Jan de Klerk's career spanned several decades at the SABC behind the scenes as a veteran cameraman and he leaves behind his wife and a two year old daughter. Funeral arrangements are not yet known.
Jan de Klerk is most noted for the several stories on which he worked in tandem with the investigative TV journalist Jacques Pauw for SABC3's Special Assignment for which the pair won numerous awards.
"We worked together from 1993 until 2007 for 13, 14 years," Jacques Pauw told the SABC. "We've probably produced 50 television documentaries him and myself, from half an hour to two hour special documentaries for mainly Special Assignment."
"As staff and management at the SABC we are deeply shocked and saddened by Jan's untimely passing away," says Themba Mthembu, the SABC's acting head of news and current affairs. "Jan was passionate and committed to his craft. In fact he stands among the best of the cameramen we've ever had at the SABC."
Karen d'Orville, an SABC colleague and friend told the SABC that "my impression of Jan was always that of a mentor. He's been an incredible mentor for junior journalists and producers in the field. He had an incredible ability to convey knowledge in a very patient way."
"I always remember him as someone who was very neatly dressed with a jacket," says SABC colleague Jan Singleton. "I remember him as someone who was always friendly, and always made time for a joke."