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Dr Danny Titus was a great activist for the Afrikaans language: FF+

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The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) has described the late Dr Danny Titus as a great activists for the Afrikaans language and someone who commanded a lot of respect. Titus died on Saturday night at the age of 63 after he was in a coma for a month following an eye operation.

He was a former Commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and retired Executive Director at the Afrikaans Language and Cultural Association, ATKV.

Leader of the FF+ Doctor Pieter Groenewald says South Africa is poorer without Dr Titus.

“I got to know him as a pleasant, rational person who was able to handle himself well in emotional and difficult situations and who really displayed much empathy and understanding for certain circumstances while still being able to take rational decisions amid difficult situations. He was truly able to look pass the skin colour and prove that any person of colour can indeed reach the top in SA. I think that SA is poorer without Dr Titus,” says Groenewaldd.

His family says they is deeply saddened by his passing. His brother, Leon Titus, says Dr Titus’s was in a coma for over a month.

“Danny went into a coma a month and a half ago. He went for a cataract operation and as they pushed him out of the recovery room, his heart stopped beating. He’s got two daughters. He was 63 but all these things he was diabetic related things that landed him there.”

Dr Titus had earlier worked at the Technikon SA as the Executive Dean for Criminal Justice Studies before joining UNISA as the Deputy Executive Dean of Law. He also worked for the Law Commission and later was with the HRC for seven years.

Commissioner Chris Nissen says Titus will be remembered for his remarkable contribution to the recognition of indigenous languages in South Africa.

“A person that has contributed significantly to the South African society from language, Afrikaans to the indigenous people. He was the responsible for the first Koi San hearing of the indigenous people of this country that resulted in a recommendations to which we see today; the Koi San traditional Act that has been passed by Parliament.”

Dr Titus reflects on his experiences at the HRC

In his farewell speech at the HRC in 2016, Dr Titus reflected on his experience at the commission.

“And that is also what I would like to live with staff please take this commission very seriously particularly while you are building your careers. This is the place that when you put on your CV, it has a value and that is the strength of this commission. I really would like to also thank all the commissioners; we came together from different fields, we had different focal areas and we could also complement each other so from my side thank you very much, it was an honour and a privilege,” he said.

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