Aggrey Klaaste was no ordinary journalist. He was a revered and respected newspaperman and editor, notably of Sowetan where I cut my teeth as a cub reporter under his editorship nearly three decades ago. He was a cut above the rest and his peers and colleagues like Joe Thloloe, Thami Mazwai and Joe Latakgomo have on different occasions shared their experiences with the visionary editor. They have often used the might of the pen not only to communicate and converse with the world, but to bring apartheid to its knees.

As we commemorate Black Wednesday, the day on October 19 1977, when the apartheid regime banned 19 Black Consciousness organisations, and publications such as The World and Weekend World and detained scores of activists, including editor Percy Qoboza...