34 Facts About Donald Woods

1.

Donald James Woods was a South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist.

2.

Donald Woods was born at Hobeni, Cape Province, where his family had lived for five generations.

3.

Donald Woods's ancestors arrived in South Africa with the 1820 Settlers.

4.

Donald Woods was born and raised in what has since become the Eastern Cape province, as were both of his parents, all four of his grandparents, all eight of his great grandparents and all sixteen of his great, great grandparents.

5.

Donald Woods's parents ran a trading post in Transkei, a tribal reserve, which the South African government would later designate a bantustan.

6.

Donald Woods spoke fluent Xhosa and Afrikaans, as well as his mother tongue, English.

7.

When he started his law course at the University of Cape Town in 1952, Donald Woods supported government policies that separated the races, but was wary of the heavy hand of the Afrikaner National Party.

8.

Donald Woods spent two years as a legal apprentice, with the goal of becoming a barrister, but gravitated toward journalism.

9.

Just as he was about to embark on his career as a journalist, the 23-year-old Donald Woods was approached by the Federal Party to run for a seat in parliament.

10.

Donald Woods's campaign was unsuccessful, and he went back to his job as a cub reporter for the Daily Dispatch newspaper in East London.

11.

Donald Woods went back to work at the Dispatch and married Wendy Bruce, whom he had known since they were teenagers in their hometown.

12.

The family had settled into a comfortable life in East London, and in February 1965, at the age of 31, Donald Woods rose to the position of editor-in-chief of the Daily Dispatch, which held an anti-apartheid editorial policy.

13.

Donald Woods integrated the editorial staff and flouted apartheid policies by seating black, white, and coloured reporters in the same work area.

14.

Donald Woods favoured hiring reporters who had had experience working overseas.

15.

Donald Woods found himself tiptoeing around, and sometimes directly challenging, the increasingly restrictive government policies enacted to control the South African press.

16.

Mamphela Ramphele, Biko's partner, berated Donald Woods for writing misleading stories about the movement, challenging him to meet with Biko.

17.

Nevertheless, Donald Woods continued to provide political support to Biko, both through writing editorials in his newspaper and controversially hiring black journalists to the Daily Dispatch.

18.

Donald Woods was one of them and was effectively placed under house arrest.

19.

Donald Woods went to the morgue with Biko's wife, Ntsiki Mashalaba, and photographed Biko's battered body.

20.

The photographs were later published in Donald Woods's book, exposing the South African government's cover-up of the cause of Biko's death.

21.

Donald Woods was stripped of his editorship, and was not allowed to speak publicly, write, travel or work for the duration of his ban.

22.

Donald Woods made it undetected by South African customs and border officials to Lesotho, where, prompted by a prearranged telephone call, his family joined him shortly afterwards.

23.

Donald Woods toured the United States campaigning for sanctions against apartheid.

24.

Donald Woods spoke at a session of the United Nations Security Council in 1978.

25.

Donald Woods gave Mandela a tie in the black, green and gold colours of the African National Congress to celebrate the event, which Mandela wore at the concert the next day.

26.

Donald Woods returned to South Africa in 1994 to support the fundraising efforts for the ANC election fund.

27.

On 27 April 1994, Donald Woods went to vote at the City Hall in Johannesburg.

28.

On 9 September 1997, on the twentieth anniversary of the death of Steve Biko, Donald Woods was present in East London when a statue of Biko was unveiled by Nelson Mandela and the bridge across the Buffalo River was renamed the "Biko Bridge".

29.

Donald Woods gave his support to the Action for Southern Africa event in Islington, London honouring Biko, helping to secure messages from Ntsiki Biko, Mamphela Ramphele and Mandela.

30.

Donald and Wendy Woods became involved in the project, working closely with the actors and crew.

31.

Donald Woods was portrayed by Kevin Kline, who became friends with Donald Woods and his wife and family during the filming.

32.

Donald Woods was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2000.

33.

Donald Woods died of cancer on 19 August 2001 in London.

34.

Donald Woods's eldest son Dillon Woods is currently the Chief Executive of the East London-based Donald Woods Foundation, which is an educational foundation in South Africa.