The late anti-Apartheid activist and medical doctor, Kesaveloo Goonaruthnum Naidoo, will be honoured with a memorial marble bust at the Shri Mariamman Temple in Mount Edgecombe, north of Durban.

Dr Goonam, as she was known, died in 1999.

The Mount Edgecombe Hindu Trust, the Shri Mariammen Temple Society, and the Mount Edgecombe Arts and Cultural Council will unveil the bust of Dr Goonam on Women’s Day, Friday August 9.

Chairman of the Shri Mariamman Temple, Seelan Achary, said the Shri Mariamman Temple Society and Trust took a decision to honour heroines and heroes, particularly those who fought and gave their lives for our freedom and democracy.

“In addition to worshipping and revering Mother Mariamman, we decided that we should honour our women leaders,” said Mr Achary.

“Dr Goonam was a woman who stood her ground, she was a true activist and a servant of the people. We need leaders like her today. She was a spirited woman, a mother, a medical doctor and a community and political leader. She was a visionary, she fought against Apartheid and demanded equality for all the people of South Africa. On Women’s Day we will honour her, so future generations will always remember the contributions the women in this country made to the struggle for freedom”

Dr Goonam was born in 1906 in Durban. She grew up in Grey Street, and along with her three siblings she attended the Tamil school Sathia Gnama Sabbai. At the young age of 11, she became a pupil teacher. Her parents, RK Naidoo and Thangatchee Naidoo, were well connected in Natal and she grew up surrounded by prominent Indian people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Monty Naicker, Strinivasa Sastri and M.L Sultan.

She wanted to be a medical doctor, however, there was no medical school open to Indian women in South Africa. She went to Scotland in 1928 to study at Edinburgh University.

She returned home in 1936 and set up a practice in the Grey Street Complex in Durban. During one of her visits, a child allegedly remarked “Oh mummy, the coolie doctor is here”, which is what she became known. The derogatory slur was used as the title of her autobiography, Coolie Doctor.

She became involved in the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and was one of the main organisers of the passive resistance campaign of 1946. This campaign protested against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act or ‘Ghetto Act’ that limited the land available to Indians and restricted their franchise. She led the second batch of resisters on June 22, 1946.

Dr Goonam was imprisoned 17 times for her political activities and is considered one of the pioneers of female Indian resistance. Later she was elected as vice-president of the NIC. After further harassment from the Apartheid Security Branch, Dr Goonam left South Africa to live in England in exile.

She returned to South African in 1990, and voted in the first democratic elections in 1994.

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Dr Goonam to be honoured with memorial bust at Mount Edgecombe temple