Frank Meintjies-Activist, poet, traveler

I met Frank Meintjies briefly a few times many years ago in Durban in the mid to late 1980’s as far as we can put it together. He was working, as a communications officer for Diakonia.  He joined trade union federation COSATU around the same time.

Today Frank is a social activist and community organiser, a traveler and a poet. We spoke via Skype late last year when he was in Vietnam as part of a journey through SE Asia where he is looking for the radical Ubuntu that connects the marginalised around the world.

We lost the feed a few times and the sound quality is a bit iffy but it worked out okay. I suggest you wear headphones or listen in the car.

We spoke about his travels, his childhood in Pietermaritzburg and his work as an organiser and activist over the years including his brushes with the security services in those dark days.

We spend some time chatting about the current state of the trade union movement in SA and Frank reflects on how the movement can become more relevant in the age of populism and declining membership.

You can follow Frank's travels here

The photo is from Frank's blog page.