Al-Qalam 
[Photo source - Yusuf Abramjee/Twitter]
Comrade Rafiq Rohan sacrificed his life for the liberation struggle, but his utopian dream was short-lived. His life was paved with pain, sorrow, and disappointment, writes an Al-Qalam Reporter.
Mystery surrounds the death of veteran journalist and ANC cadre Muhammad Rafiq Rohan, whose decomposed body was found in his Morningside flat this week. Police have opened an inquest docket into his sudden death that sent shockwaves across the spectrum.
Was his death through natural causes or murder? Police aren’t saying anything yet, although there is plenty of speculation.
Rohan (69) was sentenced in 1988 to 15 years imprisonment on Robben Island for his activities in uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the then-banned African National Congress. He was convicted of 21 counts of terrorism during the height of apartheid. For his liberation struggle, he was arrested and served three years of his sentence on Robben Island. He occupied the same cell that Nelson Mandela has spent time in.
His Janazah Salaat was held at the Hazrath Khalid Shah Community Centre on Monday evening, and he was buried at the Brook Street Muslim Cemetery.
Tributes continue to pour in for Marhoom Rafiq Rohan.
The SA National Editors Forum said, “Rohan had gone on a hunger strike against his continued imprisonment despite the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC and other organisations by FW de Klerk in February 1990. He was among the last 10 prisoners to be released before the prison on Robben Island was closed,” Sanef said.
Rohan worked for various media publications such as Muslim News (now Muslim Views) of Cape Town. He also worked as a political editor of the Sowetan, executive editor of the Star newspaper and served as executive editor of Al Jazeera.
Al-Jamah-ah party leader, Ganief Hendricks, said Rohan was an active member of the Muslim Youth Movement (MYM) and at the time of his imprisonment, he was the only journalist incarcerated in 1989.
Ganief tabled a motion in Parliament to acknowledge Rohan’s commitment for justice.
He expressed his party’s condolences to his daughter Shaista Rohan-Toefy and grandchildren and the extended Rohan family.
In a tribute to Rohan on Facebook, Faiez Jacobs MP wrote: “It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of Rafiq Rohan, senior journalist, editor, activist, and MK veteran. He received military training in Zimbabwe whilst a journalist as he felt that he was not doing enough in the face of the Apartheid regime’s brutality. He returned to South Africa where he engaged as an MK operative in planting a limpet mine at the Ridge Road Radio headquarters, the bomb explosion at Natal Command, the bomb blast at CR Swart police station, and the illegal possession of arms for which he was sentenced to 15 years. He was the last prisoner to be held in the cell where Madiba was incarcerated on Robben Island. His contribution and service to the field of journalism in the apartheid era and government communications in the democratic dispensation is colossal and worthy of a national order award.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, comrades and loved ones in this time of immense loss. Hamba kahle uMkhonto. May his soul rest in peace.”
Activist and journalist Haniff Manjoo who kept in touch with Rohan during their 40 years friendship, told Al-Qalam that he regularly communicated with Rohan on WhatsApp – the last being three weeks ago, He said he met Rohan when he joined the The Leader newspaper run by veteran newspaperman Sunny Bramdew. He said he and Rohan were picked to start a sister newspaper for the Tongaat and Verulam region called TV Times, which eventually flopped.
Haniff said: “When I first met Rafiq Rohan for the first time in 1998/99, I was somewhat shaken to see his disfigured face, apparently caused during a childhood accident, which happened when boiling liquid on a stove splashed over his face. We don’t know whether it was oil or water. However, since the TV Times failed to take off, we called it off and I relocated to Johannesburg with my children. It was a few months later that I learnt with shock that Rafiq was involved in the bombings and ended up on Robben Island, and I lost contact thereafter. After 1994, he wrote a piece critical of Madiba, and for that, he was ignored and side-lined. His personal life was also messed up”.
Haniff said that for the past few years he was in constant touch with Rohan both telephonically and via WhatsApp. He quit Cape Town and relocated to Durban, lonely, abandoned and totally broken. “I did not pry into his personal life, and he didn’t talk much about his time on Robben Island. However, he did mention that during his stint on Robben Island, he was tasked to be the cook and Madiba loved his food. On his release, he felt deflated because his MK comrades and the ANC had marginalised and ignored him. Recently, I’ve been advising him to seek solace in prayer and to attend the masjid. But when he did attend Jumu’ah salaat at an Overport Masjid, he was insulted by a musalee who made a snide remark about his disfigured looks – he never went back to the mosque despite me insisting that he should.”
Manjoo added, “What most people don’t know about Rafiq Rohan is that he came from a Christian background and that he reverted to Islam. He was also a regular at the Jamaat Khanna until that regrettable episode. However, his faith in the Almighty was never in doubt and he never lost faith; far stronger than mine!”
Probably the saddest post on Rohan’s Facebook page was a photo of his disfigured face that he had posted of himself on January 9, this year, which he captioned: “There are times when I want to stick my fingers through my scalp, rip this face off and hope there’s a nicer one underneath”.
