[1] He began his career as a journalist in 1965 when he started working part-time at the SABC in Cape Town, while studying at the University of Stellenbosch.

He presented his first news bulletin on 26 November 1975 at 8:00 pm – the first story he read on that night was the sentencing of Breyten Breytenbach to nine years in jail.

In the mid-2000s, following the contract renewal issue, Cruywagen was once more the focus of popular culture in South Africa for a time, when a number of e-mail and internet jokes originally referring to Chuck Norris and David Hasselhoff were modified by using his name in their place.

South African-themed jokes in a similar vein were also circulated, mostly related to his perennially youthful appearance and intellectual prowess.

He also voiced the character when it was revived in a movie Haas Das hou konsert (Hare Tie Holds A Concert) in 2007.