Maritz, Johan

South African Medical Journal (SAMJ)

SAMJ FORUMJuly 2006, Vol. 96, No. 7  SAMJcommitment to other public health and treatment approaches pending the anticipated and much hoped for favourable outcome of the Tanzanian Virodene studies. Myburgh concludes that to understand AIDS denialism one has to follow the money. Another failure in this story is that of the scientific and medical community. We have not understood the nature of denialism and the belief systems that make possible the rejection of scientific evidence.  We have failed to engage with those who are unconvinced by our argument, and unmoved by our impatience and sense of urgency. They do not believe our data or interpretation. We have not explained ourselves convincingly nor understood their scepticism.   That is a challenge for the scientific community – one that we have hardly begun to address, or even recognise. We are simply baffled. James Myburgh and Nicoli Nattrass, while contributing enormously to the record, leave it to the scientists to find the solution to AIDS denialism, and to do better.Peter FolbMartin GerberMarthinus Christoffel Gerber is op 5 April 1927 op Touwsrivier gebore. Daar het hy sy eerste lewensjare deurgebring en sy skoolopleiding begin. Hy het  in 1943 in die Kaap gematrikuleer en in 1950 sy mediese opleiding aan die Universiteit van Kaapstad voltooi. Martin het as algemene praktisyn begin werk op Clanwilliam en  Sterkspruit, distrik Aliwal-Noord, maar algemene praktyk het hom nie geval nie. Daarna het hy in narkose gespesialiseer aan die Universiteit van die Witwatersrand en Baragwanath-hospitaal. Hy het by dr. Leo Rautenbach se privaat praktyk aangesluit en vir baie jare in Johannesburg as spesialis narkotiseur gepraktiseer.  Hy het veral gewerk  by die Brenthurst-kliniek saam met drr. George Kuschke en Koos van der Wat, by die Rosebank-kliniek met dr. Willie de Vos, by die Kenridge-hospitaal met dr. Basie Pieterse, en by die Suidrand-hospitaal met dr. Siegfried Johannes.Hy was getroud met Mariska (née De Klerk) en hulle het 3 kinders gehad – Maretha, getroud en woonagtig in die Paarl, Marius, ‘n tandarts in Londen, en Wynand, met sy eie granietonderneming in Johannesburg.  Mariska het hom in 1987 ontval. In 1994 is hy met Maggie de  Klerk getroud; sy was egter nie familie van Mariska nie. Hulle het afgetree in Margate aan die  Natalse suidkus, waar hy sy laaste lewensjare deurgebring het. Hy het  as narkotiseur seker van die moeilikste krisisse denkbaar moes hanteer, soos  toe die suurstoftoevoerpype na die Boyle-masjien aan die brand geraak en vlam gevat het weens ‘n kortsluiting in die nabygeleë elektriese bedrading. Gelukkig kon die  betrokke pasiënt vinnig na ‘n aangrensende teater verskuif word en die episode het ‘n gelukkige einde gehad. Martin het jare daarna gespot dat sy grys hare te wyte was aan sulke krisisse. Hy het later ‘n ontydige terugslag gehad weens ‘n beroerte en moes ophou praktiseer.  Martin was ‘n stil mens. Hy het intens belanggestel in kuns en het ook ‘n groot versameling kunswerke van bekende kunstenaars gehad,  o.a. van W H Coetzer, met wie hy bevriend was. Sy eerste eggenote, Mariska, was  betrokke by kunswedstryde, en sy tweede eggenote, Maggie,  het ‘n lisensiaat in drama gehad. As sodanig was hy ten nouste betrokke by die kunste. Op 31 Augustus 2007 het Martin na ‘n kort siekbed op 80-jarige ouderdom gesterf. Aan sy 3 kinders, 3 kleinkinders en Maggie, wat hom getrou bygestaan het tot die einde, ons innige simpatie. Dit was ‘n voorreg om hom te ken.Johan Maritz Arthur David (Kin) Bensusan(13/06/1921 - 17/03/2007)My father, Arthur David (Kin) Bensusan, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 85, after a myocardial infarct while on holiday in New Zealand.Kin was born in Johannesburg in 1921, the son of a physician, schooled at St John’s College, and then commenced medical studies at Wits. He joined the South African Air Force on the outbreak of World War II and served in North Africa and Italy as an aerial photographer, having developed a great interest in photography at an early age. He completed his medical degree after the war, graduating in 1950, and entered general practice in Johannesburg. As a child, I remember accompanying him frequently on house calls, as well as patients arriving at our home at all hours of the day and night. Wits graduates may well remember him as ‘the residence doctor’. He was a founder member of the College of IN MEMORIAMPg 1266-1268.indd   1267 11/27/07   3:46:09 PM

Martin Gerber

http://samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/download/543/378

Martin Gerber

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South African Medical Journal (SAMJ)