Steve de Gruchy's body found

Steve de Gruchy's body has been found, three days after he went missing on Sunday. Mercury:

The body of Professor Steve de Gruchy, head of the school of religion and theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Pietermaritzburg campus, was found in the Mooi River by police divers and dogs on Wednesday.

Inspector Jack Haskins, of the K9 search and rescue team, said the body had been found about 700m downstream from where De Gruchy, 48, was last seen.

I did not know him well, having only met him occasionally at academic conferences and the like, but his contribution to the Christian struggle against apartheid, and his documentation of it, is well known.

He was the author of several books, including:

The Church Struggle in South Africa: 25th Anniversary Edition

by John W. de Gruchy, Steve de Gruchy

Several other bloggers have written about him too:

• Living In Grace: Rest in Peace Steve
• Wessel's place: Steve de Gruchy
• a piece of my mind....: they never die
• Carpenter's Shoes: Steve de Gruchy
• Of life, laughter and liturgy . . .: In memory of Steve de Gruchy
• Dion Forster - An uncommon path - BLOG - Please pray for Prof Steve de Gruchy and his family

Vyechnaya pamyat! May his memory be eternal!

UKZN professor missing

There have been reports on Twitter that Professor Steve de Gruchy has been missing since Sunday after tubing at Mooi River.

Professor Steve de Gruchy is an ordained minister in the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), Professor of Theology and Development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He also serves as Head of the School of Religion and Theology, and has been Editor of the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa since 2003.

The most recent news on Twitter, at the time of writing, was:

delmelinscott Please pray for Prof Steve De gruchy. He is missing after a tubing incident in Mooi River yesterday. http://myloc.me/43IkH

posted 19 hours ago.

I have been working with Steve de Gruchy's father, Professor John de Gruchy of the University of Cape Town, on a research project on the history of the charismatic renewal movement in Southern Africa.

Update 24 Feb 2010

New reports say that since there has been no sign of him since Sunday, he is presumed to have drowned.

Memory eternal!