Tertius Myburgh

Albert Tertius Myburgh (26 December 1936 – 2 December 1990) was a South African journalist and editor, best known as editor of the Sunday Times between 1975-1990.[1]

Tertius Myburgh
Born
Albert Tertius Myburgh

(1934-12-26)26 December 1934
Died2 December 1990(1990-12-02) (aged 55)
Alma materUniversity of Cape Town
Harvard University
OccupationJournalist and Editor
Spouse(s)Wilhelmina Madgalenda Loubser (1958- )
ChildrenPhillip, Danielle & Jacqueline

Background

Myburgh was the son of Albert Lambert Myburgh. He was educated at Dale College Boys' High School in King William's Town in the Eastern Cape and later studied at the University of Cape Town. Between 1965-1966, he was a Nieman Fellow of journalism at Harvard University[2] in Massachusetts, United States. In the United States he specialized in the fields of politics, economics and foreign affairs.

Career

Myburgh's began his career at The Friend newspaper in Bloemfontein followed by two years working at the London office of the Argus newspaper group. He later returned to South Africa and became political and parliamentary reporter for The Star in Johannesburg in 1963. In 1967 he became assistant editor of the Daily News. Between 1971 and March 1975 he served as editor of the Pretoria News and in April 1975 became editor of the largest newspaper in South Africa, The Sunday Times.[3]

Myburgh was also published by international titles, as a South African associate for the New York Times and Time. He also contributed to the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times and the Daily Express.

Spy allegations

In 2015 Myburgh was accused of being an apartheid-era spy by veteran journalist, John Matisonn in his book, God, Spies and Lies: Finding South Africa’s Future Through its Past.[4] In the same year, Jani Allan supported the allegations made against her former mentor in an opinion piece published by the Daily Maverick.[5]

Death

Myburgh resigned as editor of the Sunday Times in September 1990 after 15 years. His next role was to be as ambassador to Washington or London. However, only four days later he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at home in December of the same year.[1]

References
  1. Hulde gebring aan Tertius Myburgh Beeld. 3 December 1990
  2. Class of 1966 Archived 23 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Retrieved on 23 May 2013
  3. Mulholland, Stephen (1 December 2015). "In defence of Tertius Myburgh". www.politicsweb.co.za. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  4. Top editor ‘was an apartheid spy’ IOL. 29 November 2015
  5. An open letter to Daddy dearest, Tertius Myburgh Daily Maverick. 4 December 2015
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