IAF Africa Memorial Page

In the Africa region, we have lost several great facilitators and members in recent years, people who have contributed greatly to the profession and to the development of IAF in their countries and across Africa. 

We have developed this page to honour them and their contributions, we remember them all with great respect and humility.

"Allen was a highlyaccomplished professional with 25 years of experience, held a CPA, an MBA and an MSc, as well as advanced certifications in accounting, finance, and computing, and later in his career moved into the world of Facilitation.  Since joining IAF in 2020, he brought invaluable facilitation expertise, honed through his work on initiatives like the Africa Lead Champion for Change (2014–2017) and the CDM Smith Capacity Building Program (2018). Allen thrived in consulting, leadership, business development, and capacity-building at both the country level and with international organizations, including UN agencies and USAID programs. In September 2023, he volunteered to take up the role of leading the IAF Country Chapter’s partnership with leadership training institutes in Tanzania. Allen’s departure on January 9, 2024, marks the loss of a remarkable individual whose charm and selflessness left a profound impact on the facilitation community." - Aichi Ktalyi, IAF Tanzania Co-ordinator

Having practiced facilitation since the 1960s, Basil began facilitating before the concept was popularly acknowledged and remained a facilitator until just before his passing in October 2023. Over the years, he facilitated a range of groups and organisations in more than 30 countries in all continents, especially in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in different sectors. Central to a large part of Basil's work was in the development of a model for Recognising and Tracking Racism, Sexism, and other forms of Oppression (later known as the Social Inclusion model). In 2024, Basil was inducted post-humously to the Facilitation Hall of Fame.

In the 1970s and 80s, Basil lived in exile in the UK and then later in Botswana.In the UK, he was deeply involved in Community Organising and Anti-Racist struggles, including in what became known as “the Battle of Lewisham” in 1977, where thousands of people gathered to prevent members of the National Front from marching through a multi-racial area of South-East London.You can read more about the events in this article in the Guardian and we recommend this video from the London Community Video Archive that features an interview with Basil, who was one of the key Anti-Racist Organisers at that time in the area.

Together with Ashok Ohri and Wendy Davies, Basil also developed a Model for Recognising and Tackling Racism, Sexism and all forms of Oppression which, later, became known as the Social Inclusion model. This work became a centre-piece of his work for several decades and a continuous motivation not only for the three of them but for large numbers of people who experienced the workshop that was based around the Model.

Back in South Africa post-1994, Basil continued his work on anti-racism and anti-oppression through his work for many years with the Centre for Anti-Racism and Anti-Sexism (Ditshwanelo CARAS Trust). Please take time to read a talk that he gave in 2001 for the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) together with Barney Pityana and Franz Auerbach, which can be accessed here.

Basil wrote a powerful piece called Systemic Racism and the Challenge for Facilitators in March 2021 for the Global Flipchart, which can be read here. It was produced by the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), of which Basil was a member for several years.As a response to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the subsequent global anti-racism demonstrations which took place over many months, Basil also co-designed a powerful dialogue process, which was called “I Can’t Breathe” and that was run with many groups of facilitators, community workers and, later, UN Volunteers and staff. Please read more about how the process was developed in another piece in the Global Flipchart here that Basil co-wrote in September 2020.

Basil also made several valuable contributions to the Embrace Everyone blog and the thinking behind it, including this article, which he wrote in April 2021, called Use of Language and Collusion with Oppression. Another reference is made to a post here that was greatly inspired by Basil called Celebrating the Life of Bantu Stephen Biko, and another called Museums of Conscience in Azania, which can be accessed here.

Basil also trained, mentored and supported a large number of Facilitators across the African continent and beyond, including those who formed the Umoja na Usawa network of Social Inclusion Facilitators across East & Southern Africa, of which he was a life member. Basil generously and consistently shared his time, energy, knowledge and experience in nurturing others who would not only continue but strengthen and intensify his Social Justice and Anti-Oppression work.

Below we have posted a video of a talk given by Basil in 2020 as part of the AZAPO online political education series. The theme of his talk is “Black Consciousness and Afrikan Spirituality”, in which Basil talks in depth about the centrality of both of these themes to his life; he speaks about his relationship with Steve Bantu Biko, his identity as a Black South African of Mixed Descent, and his lifelong struggle against Racism, Sexism and other forms of Oppression.