LOVED & LOST: Derek Watts (1948 - 2023)
Being around Derek Watts, you were always aware that he was physically a big man. But you soon forgot that he was quite a big deal around the TV studios of the country.
Squash players all said the same thing: "Hard as nails on the squash court -- a great guy to have a drink with."
Derek had the height, but he was perhaps too bulky to be a great squash player -- although he played at a fairly senior level, and he played the way he lived. He may not always have won, but he always gave his absolute best.
"To win a tough five-setter on the squash court at 17-15 and collapsing in the corner, drenched in sweat trying to catch your breath is an amazing feeling," he said in an interview with The Media Online. "In our little world, it's like winning a major."
Derek had been at Carte Blanche since its inception, but after 35 years he stepped aside. He candidly announced that he had lung cancer and he would devote his time to looking after his health.
Carte Blanche touched on many stories that the media, particularly television, shied away from and he was often challenged for working on a show that was negative in its nature.
He said they reflected what is going on below the surface of the nation.
"If that is depressing, then it does not augur well for our future," he said.
Born in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, he grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, but he was always a child of the city. While exposing the worst of Joburg in his programmes, his love for the city always came through.
But in his spare time he loved nature and specifically islands where he could lounge around, do some diving, read a few books and drink Johnny Walker Black and (yes) Coke.
It was easy to know that Derek loved dogs. He seemed to always be surrounded by dogs and he loved talking about dogs. And they loved him.
Derek's passing was not a surprise. Like many a squash game he fought to win until the very end but lost, he bravely fought his last battle, but the fight is over. He was 74 years old.
South Africa is a poorer place without him.
