- Justice Project South Africa chairperson Howard Dembovsky has died.
- Dembovsky led a lengthy battle for equity and fairness in laws and policies relating to road safety and traffic laws.
- He was also a strong opponent of Gauteng’s controversial e-tolls and fought relentlessly for motorists’ rights.
Justice Project South Africa chairperson Howard Dembovsky has died.
Dembovsky led a lengthy public interest campaign for equity and fairness in road safety and traffic laws, and campaigned relentlessly against inconsistency and unfairness in the traffic fine system.
He was also a strong opponent of Gauteng’s controversial e-tolls programme.
His ex-wife, Angela Dembovsky, said he suffered a mild stroke on 19 March.
“He then suffered a massive stroke on 23 March. He died yesterday [Friday] morning.”
Journalist Tony Beamish tweeted that Dembovsky had been in a coma in hospital before his death.
My friend Howard Dembovsky, founder of the Justice Project, sadly passed away peacefully in the early hours of this morning.
He suffered a massive stroke about tens days ago and was in a coma in a private hospital.
Howard was a relentless campaigner for truth and justice.
RIP pic.twitter.com/ENFB94avj4
— Tony Beamish (@TonyBeamish) April 2, 2021
In his blog, Dembovsky wrote: “‘Desiderata’ is a really nice poem attributed to Max Ehrmann and starts off saying: ‘Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence…’ Well, okay. That may work for some people, but it doesn’t work for me.
“That’s because there’s simply too much one can no longer afford to be placid about. Sometimes you have to take a stand. Sometimes you need to speak out – even if what you have to say may not be popular in all circles.”
Introducing himself in the blog, he said he began his working life as a policeman, moved to sales and then to IT before changing course to what he became more famous for.
Justice Project South Africa was established as a non-profit organisation in 2008 and registered as a non-profit company in 2010.
He is survived by his two sons, a brother and a sister.