S African Chief Justice, Indian-origin struggle veterans honoured at gala event

South Africa's Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and several Indian-origin veterans of the struggle against apartheid were among those honoured here for their immense contributions against racial discrimination and corruption in the society.

The individuals were honoured during a gala event on Saturday hosted by the Congress of Business and Economics (CBE), an offshoot of the erstwhile Transvaal Indian Congress that played a major role in mobilising against the white minority government for decades.

Five individuals and organisations received the ‘CBE Ahmed Kathrada Excellence in Leadership Award’, named after the late Indian-origin leader who spent just one year less than Nelson Mandela in prison as political prisoners before being freed to become leaders in a democratic South Africa.

Zondo has been widely acclaimed for his role as head of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture that fingered the infamous Gupta brothers, now awaiting extradition in Dubai, as having unduly used their closeness to former President Jacob Zuma to bring several parastatal organisations to their knees through looting of billions of rands.

“Going forward, let us continue to do what we need to do to make the sacrifices that we need to make in order to make sure that we contribute every day to bringing down the levels of corruption in our country. We must make sure that state capture does not happen again,” Zondo said as he accepted the award on behalf of all those who had supported the Commission in its work.

Ismail Momoniat, currently the Director General of the South African Treasury, received an award for being involved in the anti-apartheid struggle from his youth.

Gift of the Givers, an internationally-renowned relief aid organisation started over 30 years ago by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, was also lauded.

Other organisations and individuals honoured during the gala event were Defend our Democracy, which has united civil society organisations to strengthening democracy; and Afrika Tikkun, which fosters socio-economic upliftment through education of youth.

Three awards titled ‘Celebrating Legendary Lives’ were also made to deceased veterans of the fight against apartheid.

The late Prof Fatima Meer received this award for spending the better part of her life working tirelessly to improve relationships with her fellow South Africans, promoting justice, reconciliation and non-violent action.

Rokayya Saloojee, the widow of Suliman ‘Babla’ Saloojee, accepted his award. Saloojee fell to his death from high-rise police building while being questioned by apartheid security police in the 1970s.

There are currently calls for an inquest that found it to have been a case of suicide to be reopened, as it is widely believed that he was thrown out of the window.

The third recipient of this award was the late struggle leader Chris Hani, who was assassinated on the eve of South Africa’s elections in 1994 that saw Nelson Mandela becoming the first democratically elected president of the country.

Over 400 guests at the annual gala, which returned after an absence of two years due to the Covid pandemic, also heard a panel of experts debate the topic ‘Is South Africa a Failed State?’ as resistance increases for the ruling ANC to be removed amid rampant corruption allegations against many of its members in government and in fighting for political positions as it nears its annual elective congress next month.

“We are presented with a government that fails miserably to inspire and it seems that the concentration at the moment is the governing party jockeying for positions at its 55th national elective conference, where the trajectory is likely to be characterized by multiple contestations over materialistic opportunities and political power,” Executive Director of the CBE, Yusuf Moosajee, said in his opening address.

Consensus among the participants was that it was in the hands of the electorate as individuals to bring about the change that is necessary in government in South Africa.

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