Journalist Chris Louw found dead
2009-12-01 14:29
Johannesburg - Former SABC radio executive producer and journalist Chris Louw has been found dead on his farm near Hartbeespoort Dam in the North West, the broadcaster reported on Tuesday.
Louw, 57, had a gunshot wound to the head.
The circumstances around his death were not immediately clear.
Louw was known for his controversial open letter to the late Willem de Klerk entitled, "Boetman is die bliksem in" (Boetman is angry).
This was followed by a book, "Boetman en die swanesang van die verligtes [Boetman and the swansong of the liberals]".
It became known as the "Boetman debate".
The letter to De Klerk, a National Party opinion-maker and brother of former president FW de Klerk, accused the older generation of Afrikaner leaders of political cowardice and deceit by sending the younger generation to war to defend apartheid.
Louw was also part of a group of South Africans who held meetings with the then banned African National Congress in Senegal in 1987.
He was a journalist for several publications, including the Mail & Guardian, the Farmers' Weekly, Vaderland and Oggendblad and wrote many articles for the Beeld newspaper.
Louw is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
- SAPA