David Robert Lewis has worked for South Africa’s struggle press, including South Press, Grassroots and New Nation. All three titles were banned at one time or another
Lewis was involved in the student uprisings of 1987 at the University of Cape Town. He is a graduate of the Centre for African Studies, holds a degree in political studies and has co-authored a book on environmental development with Mamphela Ramphele, alongside 26 contributors. The banning of campus organisations and especially academic staff such as Prof Peter Horn, ended Lewis’ academic career. While at South Press he exposed the trophy hunting operations of General Magnus Malan in Namibia and Angola. He is responsible for investigating and establishing the link between apartheid and environmental racism, and the later inclusion of sustainable development in the country’s constitution. He is a pioneer of “nonracial dialogue” having organised a series of public events in the City, in contravention of the Group Areas Act and separate amenities legislation. The Separate Amenities Act was only repealed on 20 June 1990.
