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Hermanus Philippus (Manie) Janse van Rensburg was born on 24 October 1945 in Krugersdorp. His parents were Charl Francois J v R and Hermanni Philippa van Aswegen. He bought his first movie camera at the age of 14 with his earnings as a church organist at Krugersdorp.

At University of Potchefstroom he obtained a degree majoring in English and Psychology.

He married Anita Maria ERASMUS, she was born 21 December 1944 daughter of Stephanus Petrus Erasmus and Anna Zeruiah Oosthuizen.

Depot TAB
Source MHG
Type LEER
System 01
Ref 7210/61
Part 1
Description Erasmus, Stephanus Petrus.
Starting 1961
Ending 1961
Remarks Surviving spouse Anna Zeruiah Erasmus (born Oosthuyzen).

Manie and Anita divorced.
They had only one child:
Anina Janse van Rensburg born 23 August 1972, she married Pierre le Roux, he was born 21 September 1972.

Later he married Grethe FOX.

Manie comitted suicide when he was 48, on Friday, 3 December 1993 at his home in Vierde Laan, Melville, Johannesburg. He shot himself with a 357-Magnum revolver. Prior to this tragedy he was involved in an accident in which he badly damaged his back and he was rather depressed. His friend, Marina Bekker, was in the lounge when he shot himself in the bedroom.

We do not know the real motive for his suicide. Yes, he was extremely lonely, and he suffered from stress and depression for many years. He was separated from his wife, the actress Grethe Fox in April 1992, after a marriage of 13 years. He broke his back and was thus confined to a wheelchair. He experienced severe pain and it made working difficult. But, it is amazing to see his output at the Film Archives: several new scripts, notes on new productions, many plans.

Manie was laid to rest in the Sterkfontein cemetery next to his father, Charl Francois Janse van Rensburg. His mother was Hermanie Phillipa van Aswegen. He had a daughter Anina with his wife who is an actor, Grethe FOX. They were married for 13 years before they seperated in April 1992. He also had another brother Charl.

Manie was one of the Afrikaner group who had meetings with the ANC on 8 July 1987 in Dakar with, Frederik VAN ZYL SLABBERT.

His friend dr. Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, gave the following discourse at the funeral for his friend "ou Maans": ''Mag die nuwe lens waardeur jy nou kyk, jou skoon en nuwe beelde gee. Vaarwel, jou dierbare ou bliksem.'' The funeral service was held from the Gereformeerde kerk Krugersdorp- Noord.

Ds. Arnold MULDER who took the funeral service compared Van Rensburg who had committed suicide, in the sermon to a stone wall which had been pushed over, ''Die klippe in sy lewensmuur het Vrydagaand losgeraak en hom toegeval in die patroon van 'n graf,'' the minister also stated, ''Dit was asof hy die regisseur van sy eie lewe wou wees. Hy het besluit dit gaan die laaste toneel wees van sy aardse bestaan.'' Van Rensburg was seen as a person ahead of his times, ''Dit kos nie veel om 'n mens se lewe in 'n puinhoop te omskep nie. Net God kan weer 'n stewige muur bou.''

Van Rensburg was buried on the 8th December 1993 in the Sterkfontein-cemetery next to his father, Charl Janse van Rensburg. Present was his mother, daugter and brother Nic.

FILM MAKING CAREER
Manie Van Rensburg began as the cameraman in Hoor My Lied in 1967. His first movie he made was Freddy's in Love, when he was 22 years old. His second movie was Die Bankrower. Van Rensburg formed his own independent film company, Visio Films, in 1969. He directed and financed a film about loneliness in an urban environment, Freddie's in Love. He started with R140 in the bank and a large section of the film was made in black-and-white, because he couldn't afford colour film stock. He didn't have any money for lights, so his production assistant who worked as a stage manager at Johannesburg's Civic Theatre would borrow what the film team needed. The film was eventually a character study of loneliness in cold, bleak Hillbrow.

In 1980s he received an International Film Festival of New York award for his historical TV drama series, Heroes, and a Merit Award from the London Film Festival was given to him for his filmed play, The Native who Caused all the Trouble. His mammoth production, The Fourth Reich, was screened at Cannes, however, in a version not acceptable to Van Rensburg.

He received a Honorary Prize from the South African Academy of Science and Art for Cultural achievements in cinema. The Star newspaper's Tonight Award was given to him four times. The South African Broadcasting Corporation's Artes Award was presented to him twice, and he also received awards from the Afrikaanse Taal en kultuurvereniging, the M-Net Vita Award for Best Director of The Fourth Reich, and the Idem Award for direction of The Lighthouse (Die Vuurtoring).

He decided to move from Johannesburg to Cape Town where he met Johan van Jaarsveld, a writer who became his partner, and under the umbrella of Visio Films, his best television work followed. This relationship with the SABC, however, was cut after Van Rensburg decided to join 52 prominent South Africans in 1987 to travel to Dakar, Senegal, in order to have discussions with members of the then banned ANC. The 52 South Africans mainly included Afrikaans speaking people, like Van Rensburg's friend, Van Zyl Slabbert, a prominent oppositional political figure of the 1980s. The conference in Dakar was a joint undertaking between the Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (Idasa) and the ANC, and discussions about a liberated economy, the form of a liberated government and solutions to South Africa's conflict took place. When Van Rensburg returned to South Africa, he found himself out of work at the SABC. For two years he couldn't work. With the establishment of FAWO he hoped to find a sympathetic, progressive group to support him in his work. The Native Who Caused All the Trouble was his contribution to the new critical cinema about apartheid, and it established him as part of the new movement.

Van Rensburg's cinema career can be divided into three periods;
1. Afrikaans films of 1971 to 1975
Freddie's In Love (1971), Die Bankrower (The Bank Robber) (1973), Geluksdal (1974) and Die Square (The Square) (1975).
2. Television work from 1976 to 1987
The ten-part comedy series, Willem (1975), another ten-part series, Sebastian Senior (1976), Mickey Cannis Caught My Eye (1979); Good News (1980); the authentic folk stories, Doktor Con Viljee se Overberg (1981), which earned him the Tonight Award in 1982; Anna (1982); Good News (1982), Verspeelde Lente (Wasted Springtime) (1983); Die Perdesmous (The Horse Trader) (1982); Sagmoedige Neelsie (1983),Die Vuurtoring (The Lighthouse) (1984); Heroes (1985) and The Mantiss Project (1986)
3. International films from 1988 onwards
The Native Who Caused All The Trouble (1989), The Fourth Reich (1990) and Taxi to Soweto (1991).

Van Rensburg deals with three periods of Afrikaner people:
1. The 1930s: The Trauma of Urbanisation and the Struggle for Land
Verspeelde Lente (1983)
Die Perdesmous (1982)
The Native Who Caused All the Trouble (1989)

2. 1939-1948: The Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism
Heroes (1985)
The Fourth Reich (1990)

3. The 1970s and 1980s: The Urban Afrikaner
Country Lovers (1982)
Freddie's In Love (1971)
Die Bankrower (1973)
Die Vuurtoring (1984)
Taxi to Soweto (1991)

DAKAR
He divided his career into his pre- and post-Dakar periods. Before Dakar he had work. After Dakar he found himself out of business.

Hy was op 8 Julie 1987 een van die sogenaamde Dakar-gangers. Die afwesigheid daarná van enige werk van hom op TV was so opvallend dat dit op 7 Januarie 1989 in Fokus opgemerk is. Hy was sy tyd, tot ongemak van heersende ideologieë, vooruit, omdat hy sy eie mens was. Dit was die verwerwing van 'n erepenning van die Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns op 24 April 1992 vir sy bydrae tot die rolprent kuns.

TOMMY BEDFORD, oud-Springbok-rugbykaptein, is een van die vyftig Suid-Afrikaners wat vandag na Dakar in Senegal vertrek om met die ANC samesprekinge te voer. Ander name wat ook genoem is, is prof. Jaap Durand, Vise-rektor van die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland, prof. Ampie Coetzee, 'n hoogleraar in Afrikaans aan dieselfde universiteit, mnr. Riaan de Villiers, seun van 'n voormalige besturende direkteur van die Nasionale Pers, adv. David de Villiers, en mnr. Pierre Cronjé, PFP-LP vir Greytown.
Na verneem word, sal ''meer as 90 persent van die groep'' uit Afrikaners bestaan. Die samesprekinge is hoofsaaklik deur dr. Van Zyl Slabbert, 'n direkteur van die Instituut vir 'n Demokratiese Alternatief vir Suid-Afrika (Idasa), en die Afrikaanse digter Breyten Breytenbach - wat in Parys woon - gereël.

DIALOOG
Die vyftig Suid-Afrikaners sal met ANC-leiers - ook van die radikale lede - praat. Dr. Slabbert, wat reeds Vrydagaand na die buiteland vertrek het, het vroeër in 'n persverklaring gesê die samesprekings is 'n poging om die dialoog tussen Afrikaners en Afrika-nasionalisme aan die gang te sit. Dit is 'n poging om te praat oor 'n struktuur van regering en ekonomie in 'n toekomstige Suid-Afrika. Die samesprekinge is in groot geheimhouding gereël en mense wat genooi is, het op kort kennisgewing daarvan gehoor. Hulle sal in Londen byeenkom en van daar na Dakar, die hoofstad van Senegal, vertrek.
Die samesprekinge sal waarskynlik van Donderdag tot Saterdag duur. Hulle sal daarna ook Burkina Faso besoek en op 20 Julie na Suid-Afrika terugkeer. Mnr. Breytenbach, wat sewe jaar gevangenisstraf uitgedien het nadat hy in 1975 aan terrorisme skuldig bevind is, was nie gister vir kommentaar beskikbaar nie, maar sy suster, mej. Rachel Breytenbach van Grahamstad, het gesê hy is besig met ''baie belangrike dinge'' en wil nie deur die media lastig geval word nie.

DIREKTEUR
Na verneem word, sal die volledige lys name môre in Londen deur dr. Van Zyl Slabbert bekend gemaak word nadat al die lede van die afvaardiging daar opgedaag het.
Onder die ander lede van die afvaardiging is mnr. Leon Louw, uitvoerende direkteur van die Vryemarkstigting. Hy vertrek vanaand saam met die ander lede van die afvaardiging na Londen, het sy vrou gister gesê. Mnr. Franklin Sonn, Rektor van die Skiereilandse Technikon, het gister by navraag gesê dit is vir hom eties baie moeilik om enige vrae te beantwoord omdat hy 'n onderneming gegee het om niks oor die saak te sê nie.

GENOOI
''Ek het geweet ons sal die saak nie kan stilhou nie,'' is al wat hy wou sê. Prof. Deon Geldenhuys, hoof van die departement politieke wetenskappe aan die Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit, het bevestig hy is genooi om aan die beraad deel te neem, maar hy sal weens akademiese verpligtinge nie kan gaan nie. 'n Ander naam wat genoem word, is dié van mnr. Revel Fox, 'n Kaapstadse argitek. Hy is ook gevra om niks oor die saak te sê nie. 'n Familielid van mnr. Dick Enthoven, bekende Johannesburgse sakeman wie se naam ook as lid van die afvaardiging genoem word, het gister gesê hy is in Los Angeles en sal waarskynlik nie betyds terug wees om die beraad te kan bywoon nie. Nog name wat genoem word, is dié van proff. André P. Brink (skrywer), Jakes Gerwel (UWK), Johan van der Westhuizen (UP), Hermann Giliomee en André du Toit (UK), mnre. Christo Nel (Federasie van Nywerheidskamers), Pieter Schoeman (lid van die Presidentsraad), die rolprentmaker Manie van Rensburg, dr. Alex Borraine, mede-direkteur van Idasa, dr. Beyers Naudé, afgetrede hoofsekretaris van die SA Raad van Kerke, en mnr. Peter Gastrow, 'n PFP-LP. Bekendes in onafhanklike geledere tydens vanjaar se volksraadsverkiesing, soos mnr. Wynand Malan, LP, dr. Denis Worrall, prof. Sampie Terreblanche en mnr. Harald Pakendorf, is ook genooi, maar het dit nie aanvaar nie.

Volgens berigte in Sondagkoerante het mev. Danielle Mitterrand, eggenote van pres. Francöis Mitterrand van Frankryk, gehelp om die beraad te reël en sy sal as 'n spreker optree. Pres. Abdou Diouf van Senegal is ook 'n moontlike spreker.

The Dakar Declaration can be found at:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/pr/1980s/pr870612.html

SOURCES
Martin Botha's article "The Cinema of Manie van Rensburg:Popular Memories of Afrikanerdom", Kinema, Fall 1997 and Spring 1998
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/FINE/juhde/botha972.htm
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/FINE/juhde/botha981.htm
Kronieken van Zuid-Afrika : de films van Manie van Rensburg / Martin Botha, Hubert Dethier. Publisher Brussel : VUBPress, c1997.
Personal contact with Sasa Malan.

andre@rensburg.com