By Brendan Boyle
The family of slain South African black activist Steve Biko on Monday mourned the death of the white newspaper editor who told the story of their friendship to the world.
Donald Woods, whose record of the life, friendship and terrible death of Biko in 1977 led to the acclaimed film Cry Freedom, died in London on Sunday of cancer.
He was 67.
"Donald's life should be a lesson in particular to the white people of South Africa... that we can all become agents for change," said Biko's son, Nkosinathi.
"Donald did not always hold the politics for which he became known. It was his preparedness to discuss issues with people like my father that moved him to the centre."
African icon and former South African president Nelson Mandela called Woods an outstanding South African on Monday, saying: "We shall remember him as a personal friend who gave selflessly of himself to advance the cause of his country."
Woods was editor of the Daily Dispatch in East London in the Eastern Cape when he became friendly with Biko, the leading exponent of the Black Consciousness theory that many whites rejected as reverse racism.
Biko was arrested by apartheid police, tortured and driven - naked, injured and in chains - to Pretoria, where he died of head injuries in September 1977.
Woods ensured this was not just another apartheid murder.
"Donald taught us the need for creative courage and in that sense he was an early practitioner of advocacy journalism," said Tony Heard, a former Cape Times editor who is now an adviser to President Thabo Mbeki.
"He was one of the first to use the pen to show that the emperor had no clothes... and once he had shown that, others came to see it, too.
"He had a substantial impact, not only on the country, but on the craft of journalism," said Heard, whose own opposition to apartheid later cost him his job.
Biko's sister, Bandi Mvovo, rejected critics who have charged that Woods exploited Biko's death.
"People have that perception, but I can confidently say that Steve and Donald had a friendship with a lot of respect and it has lasted beyond Steve's death," she
said .
Nkosinathi Biko said his family had been in touch with Woods' family in London throughout his illness and about a memorial service and the burial of his ashes in East London.
Woods' last visit to South Africa was in April, when he attended Nkosinathi Biko's wedding.
"Donald was well known in South Africa, but perhaps not as honoured here as he was abroad. There are many people who helped the struggle against apartheid who still must be honoured here," said Biko.
He dismissed criticism that Woods, who was honoured by the United Nations, Britain's Queen Elizabeth and governments around the world, benefitted more from the relationship than his father.
"That is neither here nor there, now. A man has died and to the extent that we agree with his work we should honour him.
"There were benefits for both of them in the relationship: Steve Biko was a banned person who could not speak or be published. Donald was a voice in the Eastern Cape, a way to reach an audience.
"Whether people agreed with his ways or not, the fact is that he was useful in bringing to the fore the issues of Black consciousness,"said Nkosinathi Biko.
Woods, he revealed, had been given a Xhosa tribal name as a tribute to his work.
"They called him Zweliyanyikima - the one that shakes the earth. That is how I would like to honour him when he is buried here," he said. - Reuters