A LIFE LIVED FROM THE HEART

TONY HALL (Born 3 June 1936; Died 31 January 2008)

By Dale T. McKinley (for the Mail & Guardian)

Tony Hall lived his life from the heart. He had a heart that embraced a life-long commitment to human freedom, absorbed large doses of self-sacrifice and enveloped those whom he loved and respected. In some kind of serenely symbolic and beautifully poignant way it was his heart that chose to pronounce on a life well, and fully, lived. Tony Hall passed away peacefully in his sleep at his Mpumalanga home on 31st January.

Tony was born in Pretoria on 3rd June 1936 into a family of note. His grandfather, Arthur Lewis Hall was a pioneering, world famous evolutionary geologist, while his Auntie Connie became the first woman lawyer in South Africa. His parents, John and Betty, raised him and his four other siblings (John, Mike, Geoff and Joan-Mary) while running the Spread Eagle Hotel in Eikenhof. After attending Pretoria Boys High, he graduated to Wits University where, in the course of his journalism studies, he met, and married, the true love of his life, Eve.

Tony’s first job was at the Star in 1959, but he quickly moved on to the Rand Daily Mail where his journalistic skills were promptly rewarded. An interview with Nelson Mandela and coverage of the Treason Trial followed, and so too did Tony’s politicisation. The day after the Sharpeville massacre, both he and Eve joined the Congress movement. In the ensuing years, they had three boys – Phil, and the two twins, Andy and Chris. Their house became a (secretly renowned) gathering place for movement leaders where serious politics mixed effortlessly with jazz beats and hot curries. By February 1964, the apartheid authorities had ‘listed’ Tony and Eve as members of a banned organisation. Rather than end up serving lengthy goal terms, they packed up their belongings and, along with the boys, headed into exile. It was to be 26 years before they would return home.

During those 26 years in Africa, India and the U.K., Tony perfected the art of activist journalism whilst simultaneously being a loving father and supportive partner to Eve. As the news and features editor of The Nation in Nairobi, Tony blazed a trial of independent, critical journalism at a time when it would have been much easier and safer to simply ‘to do the job’. After his drafting of the Manifesto for the opposition party, the K.P.U., was ‘found out’, Tony was expelled from the country – something which he always ‘wore’ as a badge of honour. And so to Tanzania, where he became the training editor of The Standard, opening up the Hall household as a haven for various liberation movement leaders/activists and doing voluntary work for the ANC, FRELIMO and MPLA.

Stints with Oxfam and the U.N. in India, Ethiopia, Somalia and the U.K. followed. Amongst his many achievements, Tony was the journalist who ‘broke the story’ to the world of the first Ethiopian famine in 1973. He later played a leading role in providing courageous and critical journalistic analysis/commentary on the volatile politics of the Middle East as well as pioneering similar coverage for Eastern and Southern Africa. Throughout, Tony always maintained his unwavering support for, and practical role in, the South African liberation struggle.

When Tony and Eve were finally ‘unbanned’ in 1990, they had no hesitation in immediately returning home. Tony was ecstatic at the possibilities of a new, free South Africa. Still full of energy and passion, he continued with his journalistic and political work, first in Johannesburg and later in the semi-rural confines of his and Eve’s bush ‘retirement’ paradise (Matumi) near Nelspruit. Tony deserved Matumi, a stunningly gorgeous place where that big heart of his found both rest and inspiration, where he lavished love on an ailing Eve (who passed away at Matumi last October), provided a second home for his sons, their wives and his ten grand-children and played gracious host to comrades and friends.

Until his death, Tony never stopped dreaming. In what proved to be his last major piece of writing, he penned a document last year entitled, ‘A 2020 Vision for Southern Africa’, which, in his own words, presents “a quixotic mix of policy guidelines and practical measures to remind us that there are alternatives … there is a way … to promote and complete the emancipation and cooperation of the people of South Africa, and the region”. Practical, passionate and true to his heart … that’s a life worth living.

Hamba Kahle Tony. You will forever remain in our heart and souls.