Jon Qwelane

Jonathan Dubula Qwelane (10 September 1952 – 24 December 2020), known as Jon Qwelane, or by his initials JQ, was a South African journalist and radio talk show host who also served as the country's ambassador to Uganda in the 2010s. In his final years Qwelane was embroiled in a legal dispute as a result of a homophobic column that he wrote in 2008, that had important implications for the boundaries between hate speech and freedom of expression in South African law.

Biography Early life Qwelane was born in Mafikeng, as one of nine siblings. His father was a school teacher, and his mother was a domestic servant. When the Apartheid policy of deliberately inferior Bantu education for black children was introduced, Qwelane's father took a job in neighbouring Botswana and arranged for 7 of his 9 children to be educated in that country. Qwelane spent his holidays in South Africa, and after completing school, he took a clerical government job.

Journalistic career Qwelane worked as a freelance sportswriter for a local Mafeking newspaper, and began sending articles about local politics to the Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg. He moved to Johannesburg in 1974 and took a series of jobs, including a job with The World, which was subsequently banned by the government, and short stints with the Sunday Times, The Citizen, the Rand Daily Mail and Drum Magazine, and the Afrikaans paper Beeld, from which he lost jobs as a consequence of his alcoholism. Qwelane was hired by The Star in 1979, and fired in 1982, but was conditionally rehired after three months. He joined Alcoholics Anonymous and continued a long association with The Star. and he covered unrest in the townships, including a 1985 stint in the townships near Uitenhage. He got his first column in 1983, that was published in the Star's Africa Edition (aimed at blacks); it was called My World, which began his career as a political commentator, in addition to being a reporter. He also edited, and partially owned a magazine called Tribute in the 1990s, after leaving the Star. intimating that gay marriage would ultimately legitimise bestiality. This resulted in a large number of complaints to the South African Human Rights Commission, which took Qwelane to the Equality Court, which, in turn, fined Qwelane, and ordered him to apologise. He completed his four-year term in 2014. and it was implied by the Mail & Guardian that this appointment was a reward for his support for then-president Jacob Zuma. Qwelane's appointment raised concerns that it would fuel tensions in Uganda, which had severe penalties for homosexual conduct. ordering that the law be redrafted, as it was overly-broad, and infringed on the constitutional right to freedom of expression. The judgment was referred to the Constitutional Court for confirmation in Qwelane v South African Human Rights Commission, and a hearing was held in September 2020. and he named his oldest son Sobukwe, after Pan Africanist leader Robert Sobukwe. He suffered from respiratory and heart issues.

Death and afterward Qwelane died on 24 December 2020, was given an official provincial funeral on 4 January 2021 and buried in Mmabatho.