R. W. Johnson
R. W. Johnson (born 1943) is a British-South African journalist and historian.[1] Born in England, he was educated at Natal University and Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar. He was a fellow in politics at Magdalen College, Oxford, for twenty-six years;[2] he remains an emeritus fellow. He was formerly Director of the Helen Suzman Foundation in Johannesburg.[3]
He is currently a South Africa correspondent for the London Sunday Times and also writes for the London Review of Books[4] His articles for the LRB generally cover South African and, to a lesser extent, Zimbabwean affairs.
In South Africa's Brave New World: The Beloved Country Since the End of Apartheid (2009) Johnson is critical of the African National Congress and their rule in post-apartheid South Africa. He accuses the ANC of mismanagement of the country, citing as evidence the decline in life expectancy in both South Africa and neighbouring Zimbabwe since 1990, ANC rule having formally begun in 1994.[5] The book describes the ANC leadership as being "influenced by a 1960s ideological cocktail of Marxism and black nationalism, and striving to create a black bourgeoisie that can lead South Africa through a “national democratic revolution”'. The South African president Thabo Mbeki is criticized for the ineffectiveness of his response to AIDS and his support for the theory that HIV is not the cause of AIDS, as well as for his support for Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. The book attracted both positive and negative reviews. David Beresford, The Guardian's Johannesburg correspondent, saw the book "as a record of pretty well every piece of unsubstantiated gossip to have circulated South Africa's rumour mills".[6]
In early March 2009, Johnson injured his left foot while swimming, it became infected with necrotizing fasciitis[7] and his leg was amputated halfway up the thigh.[8].
Johnson's writing on South Africa for the LRB blog was heavily criticised by a large group of writers and academics, including Lemn Sissay and Michael Rosen, in an open letter which said his work is "often stacked with the superficial and the racist", and claimed he has an "inability to be funny."[9] The letter was refused publication.
References
- ^ The Guardian contributor profile.
- ^ Ivan Fallon "'South Africa's Brave New World', By RW Johnson", The Independent, 17 April 2009
- ^ Orion author profile.
- ^ London Review of Books contributor page.
- ^ World Heath Organisation Statistics 2010
- ^ David Beresford "Cutting it", The Guardian, 16 May 2009
- ^ R. W. Johnson "Diary", London Review of Books, 6 August 2009, p41
- ^ "RW Johnson Loses Part of Leg Ater Lagoon Swim", Book SA - News, 23 March 2009
- ^ [1]Refused publication: Letter to London Review of Books
Bibliography
- (ed. with Christopher Allen) African Perspectives (1970)
- How Long Will South Africa Survive? (1977)
- The Long March of the French Left (1981)
- Shootdown: The Verdict on KAL 007 (1985)
- Heroes and Villains: Selected Essays (1990)
- (ed. with Lawrence Schlemmer) Launching Democracy in South Africa: South Africa's First Open Election, April 1994 (1996)
- (ed. with David Welsh) Ironic Victory: Liberalism in Post-Liberation South Africa (1998)
- South Africa; The First Man, the Last Nation (2004)