Obituary-Howard Burditt, long-serving Reuters photographer in Zimbabwe

Veteran Reuters Zimbabwean photographer Howard Burditt died in his sleep from heart failure on June 4 in Cape Town. He was 67.

Burditt had suffered from poor health including fluctuating blood pressure, his family said.

For many years he covered Zimbabwe’s tumultuous history after independence from Britain in 1980.

During violent elections in 2008 he was arrested for using an unregistered satellite telephone to transmit photographs to Reuters during a clampdown against the press ordered by then President Robert Mugabe. Burditt was detained for three days in a provincial jail notorious for its harsh and filthy conditions in the town of Bindura. 

Appearing in court, he pleaded guilty to unknowingly using a phone that had not been licensed under the draconian Broadcasting Services Act and was sentenced to two months imprisonment on the condition of ‘good behaviour’ over the following five years. The sentence was rescinded after a fine of ZW$ 20 billion was imposed, equivalent in the beleaguered, inflationary economy of the day to about US$ 30.

Burditt went on to cover events around southern Africa, contributing to the region’s photographic history. He later stepped back from his cameras and began renovating historic homes and buildings.

He leaves his wife Vanessa and their adult sons Sam and Jake ■