Planned memorial for Sacos stalwart Frank van der Horst

MARK WARD AND FUAD ESACK

The sounds of long live the spirit of Frank van der Horst reverberated across many spheres of South African society following the death of the former president of the anti-Apartheid organisation, South African Council on Sport (SACOS).

Van der Horst died on Tuesday July 9, a day after his 86th birthday, and was cremated at Maitland cemetery on Saturday July 13. A memorial service will be held at Belgravia High School, in Athlone, on Sunday July 21, at 2pm.

A revered activist and sports administrator, Van der Horst will be remembered by friend and foe as an outspoken and fearless fighter in the struggle for liberation against apartheid.

He served as the fourth president of Sacos between 1982 and 1988 while serving the organisation since its inception in1973. He was succeeded by Yusuf Joe Ebrahim.

While sport organisations started to merge from the 1990s, leading up to the first democratic elections in 1994, Van der Horst remained steadfast in his principled stance that no normal sport in an abnormal society could exist. An ideal he would hold until his death.

He was born on July 8, 1938, in Goodwood, where he spent most of his primary school years, before the family relocated to Eden Road, in Walmer Estate, said family member Craig van der Horst.

Between helping to organise Sunday’s memorial, he fondly remembers his uncle, family gatherings and lessons learnt first hand.

He said Van der Horst still lived in Walmer Estate, in Chester Road, at the time of death, in a house he designed and built himself.

His uncle, he said, was never married and dedicated his life to fighting for the upliftment of the downtrodden.

“To my knowledge hockey was the only sport he played but, uncle Frank was a social activist beyond just being the president of Sacos. He was never one one for accolades and public acknowledgement. Many people don’t know he was a member of different organisations, right through the Apartheid era. When he took the reigns of Sacos, he was already established as a political activist and a champion of the downtrodden and the poor.”

Craig said this fight against injustice was deeply rooted in the family, starting with his grandfather, Francois Paulus van der Horst, who was known as Frank to the family.

“That’s why in his early years, my uncle was known as Frankie, up until we realised that we don’t need to call him Frankie anymore, because my grandfather, Frank van der Horst, had passed years before.

“His late father, my grandfather, was a strong member of the Dutch Reformed Church and he also worked in the community but uncle Frank took activism to a completely different level. He came from a hard-working family and as result he became a champion of the working class and he was his entire life, up and until the day he died.

“Most times when there were family gatherings uncle Frank would arrive late and leave early. That’s because he was coming from one community meeting and leaving to the next. Either one of the two could’ve been out in the middle of nowhere,” he said.

He said Van der Horst, a civil engineer, started out as a teacher but raising political awareness among his students instead of sticking to his subject of geography, landed him in trouble with the government at the time, who wanted to despatch him to the furthest outpost.

“Many of them joined the Struggle as a result, became politically and socially aware.

“He was also a member of the Concerned Education Forum in his last years, a group that wanted to prevent the closure of schools and he also became very vocal during Covid to shut schools down temporarily or allow learners to learn from home,” he said.

Earlier this year he attended several workshops and gave input where a broad front of concerned former athletes and administrators are currently busy with projects to revive athletics in schools.

He was steadfast in his believe that equal sport facilities and the upliftment of education should be prioritised above the eagerness to participate in international sports event.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his tribute, that the country's sport continues to benefit from Van der Horst’s and Sacos’s legacy.

“Many administrators under the Sacos banner are now prominent in sports development in our country. As a nation, we are grateful for a struggle Van der Horst waged with courage and principle. His values and the example he set will sustain us while he rests in peace.

“Sacos worked closely with civic organisations, youth movements, trade unions and underground liberation structures on numerous campaigns and protests to resist participation of white only South African athletes internationally.”

Ramaphosa said Van der Horst was part of the generational leadership along with Norman Naidoo, Hassan Howa, Morgan Naidoo and Joe Ebrahim who made a crucial contribution to the sustained political pressure faced by the apartheid system.

Bennett Bailey, president of Safa Cape Town said Van der Horst was committed to the promotion of non-racialism in sport and society.

“He believed sport could not be divorced from society and no normal sport could take place in a society where no decent facilities exist.

“He mentored many individuals, ensuring the introduction of a new generation of leaders. I will always remember him as one of the best orators who could speak for hours, without a piece of paper in front of him. That was Frank van der Horst I knew and will remember,” he said.

For more information about Sunday’s memorial at Belgravia High, call 079 907 7373.