Yusuf Bhamjee: a legacy of activism inspiring South African youth
The late Yusuf Bhamjee’s work ethic has also inspired the younger generation in South Africa, people heard during a memorial service in Durban on Saturday.
The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) legacy committee held a memorial service for Yusuf Bhamjee at the 1860 Heritage Centre in Durban.
Bhamjee was described as a committed patriot, exemplary leader, and lifelong activist.
Yeshelen Govender, speaking as a member of a “younger grouping“, spoke about the lessons that can be learned from the lives of the people like Bhamjee.
“He made a commitment to oppose injustice wherever and whenever it appears, in whatever form it appears, and to make the sacrifices necessary to fulfil his commitment,” Govender said.
Govender said that Bhamjee studied in Ireland and chose to return to South Africa. He joined the anti-apartheid Struggle whereas he could have remained in Ireland.
Govender said that Bhamjee could have gone elsewhere in the world, anywhere besides a country in which he would be classified as a member of an inferior race group that was being oppressed along with the other non-whites in South Africa.
“He did not take these easy paths. He came back to this country and endured the oppression, joined the liberation Struggle, and lived a life that saw the birth of a democratic South Africa,” Govender said.
Govender urged the youth to use the example of Bhamjee and others of his calibre to be inspired and continue their struggle against injustice.
Bhamjee, who died on January 3, represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 1994 until 2004. He was a member of the National Assembly between 2004 and 2007.
He then returned to the provincial legislature where he resigned in 2008 to become the mayor of the uMgungundlovu District Municipality, a position he would hold until 2016.
The speakers included former MP Don Gumede, former eThekwini municipality manager Michael Sutcliffe, and Sbu Khuzwayo, a municipal manager who worked alongside Bhamjee for a decade in uMgungundlovu District Municipality.
Gumede said South Africa has lost one of its greatest sons, a great patriot and a fountain of knowledge and wisdom in South Africans.
He added that wherever Bhamjee served, he submerged his differences in the achievement of a single goal – the complete overthrow of apartheid and its legacy.
“He knew that only a united movement could successfully undertake the task of the country with its history of oppression, division, and racial discrimination. He understood that there was no time for the luxury of disunity and division in search of selfish needs and wants, but instead, we had to close ranks and make our beloved motherland great among other nations by serving with dedication, humility and love for the people as we serve the nation at different levels,” Gumede said.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said Bhamjee was a trusted ally of the politics of values, the politics of principles and the politics that put people first.
“The struggle that is continuing will be weaker and poorer without Bhamjee,” he said.
Khuzwayo said that they turned the municipality around, from a R32 million deficit and not having a billing system to a well recognised entity.
“Bhamjee wanted activity or dust as he put it, on the ground and to put the money to good use. We put systems in place to collect revenue. The turnaround began. Revenue management was his area of interest and soon we began building the infrastructure for water,” Khuzwayo said.
Sutcliffe shared that Bhamjee was always alert at meetings and made sure his input was heard.
“Yusuf had the ability to sit through long and boring meetings and still be awake at the end of it while everyone else might have nodded off and give his interpretation of it. Yunus was in the thick of it all including building the foundation for democracy,” he said.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za
