HAMBA KAHLE KADER ASMAL |
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Kader Asmal was one of the first endorsers of SAWIP. His letter of endorsement was instrumental in garnering support for SAWIP in South Africa, USA and Ireland. It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Professor Asmal. He was an independent thinker and a fearless leader.
Kader Asmal met ANC president Chief Albert Luthuli while he was still at school and decided he would study law after school to oppose the Apartheid mentality. After his matric year Kader left South Africa to pursue his studies. He graduated from the London School of Economics in 1963 and went on to become a professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin where he lectured for 27 years.
Kader was a founder of both the British and Irish Anti-Apartheid Movements. He was also involved in civil rights campaigns in Northern Ireland and Palestine. When he returned to South Africa, in 1990, he became a member of the ANC’s executive committee. In 1994 Asmal was elected to Parliament where he served as Minister of Water and Forestry under President Mandela and then as Minister of Education under President Mbeki. In 2008 Professor Asmal retired form Parliament and became a professor extraordinary in the faculty of law at the University of the Western Cape.
Thank you for your service to South Africa and Humanity at large, Rest in Peace Kader Asmal.
Michael Currin (SAWIP Board Member) |
Recently South Africa lost an exceptional man. Kader Asmal passed away on June 22nd 2011 after suffering a heart attack and slipping into a coma.
