Tony Heard

Tony Heard
Born	Anthony Hazlitt Heard (1937-11-20)20 November 1937 Johannesburg,South Africa
Died	27 March 2024(2024-03-27)(aged 86) Cape Town,South Africa
Occupation	Journalist, author, government advisor
Nationality	South African
Education	Durban High School
Alma mater	University of Cape Town
Genre	Non-fiction
Subject	Apartheid
Notable awards	Pringle Award (1985), Golden Pen of Freedom Award (1986), Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achievement Award (2022)
Spouse	Valerie Joy Heard, Mary Ann Barker, Jane Porter
Children	Vicki Sharon Heard, Janet Elaine Heard, Pasqua Siobhan Lawrenson, Dylan Skye Heard
Relatives	George Arthur Heard (father),Raymond Heard(brother), Janet Heard (daughter)

Tony Heard,full nameAnthony Hazlitt Heard,(20 November 1937 – 27 March 2024)was a South African journalist, author and government advisor. He is best known for his journalism coveringapartheid,most notably interviewingAfrican National Congress(ANC) leaderOliver Tamboin 1985 at a time when it was banned by the South African government.After the country's transition to a new democratic South Africa, Heard became an adviser in the presidency, serving until 2010.

Early life and education

He was born on 20 November 1937 inJohannesburg,South Africa, to George and Vida Heard (née Stodden), both journalists.His brother,Raymond Heard,is a noted Canadian journalist. His father,George Arthur Heard,was a noted anti-fascist political journalist at a time whenfascismwas on the rise globally in the run-up toWorld War II.South Africa's entry into the war on the side of theAllieswas controversial in country where significant pro-fascist feelings were present amongAfrikaner nationalists.His father mysteriously disappeared in 1945; the Heard family believes he was murdered for his political beliefs.

Heard matriculated fromDurban Boys Highin 1954, after which he spent a year inLondonlearningshorthandand typing. In 1955 he returned to South Africa and started work as a journalist while studying journalism part-time at theUniversity of Cape Town,graduating with a Bachelor of Arts.He married Valerie Joy Heard (née Hermanson), a graduate from theUniversity of Cape Town's College of Music.They had two daughters, Vicki Sharon Heard (b. 26 July 1963, Cape Town) andJanet Elaine Heard(b. 11 July 1965, Cape Town), herself a well-known South African journalist. Heard later married Mary Ann Barker with whom he had two children, Pasqua Siobhan (now Lawrenson) and Dylan Skye Heard.

Career

Following his return to South Africa in 1955, Heard was employed as a journalist at theCape TimesinCape Town.He became a parliamentary reporter for theCape Timesin 1958 and then a political correspondent.

Heard covered theanti-passmarch inLanga,Cape Town, led byPan Africanist CongressleaderPhilip Kgosanaon 30 March 1960.He was appointed editor of theCape Timesin 1971.

Tambo interview

In 1985 Heard took leave and traveled to the United Kingdom where he interviewed the thenbannedleader of the ANC, Oliver Tambo.

His interview with Tambo was published in theCape Timesunder the heading "A Conversation with Oliver Tambo of the ANC,”was an important event in South African history. It allowed the ANC to articulate its vision of anon-racialSouth Africa to the public, thereby alleviate fears held byWhite South Africansfor a post-apartheid South Africa, and ultimately helped created the political conditions for thenegotiated settlementthat ended apartheid and established a non-racial democratic government.

Following the interview Heard was arrested and released on bail for contravening theInternal Security Actwith the case against him eventually being dropped by the government. He won theGolden Pen Award of Freedomfrom the World Association of Newspapers for the interview.

Later career

In March 1986 Heard investigated and exposed the killing of seven anti-apartheid activists inGugulethuknown as theGugulethu Seven.Heard was sacked from theCape Timesin 1987 after refusing a R1 million(equivalent to R14,653,000 in 2024)offer to resign that contained a clause that, Heard argued, would have effectively muzzled him following the Tambo interview.

Following his departure from theCape Times,Heard temporarily moved to the United States where he became aNieman Fellowand was a VisitingFulbright FellowatUniversity of Arkansas.After the transition to democracy, he served in the administration ofNelson Mandelaas a senior official, first advising the Minister for Water Affairs,Kader Asmaland then later working in the presidency of theThabo Mbekiadministration.His journalist daughter, Janet, followed in his footsteps as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2009/2010.

Death

Heard died in Cape Town following a brief illness on 27 March 2024.

Awards

• 1985: Pringle Award from the South African Society of Journalists
• 1986:Golden Pen of Freedom Awardgiven by the World Association of Newspapers' in recognition of "the outstanding action, in writing or deed, of an individual, a group or an institution in the cause of press freedom"
• 2022: Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achievement Award at the Standard Bank Sikuvile Awards, organised by theSouth African National Editors' Forum(SANEF)

List of books

• The Cape of Storms: a personal history of the crisis in South Africa.Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. 1990.ISBN1557281688.
• 8000 DAYS: Mandela, Mbeki and beyond: The inside story of an editor in the corridors of power.Missing Ink. 2019.ISBN978-0-639-84040-6.

External references

• O. R. Tambo Interviewed by Anthony Heard,October 1985 (Cape Times), transcript available on South African History Online