Nobs, I knew your late dad

Nobuntu Mkhize, I knew your late father, Khaba Mkize. Our 20-year stints on The Natal Witness in Pietermaritzburg coincided.

- Martin Williams

Your behaviour on a FlySafair flight on 26 December disproves the maxim, "the apple never falls far from the tree" - in Afrikaans, die appel val nie ver van die boom af nie.

The expression suggests family characteristics are indelibly inherited but you have shown this to be untrue. Your conduct is anathema to your father's legacy. Former colleague Khaba, who died in 2016, would not have behaved in the manner you did.

For years we exchanged ideas at daily editorial meetings, including "leader conferences", where topics worthy of comment in the paper were debated. Khaba was not shy about expressing controversial opinions, often robustly. But he was never abusive, even when others pushed sensitive buttons. Wherever you learned your manners, it was not from your dad.