Veteran Indian-origin activist Rashid 'Ram' Salojee passes away in South Africa

Prominent Indian-origin apartheid-era activist Dr Rashid Ahmed Mahmood has died in South Africa. He was 87. Mahmood passed away peacefully in his Lenasia residence in Gauteng Province on Wednesday. He was not receiving treatment for any major health complication at the time of death.

Fondly called Rashid 'Ram' Salojee due to his initials, Mahmood lived and worked as a surgeon in Lenasia, a township created to resettle Indian migrants. Salojee was a leading figure in the Liberation Movement in the 1980s and 90s, which eventually led to the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. At the end of the liberation struggle, Mandela had become the first democratically-elected president of South Africa in 1994.

Salojee had been detained several times during the emergencies imposed by the minority White apartheid government. Several ban orders were placed on him, but Salojee defied them and continued to host civic, provincial and national resistance organisations, including the erstwhile Transvaal Indian Congress, an organisation similar to the Natal Indian Congress started by Mahatma Gandhi. In 1993, Salojee had accompanied Mandela on an African National Congress (ANC) delegation to Iran, France and Saudi Arabia.

After Mandela's election as president, Salojee served as a Member of Parliament, Senator and Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. "Dr Salojee had a remarkable ability to blend his civic, political, moral and spiritual activism," said Dr Ismail Vadi of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation in a tribute.

"Even as he fought alongside leading figures in the national liberation movement, he never lost sight of mobilising and organising (forces) in his local community. He fought for social justice, religious tolerance and national liberation," Vadi said. Salojee received numerous local and national awards for his lifelong community service, which also included work in the local community's health sector.

Salojee was buried in accordance to Islamic rituals. A limited number of family members and friends were allowed at the funeral, following COVID-19 lockdown regulations. The veteran activist is survived by daughter Yasmin and son Mahmood, and their children.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)