As South Africa approaches the first anniversary of its first confirmed case of Covid-19, in early March, Waarheid! introduces a new regular feature reflecting on the losses we have suffered under lockdown to our families,workplaces, organisations and communities.
Not everyone featured in these columns necessarily succumbed to the virus. What they have in common is leaving us at an extraordinary time of an accelerated death rate and diminished opportunities to perform our traditional departure rituals and societal tributes.
We request our readers to help us by emailing information on losses in their communities to media@forgood.org.za. Each month we will publish a sample. It is our way of acknowledging some of our loved ones and heroes.
This month, we honour South Africa’s king of cabaret, Alvon Collison, the Woodstock boy whose 3000 performances as Pharaoh in Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat made him a household name. Collison, who survived the sinking of the Oceanos cruise-ship off the Wild Coast in 1991, passed away in January 2021 after a lengthy illness.
The District Six/Woodstock/Salt River area has suffered severe losses over the past year.
Two highly respected doctors, Dr Fuad Jakoet and Dr Ebrahim Kahn, both of whom practised in Salt River for decades, passed away within weeks of each other, in June and July 2020. These doctors could be termed legends of their community. They were known for their generosity in tending to the needs of their people, including those who couldn’t afford to pay.
In a tribute to Dr Jakoet published on the Salt River Heritage Society’s Facebook page, he was described as regularly counselling his patients on troubling personal issues, besides treating their ailments. “Between himself and his brother they must have circumcised every new-born baby boy in the area.”
Another Salt River legend to pass away in July was Mr Shafiek April, the lifetime president of the Cape Malay Choir Board. His passion was the preservation of traditional Nederlandse Liedjies once sung by slaves. The choir board has thus far documented more than 500 such songs.
Then, in September, the community lost another larger than life son of its soil. Dr Anwah Nagia, the long-serving chairperson of the District Six Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust was 62-years-old. A successful businessman, he had been an activist since his schooldays at Trafalgar High, against apartheid, for justice in post-apartheid South Africa, and for justice for the people of Palestine.
* In January South Africa mourned the loss of Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu and jazz maestro Jonas Gwangwa. The GOOD Movement extends its deepest condolences to the families of all who have been lost over the past traumatic year.
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