KALIM RAJAB

In Memoriam: Lord Robin Renwick (1937-2024)

It was with sadness that we record the passing of Lord Robin Renwick.

Since 2004 we have been proud to call Lord Renwick one of our Patrons; a long-standing arrangement entirely fitting not only because of his remarkable behind-the-scenes role in our country’s transition to democracy but also because of his great and enduring friendship with Helen Suzman.

Lord Renwick’s diplomatic career from 1963 to 1995 encompassed several high-profile assignments and led to him becoming known as “Thatcher’s favourite diplomat.”

But perhaps the most significant role he played – certainly the one which fascinated him most - was as High Commissioner to South Africa between 1987 and 1991. Renwick was a different kind of diplomat.

His posting here during this volatile and crucial period in our country’s history almost exactly overlapped with two other heavyweight envoys, the United States Ambassador Bill Swing and the German Immo Stabreit.

Yet while others’ nervousness towards the then-banned ANC might have framed some degree of caution towards any incipient change, Renwick committed himself wholeheartedly to it.

Previous High Commissioners (and US ambassadors) in the 1980s were fairly moribund in their approach; Renwick by contrast assumed the role of Edgar from King Lear: “Speak what you feel, not what you ought to say” seemed to be his mantra. Not only did he speak his thoughts, but he enacted them.

He enthusiastically reached out to the ANC in exile, hosted soirées where he sought to bring various camps together, spoke out in favour of freedom of the press, and after it was unbanned, became somewhat of a bridge between Mandela’s ANC and FW de Klerk’s Nationalist government.

Even after his term as High Commissioner ended, he continued to maintain a strong interest in South Africa’s place in the world; a position he maintained until his death.

But as befits a diplomat of global importance, he was also a man known for his discreetness. In his biography of Helen entitled Bright Star in a Dark Chamber, he makes mention of how in 1993 the foundation was established, in part to inform public policy – what he elides over was his own unobtrusive but important role in subsequently providing moral support to us.

There is another similarly instructive example which speaks to his unobtrusive nature.

In 1989 (and unfortunately having chosen a “terrible” hat as she herself described!) Helen Suzman stood before the Queen in Buckingham Palace to receive an OBE for services in the cause of human rights.

Again (though one would not know it from him) it is difficult not to see the quiet hand of Lord Renwick at play in getting Helen to be so deservedly recognised.

Alongside our other Patron, Thuli Madonsela, we send out our condolences to his family.

Kalim Rajab is the chairperson of the Helen Suzman Foundation.

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Lord Robin Renwick: a tribute to a champion of democracy in South Africa