 he visited Hungary and Azerbaijan as a guest of their Foreign Ministries, Ireland as a tourist and France to speak at a conference in Paris held as part of the South African Weeks programme. He attended the Africa Forums of the Turkish Asia Security Research Centre (TASAM) in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013. He was invited by the Turkish government to attend the Prime Ministerial Media Forum in Ankara in 2102 as one of five South African journalists. He was invited to participate as a journalist in 2011 in the Israeli President’s Conference on Facing Tomorrow. 

He even dappled into the academic world. Tom lectured at the South African National Defence College, at Witwatersrand University’s Department of International Relations, and for the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs he presented a short course to South Sudanese diplomats in training at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth in May 2011.

He spoke on South Africa and Turkey: a long and multifaceted relationship at the International Society for Cultural History at Monash University in Johannesburg in 27 November 2014.  He addressed the Council on Foreign Relations in Mexico City on Central Asia on 24 July 2007.

In addition to his career, Tom belonged to numerous Rotary clubs and in multiple countries: Sydney, Australia; New York; Washington DC; Ankara, Turkey; Pretoria and Johannesburg. He was President of his Rotary Clubs in Pretoria and Johannesburg and an Assistant Governor.

Among the many publications he wrote after joining SAIIA are a monograph entitled The Development of Relations between Turkey and South Africa 1860-2005, and a chapter on Central Asia and the Caspian Region: Their significance for South Africa which appeared in the SA Yearbook of International Affairs 2006/7. An article entitled Ankara to Africa: Turkey’s Outreach to Africa since 2005 was published in the South African Journal of International Affairs in April 2011. He has also contributed several short articles on Turkish – South African relations which are available on the website www.saiia.org.za.

But the story was always the most important thing for Tom. He loved telling the stories of his career to young researchers and the tales of our adventures together to anyone who would listen.

When Tom and his former DFA colleagues, Pieter Wolvaardt and Werner Scholtz realized that many of the stories of those who had served in the old South African Department of Foreign Affairs were being lost, the three solicited and complied many of those account into a trilogy of books. These were published under the title From Verwoerd to Mandela: South African Diplomats Remember (March 2011).

It was an attempt to get more of those stories preserved and made available to a wider audience that was the inspiration behind this blog. It was a joint effort: Tom found material; I scanned documents into readable files; Tom cleaned them up and then sent on to “Tom’s Techie,” Geoff van Heerden, for uploading onto the site.  

Now, you must send your own stories and keep the conversation going. Each account adds another piece to the picture, making it richer and more nuanced.

Tom loved being a diplomat. He loved meeting people, having conversations, traveling, mentoring others, and hearing and telling the stories.

And I will always love him. He gave me a world I would never have known without him. Please – tell the rest of the stories for him and each other.

Donna Wyckoff-Wheeler

Johannesburg, 19 May 2017

A loving tribute penned by Donna in memory of her Tom (Part 1)

On 18 May 2017, my beloved husband, Tom Wheeler, went into went into cardiac arrest about 6 AM and died a few minutes later. He had been in Intensive Care at Rosebank Clinic in Johannesburg for the past 10 days, battling multiple infections and other issues after a year of declining health. Part of what some follows comes from my own memories of our time together; part from a CV Tom had prepared himself (although I’ve tried to humanize some of the austere document language). The time elements jump around a bit, but the dates should provide context.

Tom was born in Cape Town on 27 October 1938. He graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 1959, and after a year as a government translator, joined the South African Foreign Service in 1961.

During his forty-two year career as a South African diplomat he served in Washington (twice 1963/8, 1988/9 – the latter as Minister/Deputy Chief of Mission); Blantyre, Malawi; London; Sydney, Australia; New York (Consul-General). His last foreign posting was to Ankara, Turkey (1997- 2001) as Ambassador to Turkey, and as non-residential Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

In between foreign postings, Tom served as Chief Director: Global Security, Disarmament and Arms Control and also in other disciplines such as Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and the Environment, Science and Technology for various periods between 1993 and 1997. 

He was involved in developing a procedure for the vetting of applications for arms sales abroad and the initial stages of the drafting of a White Paper on peacekeeping policy. 

Between 1990 and 1997 he was closely involved in various aspects of the process of the transition to democracy, transformation of the South African foreign service, and the return of South Africa to the UN and other multilateral organizations. This last issue resulted in Tom sitting in the presidential chair in the UN General Assembly during a debate on renewing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. It was a privilege he cherished in his memory.

Tom was also a member of South African delegations to a variety of international conferences, including: the UN Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994; the OAU Special Ministerial Meeting in Cairo in 1995; President Mandela’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in 1994; the NPT Review and Extension Conference in New York in 1995 (de facto leader); and the Central Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Conference in Tashkent in 1997.

He visited India (including Bangalore) in November 1996 as a member of Deputy President Mbeki’s delegation and headed the bilateral political discussions as part of the Joint Commission meeting in New Delhi.

Over the years, Tom also traveled extensively in Africa: Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Madagascar, Kenya, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and more recently Sudan and Ghana.

Tom and I met in Ankara, Turkey (where I was teaching in the Department of Culture and Literature at Başkent University) and we were married there in 2000. The short version of the story, which he loved to tell, was “We met at church, drank tea, and got married.” There were, of course, many chapters between tea and marriage, and many more stories as well.

During this time, Tom and I travelled extensively in Central Asia and in the Middle East – Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria and Northern Cyprus – sometimes for work; sometimes for pleasure. And there were many more travels to follow.

One of Tom’s great joys was going somewhere he’d not been before. He loved traveling by car and rated a holiday by the proportion of time spent in the car versus out of it. More time in meant more places he could see. I saw (more or less) 7,000 km of South Africa in 10 days the first time I visited this magnificent county.

In 1977 and 1979 he was a member of the South African delegations to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative meetings in London and Washington, the negotiation of the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resources (CRAMR) in Washington in 1979 – adopted but never ratified.

He was a member of the South African delegation that adopted the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, CCAMLR, in Canberra in 1980, and is a South African signatory to the Convention. He was a member of the South African delegation to the inaugural meeting of the Commission in Hobart, Tasmania in 1982Hobert, Tasmania in 1982 and agaiHobH and at the meeting in 1986. He led the South African delegation to the 18th Antarctic Consultative Meeting in Kyoto, Japan in 1994.

One of the highlights of Tom’s career was to go to Antarctica aboard the SA Agulhas during the 1983 summer season. The trip included the SANAE III base and the newly established German base Georg von Neumayer.

Antarctica had been a life-long interest for Tom, and amongst the 8000 or so books in our house at the moment, many are on Antarctica. This interest culminated in research paper on South Africa’s involvement in Antarctica paper. Written jointly with Elizabeth Sidiropoulos (Chief Executive of SAIIA), it is entitled “To the Ends of the Earth: Antarctica, the Antarctic Treaty and South Africa. (RESEARCH REPORT 23, March 2016).

Tom also delivered an address on Antarctica and the Blue Economy at a conference jointly hosted by the Institute for Global Dialogue and DIRCO at the Department in Pretoria in 2014

Donna Wyckoff-Wheeler

Johannesburg, 19 May 2017