Dudley Saunders was busy shooting a programme in Soweto on Tuesday working for the British production company Arrow Media when he died following a freak accident involving a train.
Dudley Saunders was shooting an interview between train tracks in southern Soweto and wanted to get a speeding metro rail train in the backdrop. The speeding train brushed him as it came past, pulled him off balance and dragged him along. He died instantly.
Dudley Saunders' funeral will be next Tuesday, 7 January, which would have been his birthday.
Dudley Saunders, a veteran former SABC cameraman, and whose work ethic, demeanour, and legacy can only be described as legendary, also worked for Combined Artistic Productions which produces M-Net's long-running Sunday night magazine show Carte Blanche.
Dudley Saunders had been an on-the-go production stalwart behind the lens at Carte Blanche for many years, and in 2013 the absolutely fearless and resolute Dudley Saunders was the cameraman who filmed the majority of Carte Blanche's stories.
South Africa's television news industry is reacting with shock and sadness about the unexpected passing of Dudley Saunders.
"The entire Carte Blanche team is deeply mourning the death of the M-Net programme's principal cameraman, Dudley Saunders," George Mazarakis, Carte Blanche executive producer tells TV with Thinus in a statement.
"We have lost one of our greatest talents. Dudley was a key member of the Carte Blanche family and a true gentleman and consummate professional. His work ethic set high standards for all those lucky enough to work with him and his artistry created images that moved and inspired his audiences. It was a delight and a privilege to have known and worked with this awesome man among men! We will miss him dearly," says George Mazarakis.
"Can't believe how many camera crews and producers are grieving right now," said Derek Watts, Carte Blanche anchor. "[He] filmed the most volatile situations around the world but treated every shoot as a new challenge. Will miss him beyond words."
"Devastated to hear about Dudley Saunders - one of the best cameramen I ever filmed with," said Debora Patta, e.tv's former 3rd Degree anchor and now CBS News correspondent. "Filming with Dudley Saunders was always more than just a story - it was an adventure, a work of art and a hell of a lot of fun."
Devi Sankaree Govender, Carte Blanche presenter called Dudley Saunders her "brother and friend", saying he always had her back during confrontational interviews.
"Duds was one of the first cameramen I worked with when I started reporting for the SABC in 1996," Robyn Curnow, CNN International correspondent in South Africa and anchor of the weekly CNN Marketplace Africa tells TV with Thinus.
"I never studied journalism, I learnt my trade from working with him. He didn't do it on purpose - he just oozed confidence and knowledge. Pictures, words, angles, interviews ... he had a natural ability to support you and encourage you."
"We were kind of a team for many years, travelling the country and documenting Nelson Mandela's new South Africa for the nightly news bulletin."
"He would swagger into a newsroom, cigarette in hand, hair shaved bald and a camera slung over his shoulder. He wasn't just cool, he was also kind and extremely hardworking. Every story was important. Dudley would flirt with the interviewee, charm a stubborn policeman and be patient with an old pensioner."
"With Dudley there was always lots of adventures, Jack Daniels and damn good journalism," says Robyn Curnow.
Jimi Matthews, the SABC's head of news calls Dudley Saunders "a creative craftsmen" and his death "a singular loss".
Dudley Saunder's mother, Riah Saunders told SABC Television News that "my son was a very brave boy, courageous, honest, and a very unique child. Very loveable."
Dudley Saunders ironically was the cameraman on the 2010 TV documentary Surfing Soweto from Sara Blecher (work for which he also received a Safta nomination), following so-called "train-surfers" in Soweto who notoriously rode on top of trains as a dangerous form of sport and self-expression.
Two years ago in August 2011 Dudley Saunders was hit by stones but kept filming despite bleeding, while covering ANC Youth League and Julius Malema supporters going on a rampage in Johannesburg.
His work saw him travelling widely.
Being a cameraman for TV news and numerous investigative magazine shows, his name and work showed up when the credits rolled on shows over the past two decades on South African television and beyond, ranging from Special Assignment to 3rd Degree. As such Dudley Saunders was no stranger to dangerous situations where circumstances could often changed instantly.
In 1993, then working for CCV (the SABC's TV4 channel after a name-change) Dudley Saunders suffered serious injuries in Sharpeville and ended up in hospital after he was knifed and beaten by a group of 30 people while filming a story for SABC News. The SABC's TV reporter with him at the time, died after bleeding to death.
Dudley Saunders was also the cameraman for My Dead Husband's Land, the award-winning South African documentary film which won as best documentary in 2008 at the Baltimore Women's Film Festival.
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