Watts' death 'bitter pill to swallow'
South African investigative journalist Derek Watts' former colleague of 18 years, Devi Sankaree Govender says though his friends and family knew he was unwell, no one expected that the end would be so soon.
Watts has lost his battle with cancer.
He passed away earlier on Tuesday.
He's said to have gone peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.
He was a constant Sunday night feature in many South African homes for 35 years until he retired from Carte Blanche several weeks ago.
"Its pretty devastating. I just found out an hour ago. It is such a loss not just for the journalism fraternity in South Africa, this is a loss for South Africa. Somebody like Derek set the bar in terms of investigative television journalism.
"I watched him as a young 15-year-old. I saw him on Carte Blanche and I knew in that moment that is exactly what I wanted to do with my life and no now realise that that chapter is closed is definitely is a bitter pill to swallow. One of the first things I remember when I first started in 2002 he was such an encouraging man."
READ: Tributes pour in following Derek Watts' passing
Govender also shared some insights on her and Watts' working relationship.
"I was entering television coming from radio and I was suddenly this very small fish in a big pond and here was somebody who would constantly celebrate the achievements, chasing my crooks and catching them. He was always somebody would be say 'This is a great job and I am so glad you are doing it'."
"What many people don’t know is that in all those years, 35 year at Carte Blanche, Derek hated doing confrontations because he is a genuinely nice man and I think is was pretty the lead when I came on the scene."
