Vincent Kolbe RIP – 10 September 2010
He was laid to rest today after a funeral service at the Holdy Redeemer Catholic Churchin Bergvliet, where Capetonians from all walks of life celebrated his life and times. Father Michael Weder and Father Sean Wales officiated, while Tina Schouw was the soloist, accompanied by Basil Snyer on the organ.
Adrian Louw from Bush Radio said he was “instrumental in helping to form the community radio station project and guide it through one of the most challenging periods in the birth of community radio in South Africa”.
John Edwin Mason said, in his blog: “Vincent was a quintessential product of Cape Town, the old port city on the far southern tip of Africa. The culture of the city and the people in it — especially those who, like Vincent, grew up in District Six — was and is a gumbo, a bouillabaisse, and, since we’re talking about South Africa, abredie concocted out of ingredients from Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. As a musician, he was perfectly at home playing American jazz and South African marabi or singing the ghoemaliedjies of the Cape Town carnival.
The Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) has posted the following to all its members: “It is with great sadness that we learnt that Activist, Librarian and Musician, Vincent Kolbe, passed away on 3 September after a long battle with cancer. We wish to pay tribute to him for his contribution to librarianship and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. Archie Dick speaks of his contribution in the piece “Librarians and readers in the South African Struggle.”
