Hendrik W. (H.W.) van der Merwe

Who was Hendrik W. (H.W.) van der Merwe?

Professor Hendrik W. (H.W.) van der Merwe was a South African academic, Quaker, and a pioneer of conflict resolution. He founded the Centre for Intergroup Studies at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

His memoir, "Peacemaking in South Africa: A Life in Conflict Resolution" recalls how Van der Merwe in 1984 became the first to arrange meetings between the then-banned African National Congress in exile and newspaper editors.