LAWRIE Schlemmer, who has died in Cape Town at the age of 75, was one of SA’s most impressive, prolific and controversial social scientists.
His life was informed by an insatiable curiosity about what was happening in the country and what was likely to happen.
Nobody asked more probing questions or unearthed more unexpected, often politically incorrect, answers.
What distinguished his work was that it was based not on supposition and theory but on thorough research done, often by himself, in the field.
He believed too many academics who influenced government policy, particularly in areas of agriculture, rural development and labour law, were informed less by the facts on the ground than by ideology and wishful thinking.
Schlemmer was born in Pretoria on September 11 1936. After matriculating at Pretoria Boys High he studied art under Walter Battiss at the University of Pretoria.
After a spell as a social worker he studied sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand where he briefly lectured before moving to the University of Natal in Durban where he soon became a professor.
He was the author or co-author of some 300 publications and 15 books, president and vice-president of the SA Institute of Race Relations and the Helen Suzman Foundation, among others, and in constant demand as a speaker.
In between, he restored old cars – at the time of his death he had seven in his garden – or walked his dogs in the mountains above his Hout Bay home.
He died a week after being diagnosed with cancer that had spread throughout his body.
He is survived by his third wife, Monica, son Julian and daughter Lucia.