Marius Schoon, who died in February, was an indefatigable fighter for freedom, peace and justice in South Africa. His struggle was more poignant because he was a white South African who took up the struggle on behalf of all the people, black and white. In post-apartheid South Africa, his life, like so many others, had to publicly bear the pain of South Africa's past in the proceedings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Marius was the quintessential struggler. He was an Afrikaner dissident and a long-term political prisoner. He spent a long time in exile in Botswana, Angola, Ireland, Tanzania and Zambia. He survived the parcel bomb that killed his wife, Jeannette, and daughter, Katryn, in Angola and finally returned home with his new wife, Sherry, and son, Fritz. In the past year he testified against the man who applied to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for amnesty for the parcel bomb murder in Angola.
Born into a traditional Afrikaner family, Marius was one of a group of people from that background who joined the movement for liberation in South Africa. He became active in the Congress of Democrats led by the African National Congress in the 1950s. He was convicted of sabotage and sentenced to a 12-year term of imprisonment in 1964. Cruel conditions in Pretoria Central were made even worse for Marius and fellow Afrikaner prisoners - including Bram Fischer, leader of the defence team that saved Nelson Mandela and the Rivonia trialists from the gallows - because they were regarded as renegade Afrikaners. In fact, they shared a conviction that as Afrikaners they had a special onus to resist apartheid.
According to other political prisoners in Pretoria Central, Marius was not cowed in prison by the wardens' constant harassment and remained stubbornly defiant. While he was in prison his wife, Dianne, committed suicide and this was a horrible blow to him. For 12 years he was only allowed to see his daughter, Jane, twice a year for one hour at a time. But his morale never faltered.
On his release in 1976, he plunged into the work of the Human Rights Committee, mobilising people and public opinion around human rights issues. It was in that committee that he met Jeannette Curtis, whom he was to marry in 1977. Both were banned and unable to communicate lawfully, so they were married in a secret ceremony by the also banned Afrikaner theologian Beyers Naude, hours before they crossed illegally into Botswana. Marius and Jeannette maintained their active involvement with the ANC's underground operations while in Botswana. According to Mac Maharaj, these activities led to the development of community groups in South Africa and led ultimately to the formation of the United Democratic Front in 1983.
When the ANC learnt that the Schoons were a priority target of the South African security apparatus, they were told to move to Angola. On June 28th, 1984, Marius was out of town when Jeannette collected the post and took it home to open. Six-year-old Katryn watched her. When Marius returned he found his wife and daughter splattered across the walls of the flat. Two-year old Fritz was found wandering outside the flat physically unharmed, but he has spent years recovering from this trauma.
Ireland was a haven for Marius. Here he made new friends quickly and, despite his enormous loss, became involved in the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement. He raised consciousness about apartheid and raised funds for the ANC School in Tanzania. He married Sherry McLean, an active member of the IAAM, before returning to Africa, this time to the Solomon Mahlanga School in Tanzania. On his return from Tanzania, Marius worked briefly for Comhlamh, which laid the basis for his involvement in development work.
Marius, together with Sherry and Fritz, returned to South Africa in late 1991. He joined the Development Bank of South Africa as one of its development officers dealing with the poorest parts of South Africa. He resolutely sought Jeannette's murderers. His suspicions were confirmed when, as part of the process begun by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a former security policeman, Craig Williamson, admitted responsibility for the bombing of the ANC offices in London, the death of Ruth Slovo in Maputu and the murder of Jeannette and Katryn Schoon in Angola.
Marius instituted civil action against Williamson and the case was postponed pending an application by Williamson before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for amnesty on the grounds of his admission of the three actions. Marius testified and refused to back down from his demand that justice be done.
Marius leaves his wife, Sherry, son Fritz, daughter Jane and two granddaughters. R.M.