Benito Adolfo Dekker born 21 October 1940 in
Centane, South Africa from newly arrived
Dutch immigrants and grew up in Vincent,
East London. He has two older brothers and two younger sisters. After
matriculation from
Selborne College at age 17 he was contracted for five years by the
Department of Forestry. After completing two years of study at
Saasveld Forestry College he was posted to Lottering Forest Station,
Tsitsikamma. While stationed there, he studied for and qualified in
surveying and
drift sand reclamation, leading to him travelling widely throughout South African, more than he would have done as a
forester. In 1962 as soon as his contract with the department of forestry was completed he commenced a
B.A. degree in
philosophy and
fine arts at
Rhodes University,
Grahamstown. To pay his way through university he worked as a
lifeguard. For his
master's degree in 1969 he wrote a thesis
Bantu Philosophy. His thesis was turned down and then blacklisted by every South African university. In 1970 he stood against
Sir De Villiers Graaff, the
United Party leader, in the general election in the
Rondebosch East constituency. With the slogan, "Stem lekker, Stem Dekker" (Vote Well, Vote Dekker). Also calling for
universal suffrage which at the height of apartheid was outside of political discourse. He challenged Graaff to a swimming race to
Robben Island. Instead of offices he obtained a fruit vendor's cart as a platform to speak from or just to recline in various parts of Rondebosch. He attracted enough supporters to at least retain his deposit. Considered politically dangerous his passport was suspended however he still managed to tour the whole of Africa, either on an
Amnesty International passport or none at all, hitching rides, sometimes getting flights by helping pilots load cargo. He was a master of living off the land, often spending the night with the locals in the
bushveldt. In 2018 he returned to Cape Town, and lived in a caravan in Woodstock. Ben Dekker subsequently returned to Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape. He currently (May 2025) resides in a home shared with a local family at Second Beach, where he continues his work as an environmental conservationist. == Productions taken part in ==