*Tribute by Buti Manamale, YCL National Secretary, to Prof. Kader Asmal* *23 June 2011*
Yesterday evening, one of the renowned politician and human rights activist, Prof. Kader Asmal, departed this mortal earth after suffering from a heart attack the day before. This is a loss to the family and South Africa in general, and also to his comrades. Prof. Asmal was one of the most outspoken political leaders of our time, and remained the compass for our revolutionary morality. He remained a vigilant activist against the rot of corruption that seeks to devour our movement and society. He was an utmost critic against false leadership and opportunism. Although, like all of us, he was fallible, he was always guided by the torch that was lit by the founders of the ANC and the entire liberation movement. His fallibility, seen in his resignation from cabinet and parliament when the Scorpions were outlawed, for instance, refusing to succumb to the will of the collective; was hailed as principle. Of course one can never chose what is principled and what is not especially when such determination are sometimes blurred by objective and subjective factors. I met Prof. Kader Asmal as a young and energetic 19 year old student representative in the National Advisory Board for Further Education and Training (NBFET) and as Deputy President of the South African Students Congress (SASCO). I have already heard of this short timer who was a chain-smoker, rough voiced, straight faced, intimidating force and an academic par excellence and a man of action. I have read some of his articles and documents, and knew his involvement in the ANC internal constitutional drafting and disciplinary processes, which made him the more intimidating. We quickly nicknamed him Papa Action due to the manner in which he wanted to approach education transformation and the need to be hands on by all structures. He spoke of ‘visible democratic victories’ for the education system, and emphasised that our people needed to not only visualise, but feel the changes in the education system. Over time, we began to scorn all of these as short-cut and half-baked solutions which were not sustainable. At the time, in the leadership of SASCO, and as the President of the South African Students Congress, we opposed the merger of both universities and Technical Colleges. However, this was a fight Prof. Asmal was determined to win, and he did. Not through the intimidating features of an academic authority. Not through the dictatorship of the Professorial title, but, through genuine engagements. He knew that there were, at the time, limits to our resistance and parameters to what we knew. He expected us to resort to mass action, which we did. But through late night engagements with the student movement—and the exhausted energies of marching to 123 Schoemann Street, the mergers took place. When Minister Blade Nzimande, himself a former Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Higher Education, announced last week that one of the mergers, University of Limpopo and Medunsa, will be reversed because it is not workable, I somewhat celebrated. But what we learned from those engagements was political and ideological tolerance, stretching the limits of our thinking and ensuring that we support our arguments with evidence and facts. In his usual self, even after he resigned from parliament and cabinet in 2007, Prof. Asmal refused to bow out of the political theatre and from the national discourse. Although we have differed with many of his views even then, he has forever remained the voice that shaked our conscience and reminded us of some of the significant virtues and traditions of our movement. As we bow our heads in your memory, note that a greater farewell can only come from bettering the lives of our people, ensuring that the constitution, even if changed, will be for the betterment of our society and that forever, human right as contained in our constitution and other international declarations, will forever remain as part of the broader anti-capitalist struggles. As young communists, we will forever keep your name and memory in the hall of fame of revolutionaries who were never ‘anti-communists’, but just ‘non-communist’. As we marshal all our forces and energies for a socialist future, your name shall remain amongst the many who made it possible for communists, like all other political ideologies, to enjoy the same legal right and to agitate for the kind of society they seek to build without subtle political or open legal threats. Robala ka Kgotso Issued by YCL National For more information, please contact Mafika Mndebele (National Spokesperson) Landline: (011) 339 3621 Cellphone: 073 574 5953 Cellphone: 082 567 3557 Email: [email protected] -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
