Farewell to Steven Gruzd, an integral part of the SA Jewish Report

At 11:44 on Friday morning international analyst Steven Gruzd – an integral member of the SA Jewish Report team – committed to writing a feature for the next edition of the newspaper. 

We were chatting on WhatsApp about his piece in this week’s Pesach edition, which had been destined for the front page. But at the last minute, it lost the spot to a more immediate community news story. “I literally got bumped by the lady who was run over,” he wrote with his inimitable sense of humour to me on WhatsApp when I apologised. 

Steve always got excited when he had a front-page lead, even though the SA Jewish Report was not his day job. That was as head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme and the Africa-Russia Project at the South African Institute of International Affairs. However, freelance writing for us was something he loved doing, and had been doing for longer than any of his other jobs – 14 years and seven months. 

We did not know on Friday that this was to be our last conversation. Had I known, I would have said more or done something. G-d knows what, but in hindsight … 

Instead, we chatted about the SA Jewish Report, how he marvelled at doing five stories in five weeks with so much happening in his life. And about future articles he was going to write. 

During Shabbos dinner, Steve’s wife was trying to contact me to ask if I knew where he was and if I had had contact with him during the day. I eventually noticed my phone, which was on silent in my bag, vibrating. I called to hear he had not come home. He had left shortly after our communication and not returned. I felt her fear and desperation. 

Steve was not the kind of man to not come home. He was a dedicated husband and father, a family man. He would have got back if he could have. 

At 07:15 on Saturday morning, I got that call nobody ever wants to receive. Steve had been kidnapped and murdered – his body found in Jeppe. I could not and did not want to believe it. I can only imagine the devastation his wife and children were experiencing. My heart goes out to them. 

I am so angry that he was stolen from us, from his family, and our community. His impact on people’s lives was only ever positive. Did those thugs who murdered him think about what he still had to offer? How much more he could give to this country and community? Did they think about his family? 

Our team at the SA Jewish Report is still reeling from the shock, horror, and disbelief. Steve was such an integral, special part of us. His vast Jewish, political and international knowledge served him and the publication massively. His strategic and analytical mind brought so much credibility and gravitas to what the SA Jewish Report does. 

Steve admired what we do for the community and was so proud to be a part of that. Almost every article he wrote for the publication he shared on his social media platforms with pride. And in most cases, those he interviewed would contact him after the articles were published to thank him for his wonderful piece. Just so you know, that doesn’t happen to many journalists. 

Steve, however, was quick to tell people he wasn’t a trained journalist and insisted he was learning all the time at the SA Jewish Report. This humble man would gratefully accept my criticism when I sent articles back for improvements, always thanking me for my guidance. Again, this was not something many writers do with their editors. Steve always got the changes I believed needed to be made and would send a far superior revised version back. I cannot tell you how many times after publication, Steve would message me again to say thank you as he felt his piece was so much better with my help. Truly an editor’s joy! 

Meanwhile, I have always been in awe of his knowledge and incredible wisdom with words. Steve is our Scrabble king (as we loved to call him among our team), having won a number of important African tournaments, and being the vice-president of Scrabble South Africa. So, his knowledge of words is generally superior to most of us who call ourselves wordsmiths. This played out in his writing, making it tough to trim his work because he used words frugally and cleverly. He used strong words, never a wasted adjective or adverb in sight. He was also meticulous about spelling and grammar. 

During times when the SA Jewish Report has battled financially, Steve was quick to relinquish being paid for his work because he believed so much in what he did for the publication. This speaks to the essence of the man. This was all about his integrity, passion for truth and justice, and commitment to this publication and the community. You don’t get many like Steven Gruzd. 

Because of his analytical expertise and knowledge of international affairs and politics, Steve had crafted himself a unique position at the SA Jewish Report, being the only writer encouraged to write a mix of news and analysis. For the most part, we discourage news and feature writers from editorialising. But in his case, if someone else was writing a story about international relations, they would have gone to Steve for comment anyway. 

So often, I would call on Steve for his opinion on how SA Jewish Report should cover international crises. His wisdom and help were always at the ready and spot on. 

This weekend, speaking to all those who cared deeply for Steve, I realised that we each had a pocket in his life. The SA Jewish Report family was just one such pocket. And each pocket was full and different. As the week progresses, we will do our best to collect articles from each of those pockets in tribute to this wonderful man. 

While we can never get Steve back, he will live on in the pages of the SA Jewish Report and in our hearts and minds. We will never forget you! May your memory be a blessing!