Rudie van Rensburg

Rudie van Rensburg (1951-) is a journalist, publicity manager, painter, author and playwright.

Has also used the nom de plume Phil Janse

Biography

Born on 6 Oktober 1951 in Bloemfontein, where he matriculated at the Hoërskool Sentraal and obtained a BA and a teaching diploma at the University of the Free State. He then completed a BA (Hons.) in Communication Studies at Unisa.

His career began as a journalist at Die Volksblad in the 1970s, and in 1982 became the founder of Bloemnuus. Later he became the editor of Die Ekonoom. He was also attached to the marketing department of the skakelburo for a while before he moved to Cape Town to join the insurance company Sanlam[1] in 1987, to serve as manager of marketing and sponsorships.

He is also an accomplished cartoonist and painter, with his works represented at local exhibitions as well as collections abroad, and in 2008 took up writing as a secondary career, beginning with a stage play before moving on to detective and comic fiction.

In 2008 he retired from Sanlam to concentrate on his painting and writing, while working as a part-time language editor for the TygerBurger.

Married to Lize and the couple have three children, MC, Neil en Amieke.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

He began his career as writer with the play Die Begrafnis ("The funeral"), submitted under the pseudonym Phil Janse. The play was performed at all the major festivals by the University of the Free State in 2008 and won the Sanlam-prys vir Afrikaanse Teater that year. The text was published by Genugtig Uitgewers publishers and in 2021 the text was adapted for radio and broadcast by RSG.

Some of his prose works have been filmed, including Pirana and Kamikazi.