Durban - In a memorial service yesterday, former colleagues and comrades described Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) operative Rafiq Rohan as a compassionate and committed South African who dedicated his life to fight for justice.
Born in Overport, Durban, Rohan was found dead in his Morningside apartment last month, aged 60. He was a former journalist at Independent Media in the 1980s and 2000s, and later worked for other media including The Sowetan, Al Jazeera and the Government Communications and Information System.
He was recruited to the ranks of the MK while covering the funeral of ANC and SACP leader Moses Mabhida in Mozambique in 1986 and became part of special operations known only by top leaders, including ANC president Oliver Tambo.
Rohan was one of the last group of political prisoners to be released from Robben Island.
Aboobaker Ismail, better known as Rashid in the ANC and MK, said that in 1988 he recruited Rafiq and was his overall commander.
“Rafiq was a very dedicated comrade and carried out a lot of operations. He served the country well and was disciplined and dedicated to fight for the freedom of our people,” he said.
Hoosein Ismail, a close friend of Rohan, said his association with Rohan spanned 40 years. He described Rohan as someone who was inspired by Malcolm X and said he had decided that Islam was for him after following Malcolm X.
“In 1994 I visited Cape Town as a guest of my editor Farid Stayed from Muslim News. Rafiq was a journalist for Muslim News.
“When Rafiq was arrested in Durban, Faizel Dawjee who was editor at Al Qalam broke the news to us in Cape Town as I moved there in 1987.
“Receiving the news of his arrest, I knew this was going to be a long road for Rafiq. He was sentenced to 15 years and transferred to Robben island} he occupied the cell once occupied by Nelson Mandela,” he said.
His former colleague Gary Govindsamy said Rohan was a no-nonsense reporter. Govindsamy spoke of Rohan as a journalist who stood for the truth.
“He was every editor’s dream reporter, skilful and intelligent. I would trust him to put the paper to bed; he had a good news sense,” he said.