Rulof Burger

Position: Senior lecturer, Department of Economics

Institution: University of Stellenbosch

Expertise: Microeconometrics, Labour Economics

Rulof is a senior lecturer and researcher in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University and a research associate in the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University. He completed Master’s degrees in Economics at Stellenbosch and Cambridge Universities, and a doctorate at Oxford University. His research has focused primarily on applying micro-econometric techniques to answer South African labour market questions.

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Editor's Corner

We are using the Editor’s Corner in this edition to republish a letter to Professor Francis Wilson from Alide Dasnois former SALDRU researcher and journalist, who wrote this about a month before he died. It was reprinted in the programme for his funeral service.

A letter to Francis

21 March 2022

Dear Francis

You may remember we were talking about some of the people who have been through SALDRU over the years. I said: You must know what a difference you have made to so many people. And you said: No, not really.

Well, I was lucky enough to be in SALDRU at the beginning, and to stay for several years, and to know many of the people who have passed through SALDRU since, and I think I know a bit about the difference you made to all our lives.

In all the time I worked for you, Francis, your default answer to any question was: "Yes."

"Can we work on this topic? "

"Yes."

"Can we take another week over this working paper, we have new information?"

"Yes."

"Can we go to this conference?"

"Yes."

"Is there work for this person who has an interesting idea?"

"Yes."

"Can we find money to research this?"

"Yes."

You made a place for everyone, as long as they had an idea they wanted to work on and were willing to try to meet your and Dudley's high standards.[1] For you, Christmas Tinto's[2] story was just as important as Delia's comprehensive tables of statistics[3] or Mike Morris's[4] analysis of agrarian capital - and you expected the same meticulous treatment to be given to all of them.

What other professor would spend the evening collating and stapling working papers alongside his staff? (Good old SALDRU working papers, with a brown paper cover and a window cut out over the title.)

You never needed to behave like a boss to remind us who was in charge. We all knew you were the boss because of the sheer power of your intellect, your experience, and your ideas. Ideas tumbled out of that tiny office in the Beattie Building that you shared with Annette Thom [his PA].

You knew when to encourage young researchers and when to leave them alone. You found us offices in tiny rooms behind the lecture theatre in the Beattie Building or in the cubicles in the Leslie Building opposite "Dudley's" library, and you left us alone unless we needed help. You defended us when necessary - I well remember the skilful way you saw off Anglo American when someone there got upset about "Conflict on South African Mines" - and you expected us to do work that was worth defending.

So many people were trained by you. Many had - or still have - big jobs. People came to SALDRU because they knew they'd find a place where they could learn how to make a difference, to help build the South Africa we all wanted. We argued over all sorts of things - Marxism, liberalism, the free market etc etc - but we did share a vision. Even today SALDRU is a force in the land. The work you did, and the work you helped others to do, is still an inspiration to many.

I hope you know that you - and Lindy, but that is another email for another day - made an enormous difference to many people's lives, and to our country.

Love

Alide

*Alide Dasnois worked for SALDRU from its inception in 1975 until 1980 when she became a founding member of the Industrial Health Research Group. She went on to become editor of Business Report and the Cape Times and is currently an associate editor for the online publication GroundUp.

[1] The late Dudley Horner, who was deputy director of SALDRU.

[2] Fihla Christmas Tinto was born in Mqanduli in the Transkei in 1925. He was a student activist, a mine-worker, and a political prisoner. He was elected regional vice-president of the United Democratic Front in 1983, and was a member of the Senate in the democratic Parliament from 1994-1996.

[3] Delia Hendrie, an economist and data analyst ,who worked for SALDRU for several years.

[4] Mike Morris, an Emeritus Professor at the School of Economics at UCT, worked at SALDRU in 1976.

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Articles

A letter to Francis

21 March 2022

Dear Francis

READ, WRITE & REASON

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