I emerged from Stellenbosch University with a BA degree, some understanding of political philosophy, a moderate command of English a smattering of French. It was quite an interesting occasion: to see how, after the great gulf of years, things had changed, in that period. But I actually had lunch with him and a friend, one of my classmates, a couple of weeks ago. My general response to that was reactionary. The whole objective of our Political Philosophy professor – whose name was Johannes Degenaar – was to urge young Afrikaaners to re-examine their values and their orientation in politics. I did a not-very-demanding course centering on Political Philosophy – which is a wonderfully nebulous subject – English and French. It was an extraordinarily pleasant, lovely place: lots of academic stimulation and interesting politics. So, I arrived at Stellenbosch in the early 60s, when it was quite a different place from what it is now, and I really enjoyed it. He was a diplomat, who had been posted in East Africa, Canada and then London. My father’s objective was to give me some emotion on the other side, the Afrikaans side.

I started at Stellenbosch in 1962 and it was a completely different experience, as you can imagine – in many respects, a very pleasant experience. I came back to South Africa in 1960 when I was 16, and I went to Stellenbosch University, which was a bit of a change. So, I had very strong affinities with Britain and my education at school was, in essence, British, and I had a great affection for the culture and the history. The nature of such schools was naturally conservative: they all thought The Queen was a good idea and also the Commonwealth was a good idea. I then went to an English public school – St John’s School, Leatherhead – where I spent three relatively agreeable years. Then I actually went from there to school in England and I spent the rest of my prep school days in London. So, my sentiments were strongly royalist. I had the great honour of being called on to draw and establish the little golden coach and the royal montage around our classroom. At the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth, there was a great outburst of royalist fervour in Canada. There was, in fact, a national holiday on Queen Victoria’s birthday, which was 24 th May.ĭS: That’s right.

My Grade Three teacher, Mrs Dougherty, was of the opinion that nobody could ever surpass Queen Victoria in the role that they played in international and global affairs. I started school in Canada, and Canada at that time was still very, very much a part of the British Commonwealth and the whole ethos that went with it. SO: Indeed, he would have been! I know that Sonny Ramphal was also disappointed not to have been appointed Secretary General of the UN.ĭS: Okay, right. Needless to say, he was very disappointed. SO: When was it realised that this wasn’t quite the gentleman they had in mind?ĭS: Well, I think that after the introductions had been made, the penny dropped. He was renowned for his bright red socks! Ramphul said, “What’s it in connection with?” “Well, we’re interested in speaking to people about being candidates for the position of Secretary General of the United Nations.” You can imagine his delight! But, unfortunately, they got it wrong and instead of inviting Sonny Ramphal to this interview they invited a guy called ‘ Ramphul’, who was the very flamboyant representative of Mauritius, at the time. So, she asked her staff to set up an appointment with Sonny Ramphal. Jeane Kirkpatrick – who was, at that time, the Ambassador of the United States to the UNO – had heard of this guy Sonny Ramphal, and thought he might be a good candidate. When I was at the United Nations, after the very reluctant departure of Kurt Waldheim, everybody was casting about for a new Secretary General. I wonder if you could begin by saying, please … H aving been born in Kenya then educated in Canada, did you form a particular view of the Commonwealth as a boy and young man?ĭS: Before I do that, I’d just like to start with a story about Sonny Ramphal. Dave, thank you very much indeed for agreeing to talk to me. SO: This is Dr Sue Onslow interviewing Mr Dave Steward in Cape Town on a very wet Wednesday, 17 th April 2013. Managing Director, Canopus Consultancies, 1997. Executive Director of the FW de Klerk Foundation, 1999. Director-General, Office of the South African President, 1992-94. Head, South African Communication Service, 1986-92. Policy Adviser on Southwest Africa/Namibia/Angola, 1983-85. Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, 1981-82.

Joined the South African Department of Foreign Affairs in 1966. Educated at the University of Stellenbosch, 1962-65.

Dave steward rules of.success