JP van Niekerk is one of those rare medical academics who somehow managed to be dean of UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences and still appear to enjoy humanity — even medical students.

He edited the South African Medical Journal for years, and amazingly still had enough ink left to help found other journals as well.
Whenever committees needed gravitas, common sense, or a good one-liner — JP was mysteriously volunteered.

He has been president of more medical bodies than most of us have had scope-creep diagnoses.  He also helped shape international medical-education standards… so if you think doctors today look younger — blame JP.

For 13 years he chaired the Hospice Palliative Care Association — long before “end-of-life care” became fashionable TED-Talk material.  He is also a founder member of the South African Drug Policy Initiative — which means JP talks sense about drugs… without having to take any.
 

Before the hips protested, he played squash at provincial level for 15 years — and for South Africa at veteran level — proving that administrators can, in fact, still move. 

His storytelling is legendary. His raise-an-eyebrow rebuttals even more so.  Though he retired from UCT, he has not retired from opinions — or from being highly quotable over lunch.  JP’s wit, breadth of service, and perfectly-timed dry humour make him the sort of emeritus professor who makes the rest of us wonder  whether we wasted our careers by not founding at least three journals.

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For more formal tributes see: Duncan Martin, Peter Cruze, Neil Brathwaite, Tony Heher  - and hopefully more to come.