Fink Haysom fought tirelessly for justice and reconciliation – in South Africa and on the global stage

The preamble of the South African constitution of 1996 starts as follows: We, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past, Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land, Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country, and Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. It is fitting to start with this reminder, given the extent to which these phrases sum up and embody the life and work of Nicholas (Fink) Haysom, who died in New York City on Wednesday 18 March 2026, a month short of his 74th birthday. Tributes have poured forth from a wide range of people and quarters, appropriately given the geographical reach and indefatigable energy which characterised Haysom’s life’s work. This tribute is more limited in scope: given my own friendship and shared experiences with him, it focuses overwhelmingly on the first half of his working life, during the last two decades of apartheid South Africa and the transitional phase to the progressive and robust constitutional democracy that came with liberation. Notwithstanding the significant impact of his work for the United Nations from the year 2000, the qualities forged in Haysom by his intense involvement in the struggle for democratic practices both in the workplace and wider society under the extreme hostility of the apartheid capitalist order shaped his approach to conflict and strife, wherever it occurred. It would be remiss, however, not to note the main spheres to which he devoted so much of his life. For the record, his full names were Nicholas Roland Leybourne Haysom. But he was universally known as Fink, to all comers, and most of us who knew him cannot think of calling him otherwise. His early life Haysom was educated at a privileged Anglican college in South Africa’s Natal province during the 1960s. He went on to study at the University of Natal in Durban, where he completed an honours degree in politics. Durban in the early 1970s was the setting for the nurturing and development of a number of students who became significant activists in the anti-apartheid cause. Many were inspired by the views and mentoring of academics like Rick Turner, an academic activist who was shot and killed at his home by the apartheid regime in 1978. Among them was a future partner in their law firm, Halton Cheadle. These students were involved in supporting the strike action by dock workers in Durban port in 1972/3, which signalled the revival of independent trade unionism among black workers. Haysom then moved to the University of Cape Town to complete his LLB (law) degree in 1978. It was in these years that he rose in prominence among the ranks of anti-apartheid activists. The National Union of South African Students (Nusas) had long been a thorn in the side of the regime. But it was rocked to its foundations in 1972 following Steve Biko’s establishment of the South African Students Organisation, founded on black consciousness. The apartheid regime simultaneously convened the Schlebusch Commission of Inquiry into four “radical” opposition movements, among them Nusas. By 1976, only two campuses remained affiliated to Nusas: the University of Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). At the annual congress, held at Wits in December 1976, Haysom was elected president, with the task of galvanising support for Nusas on campuses as well as in broader society, in the aftermath of the 1976 Soweto uprising (when protesting black school students were killed by police). His leadership and energy, as well as his ability to engage meaningfully with people from very diverse backgrounds and ideologies, revived Nusas. The organisation was also able to forge links more broadly across other anti-apartheid organisations within the country. Haysom was harassed and detained without trial – then and in the ensuing years. After graduation, he entered the attorneys’ profession. In 1982 he became a founding partner, with Halton Cheadle and Clive Thompson, of the firm Cheadle Thompson & Haysom – still very much thriving today. During the 1980s it was one of the very few firms of “struggle” attorneys. The firm worked closely with the emergent independent trade union movement among black workers, as well as other civil movements resisting the consolidation of apartheid in urban and rural areas. Daily life was extremely tough, and it took its toll on him and those with whom he worked. He simultaneously held an appointment as an associate professor at Wits. The creation of a democratic state Haysom was a member of the constitutional committee of the African National Congress and played a critical role in the negotiations which led to the constitutional settlement of 1994. Again, his human qualities of being able to relate patiently and empathetically to so many diverse groups of people, both among the oppressors and the oppressed, and his great capacity to enjoy good social occasions served him – and the cause of freedom and justice – very well. Many today unjustifiably downplay the dire risks inherent in the negotiations process, and the possibility of a resort to scorched earth tactics by the apartheid regime. If it was not for a few key participants on all sides in the mould of Fink Haysom, such disastrous consequences would have been realised. President Nelson Mandela’s assessment of the value of Haysom’s qualities and contributions was realised by his appointment as constitutional and legal counsel in the Office of the Presidency, until 1999. Others have written about the myriad ways in which Mandela relied on Haysom in the heady but often tortuous years of his presidency, during which the constitution was drafted and adopted. The international stage Haysom was not retained by President Thabo Mbeki. His professional skills and experience were then devoted to mediating conflict and endeavouring to bring peace to many areas in Asia and Africa, in the service of the office of the secretary general of the United Nations. The list of his areas of engagement reads like a collection of the sites of major conflicts over the past 25 years: Burundi, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, southern Africa, South Sudan. He served under three secretaries general of the UN, the formal title given to his last and incomplete engagement being the Special Representative and Head of UN Mission in South Sudan (from 2021 till his death). In recognition of such exemplary service in the cause of human rights, constitutionalism and conflict resolution, both in South Africa and internationally, Haysom was awarded an honorary doctorate in law by his alma mater, the University of Cape Town, in 2012, matched in 2019 by the New York Law School. Haysom was a gregarious, ebullient person, who enjoyed good food and drink and good company. Born to a privileged lifestyle, he responded not by accepting his status and its material rewards, but by devoting his life’s work to addressing conflict and improving the lives of the poorest sectors of humanity. The burdens occasioned by the blocking of his efforts and the obstinate clinging to brutal power and the unjustifiable resort to brutality and greed by so many with whom he had to engage wore him down: anyone who looks at a photograph of him, even in middle age, and compares it with one taken in the past ten years will be shocked by the changes. His responsibilities also took their toll on family life and other non-work pursuits. Most people would have been tempted to quit, faced by these odds. Yet he remained in office, as a warrior for justice and reconciliation, until his death. Especially now, humankind needs many more like him in positions of influence.

Hugh Corder has in the past received funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa. He is a director of Freedom under Law (not for profit company) and a member of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC).