William Gumede: Towering intellectual figure

William Mervin Gumede is one of South Africa's finest minds. Born on 11 July 1973, he attended Webner Street Primary School, a township school on the Cape Flats, and matriculated from Ravensmead Senior Secondary School in 1988. Gumede's multidimensional roles as academic, activist and advocate of democracy have been in full display for the better part of 30 years. As a student, he was heavily involved in student politics, occupying leadership positions in the student-led anti-apartheid movement. Gumede has obtained qualifications from the University of Witwatersrand, University of Utrecht, Wolfson College, and the London School of Economics where he obtained his PhD in political studies. He has taken on leadership roles in trade union and civic organisations, including being appointed communications officer for Cosatu in 1995. During the negotiation period between 1990 and 1994, he carried out the essential function of political violence coordinator and occupied a similar position in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He has variously been an editor, author, lecturer, research fellow and executive director. By publishing several influential books and articles that have initiated conversations on various subjects that continue to engage South Africans, Gumede has contributed significantly to the South African academy and to South African society.