Abu Baker Asvat () (23 February 1943 – 27 January 1989), also known as Abu Asvat
or Abu
nicknamed ''Hurley'' was a South African medical doctor who practised in
Soweto
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
in the 1970s and 1980s. A founding member of
Azapo
The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university leve ...
, Asvat was the head of its health secretariat, and involved in initiatives aimed at improving the health of rural black South Africans during
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.
In 1989, Asvat was shot dead in his clinic, and he died in the arms of his nurse,
Albertina Sisulu
Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu ( Thethiwe; 21 October 1918 – 2 June 2011) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and the wife of fellow activist Walter Sisulu (1912–2003). She was affectionately known as "Ma Sisulu" throughout her li ...
. His death has been linked to that of
Stompie Seipei
James Seipei (1974 – 1 January 1989), also known as Stompie Moeketsi or Stompie Sepei, was a teenage United Democratic Front (UDF) activist from Parys in South Africa. He and three other boys were kidnapped on 29 December 1988 by members of W ...
four weeks earlier,
with allegations that
Winnie Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She se ...
(whose personal physician Asvat was)
paid for his murder as part of a cover-up of Seipei's killing, being presented to South Africa's
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
.
[, ''The Independent'', 28 November 1997.][, ''The New York Times'', 2 December 1997.]
Early life and family
Asvat was born in
Fietas
Pageview is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Populated by non-whites, predominantly Indians, until the 1970s, it was one of two adjacent suburbs (Pageview, ...
into
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
family. His father was a shopkeeper, and he had two brothers. After attending the local high school, Asvat travelled to
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
for his tertiary education, spending time in
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
and
West Pakistan
West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...
, completing his medical studies in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
. While in Karachi, Asvat was involved in the student politics, founded a student organisation affiliated to the
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...
(PAC), and hosted its cadres en route to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Asvat married his wife Zorah in 1977, and they had three children.
Soweto surgery
After returning to South Africa when he completed his studies, Asvat obtained a post at Johannesburg's Coronation Hospital (now
Rahima Moosa Mother And Child Hospital
Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital is a maternity hospital in Coronationville, Johannesburg, South Africa. Prior to 2008, it was known as the Coronation Hospital.
History
The hospital was opened in October 1944 in the suburb of Coronationvil ...
). He became increasingly politicised when observing the racism of the white senior staff, segregated facilities, and racially unequal pay and conditions. He was fired after he confronted a white pharmaceutical representative who refused to speak to black doctors.
Asvat took over a small surgery in Soweto from his brother, and soon established a thriving practice, often treating more than 100 patients a day, often on a ''pro bono'' basis.
During the
1976 Soweto Uprising, Asvat treated numerous children who were shot by the police, and his surgery was guarded by residents of a nearby squatter camp. His activities made him known in political circles, and he soon came to be called "the people's doctor" in Soweto.
Asvat also opened a creche and soup kitchen for residents of Soweto's informal settlements.
In contrast to other township doctors, Asvat projected a humble image, and insisted on patients calling him "Abu".
Black consciousness movement
Asvat was drawn to the
black consciousness movement
The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...
in the aftermath of the 1976 uprising, which represented the only above-ground resistance movement in Soweto, at the time, and he was attracted to
Steve Biko
Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...
's conception of blackness.
He was an important link between
Lenasia
Lenasia, often called Lenz, is a suburb south of Soweto in the Gauteng province, South Africa, originally created to house Indians. It is part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Lenasia is approximately 35 kilometres sout ...
, the Indian township that he lived in, and neighbouring Soweto, discarding the racial and social taboos of the time.
Asvat was beaten, and had his life threatened by a
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...
policeman in 1978, as part of an ongoing campaign of harassment.
Cricket
Asvat, a keen
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, was involved in the desegregation of the sport in the
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
. He played for a team called The Crescents in Lenasia.
He initially embraced an attempt by
Ali Bacher
Aron "Ali" Bacher (born 24 May 1942) is a former South African Test cricket captain and an administrator of the United Cricket Board of South Africa.
Personal life
Bacher was born in May 1942 in Roodepoort to Lithuanian- Jewish parents who emi ...
in the late 1970s to allow black teams to compete at white grounds ("Normal Cricket"), however, he became disillusioned after realising that facilities at white cricket venues remained racially segregated. He co-founded the Transvaal Cricket Board (TCB), which rejected Bacher's "multi-racial" approach to the sport, which the TCB saw as perpetuating the racial divisions of apartheid, and instead embraced a "non-racial" vision, which rejected Apartheid racial divisions. The TCB organised successful boycotts against Normal Cricket initiatives, and the TCB league grew under Asvat's leadership.
Asvat voluntarily stepped down as leader of the TCB in 1981, but remained a cricketer for the rest of his life, playing for the Crescents, and organising a junior league in the late 1980s.
Azapo Health Secretariat
In 1982, Azapo created the Community Health Awareness Project (Chap). As part of this initiative, Asvat and others would travel throughout South Africa on weekends, towing medically equipped
caravans funded by Asvat, providing healthcare to neglected non-urban areas, sometimes treating between 150 and 500 patients in a weekend, and providing health lectures to groups of up to 6 000 people.
In 1984, as part of this project, he compiled a 20 page manual on basic healthcare. Thousands of copies were distributed, in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Sotho Sotho may refer to:
*Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana
* Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...
,
Northern Sotho
Northern Sotho, or as an endonym, is a Sotho-Tswana language spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa. It is sometimes referred to as or , its main dialect, through synecdoche.
According to the South African National Census o ...
and
Zulu.
He also worked with the Black Allied Mining and Construction Workers Union (BAMWCU) to expose conditions in South Africa's
asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
mining towns, where children played in exposed mine dumps, and
asbestosis
Asbestosis is long-term inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis, scarring of the human lung, lungs due to asbestos, asbestos fibers. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, and chest pain, chest tightness. Complications may include ...
was common in mineworkers.
Asvat and his associates also traveled to the
Vaal Triangle
The Vaal Triangle is a triangular area formed by Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and Sasolburg about 60 km south of Johannesburg, South Africa. The area forms a substantial urban complex. Meyerton, just north of Vereeniging, is also generally ...
during unrest in there in 1984, to treat those hurt in the violence, and to document injuries inflicted by the apartheid security forces.
By the mid-1980s, Asvat was commonly quoted in major newspapers, and became a prominent voice in the anti-apartheid movement on health issues. In 1988, he criticised the apartheid government's handling of the emerging
AIDS epidemic
The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...
.
He also had a regular column in
The Sowetan
''The Sowetan'' is an English-language South African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregated township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng Pr ...
where he answered readers' health questions.
1980s
Asvat hired anti-apartheid activist Albertina Sisulu to work as his nurse, in 1984. Sisulu was the wife of then-imprisoned ANC leader
Walter Sisulu
Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), h ...
and a co-president of the
United Democratic Front (UDF).
Sisulu was unable to practice as a nurse due to
banning order
__NOTOC__
This list of people subject to banning orders under apartheid lists a selection of people subject to a "banning order" by the apartheid-era South African government. Banning was a Political repression, repressive and Extrajudicial punis ...
s placed on her by the apartheid government, however Asvat employed her, paid her when she was detained by the apartheid security forces, and allowed her to visit her husband at
Robben Island
Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...
frequently.
Despite sharp political differences between the UDF and AZAPO, that erupted into violence-resulting in many deaths and injuries-Albertina Sisulu and Asvat continued working together, and treated casualties from both sides of the conflict.
Asvat became involved in the plight of Soweto squatters, and would rush into Soweto at night in order to assist those whose shacks were under threat by the Soweto Town Council (a structure created by the apartheid government), and the West Rand Administration Board (WRAB). His actions brought him into increasing conflict with these bodies.
He would often arrange emergency alternative shelter in Lenasia, and would, occasionally feed or house displaced persons in his own home.
Asvat was elected president of the newly formed Lenasia-based People’s Education Committee (PEC), despite his Black Consciousness ideology differing from the pro-ANC views of the rest of the organisation. The PEC aimed to enable black youths to be educated after township schooling was severely disrupted in the aftermath of the 1976 riots. Among the programmes of the PEC, was a campaign to get black African children admitted to
House of Delegates-run segregated Indian schools. This campaign attained some success, and by 1990, 15% of students in Lenasia came from the surrounding African areas.
During the 1986 State of Emergency in South Africa, and with Asvat underground, an attempt was made by unknown forces to fire-bomb his home in Lenasia.
Eight months later, Asvat survived an attempted stabbing by two assailants at his surgery, where he was slightly wounded in the face. Albertina Sisulu raised the alarm with neighbours, while Asvat fended an assailant off.
Asvat's wife was also routinely harassed by special branch police at home.
In 1988, a gunman pulled a weapon on Asvat, but fled when a patient entered the room.
Also in 1988, the authorities decided to develop the squatter camp where Asvat's practice was situated in the "Chicken Farm" area of Soweto. However, Asvat refused to move, unless alternative accommodations were provided for his practice. He and Albertina Sisulu continued working in the practice, even when the authorities cut power to his surgery. Asvat eventually moved his practice to Rockville in Soweto, where he continued to be harassed by the Security Police.
Murder
On the afternoon of 27 February 1989, two men arrived at Asvat's surgery, claiming to need treatment.
Once admitted to the surgery by
Albertina Sisulu
Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu ( Thethiwe; 21 October 1918 – 2 June 2011) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and the wife of fellow activist Walter Sisulu (1912–2003). She was affectionately known as "Ma Sisulu" throughout her li ...
, they drew a firearm and shot Asvat twice, killing him.
Sisulu sat next to him as he died, as she waited for an ambulance, later telling Asvat's relatives that "My son died in my hands".
In the period immediately before the murder, Asvat became uncharacteristically fearful,
and the night before his death, he drove home on a flat tyre, telling his wife that he thought that an unspecified 'they' were trying to set him up for attack.
He appeared to be extremely distracted the night before his death, and made two attempts to see his lawyers the next morning.
Investigations into Asvat's murder led to two suspects, Zakhele Mbatha and Thulani Dlamini. They were sentenced to death, with the motive being described as robbery (the sentences were commuted following the abolition of the death penalty in South Africa). However, Asvat's family found that no money had been taken, and the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
found that the police were negligent in hastily ascribing a motive of robbery to the attack, and for failing to thoroughly investigate the attack.
Within days of Asvat's killing, rumours began to circulate linking his death to
Winnie Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She se ...
. Asvat and Winnie Mandela had first made contact during one of Asvat's rural clinics in
Brandfort
Brandfort, officially renamed Winnie Mandela in 2021, is a small agricultural town in the central Free State province of South Africa, about 60 km northeast of Bloemfontein on the R30 road. The town serves the surrounding farms for supplies ...
, where she had been banished by the apartheid government. Asvat and Winnie Mandela established a soup kitchen and clinic, and he assumed responsibility for her care, with Asvat sometimes driving to Brandfort in the middle of the night to treat her. Mandela would regularly dine with the Asvat family after she returned to Soweto from Brandfort, and attended parties at the Asvat home.
Soon after Asvat's murder, Winnie Mandela gave an interview to a Sunday newspaper claiming that he was killed because he could corroborate (baseless
) allegations that Methodist minister
Paul Verryn
Paul Verryn (born 26 February 1952) is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. Known for his anti-apartheid activism, he was Bishop of the church's Central District between 1997 and 2009. During that period, he was a ...
had molested
Stompie Seipei
James Seipei (1974 – 1 January 1989), also known as Stompie Moeketsi or Stompie Sepei, was a teenage United Democratic Front (UDF) activist from Parys in South Africa. He and three other boys were kidnapped on 29 December 1988 by members of W ...
.
However, media sources soon began to report on rumours that Asvat had been killed at the behest of Winnie Mandela, as he had examined the boy, and insisted that he be taken to hospital due to the severity of his injuries following the assaults by Mandela's security detail, thus making Asvat's death part of an alleged cover-up orchestrated by Winnie Mandela.
In 2018 a new biography of Winnie Mandela by Fred Brigland argued that she was behind the murder of Asvat.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
One of Winnie Mandela's supporters, Katiza Cebekhulu, testified at the TRC that he had witnessed a "volcanic row" between Mandela and Asvat, after Asvat refused to back Mandela's (baseless) charges that Verryn had sodomised boys. The hearings were later adjourned amid claims by TRC lawyers that witnesses were intimidated on Winnie Mandela's orders.
[, BBC.co.uk, 1 December 1997.]
Mbatha and Dlamini both claimed in testimony to the TRC that Winnie Mandela had paid them R20,000
(equivalent to $8,000 at the time), and that she provided them with a gun
[, ''The New York Times'', 2 December 1997] to kill Asvat. Both also claimed to have been intimidated by Mandela prior to testifying at the TRC.
Mbatha also claimed that he had immediately implicated Mandela in the murder, but was forced by police to change his confession to the attack being a robbery, due to torture.
It emerged that Dlamini's 1989 confession implicated Winnie Mandela, but it was not presented by the police to the court trying Mbatha and Dlamini, with the police justifying the suppression by arguing that the confession was "at odds" with their investigation.
A group of men in combat fatigues associated with Winnie Mandela were accused by Mbata's lawyers of attempting to intimidate his family during a TRC hearing.
Winnie Mandela's lawyer exposed inconsistencies in their testimony.
When Albertina Sisulu testified, she failed to corroborate an appointment card that would have placed Winnie Mandela at the surgery on the morning of the killing, claiming to have forgotten much about the day of the murder.
When it was hinted at by a TRC commissioner that Sisulu did not want to be remembered in history as having implicated a comrade, she denied this.
During her own testimony to the commission, Madikizela-Mandela denied the allegations.
The final report of the TRC stated that the Commission was unable to verify the allegations implicating Winnie Mandela in the murder of Asvat, and criticised the police for too quickly jumping to the conclusion that the motive for the murder was robbery, and for not investigating the apparent connection between Cebekhulu and Dlamini's accounts of the killings, and it referred to Mbatha and Dlamini's (the murderers) testimonies as not being credible.
Subsequent developments
In January 2018, prior to Winnie Mandela's death, ANC MP
Mandla Mandela
Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela, MP (born 21 June 1974) is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He graduated from Rhodes University with a degree in Politics in 2007.
Succession to the chieftaincy
...
,
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
's grandson by his first wife,
Evelyn Mase
Evelyn Ntoko Mase (18 May 1922 – 30 April 2004), later named Evelyn Rakeepile, was a South African nurse. She was the first wife of the anti-apartheid activist and the future president Nelson Mandela, to whom she was married from 1944 to 1958 ...
, called for the Winnie Mandela's role in the Asvat and Sepei murders to be probed.
Funeral
Asvat was buried in accordance with Muslim rites the day after he was murdered. Thousands of people,
both African, and Indian, attended his funeral at
Avalon Cemetery
Avalon Cemetery is one of the largest graveyards in South Africa. It was opened in 1972, during the height of apartheid, as a graveyard exclusively for black people. The huge extension was officially opened on 9 February by Matshidiso Mfikoe, at ...
, and marchers in the funeral procession
toyi-toyi Toyi-toyi is a Southern African dance used in political protests in South Africa.
Toyi-toyi could begin as the stomping of feet and spontaneous chanting during protests that could include political slogans or songs, either improvised or previously ...
ed and had sung struggle songs on arrival at his home prior to the funeral procession. Apartheid police who attempted to seize Azapo banners were driven off by Lenasia residents, and many women were present at his burial.
Legacy
The section of the
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
linking Soweto to Lenasia was renamed Abu Baker Asvat Drive by the post-apartheid government.
A junior cricket tournament was instituted in Asvat's memory, in 2002.
References
External links
Winnie Mandela and the people's doctor'Winnie hired me to kill Dr Asvat'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asvat, Abu Bakr
1943 births
1989 deaths
Deaths by firearm in South Africa
People murdered in South Africa
South African activists
South African general practitioners
South African people of Gujarati descent
Assassinated South African activists
South African Muslim activists