Rafiq Rohan
Renowned journalist and a former South African political prisoner on Robben Island, Rafiq Rohan, has died.
Rohan has been described as an extraordinary journalist who once served as the news editor and later political editor at “The Sowetan”, as executive editor of Independent Media’s “The Star” newspaper, and more recently as a senior editor at Al Jazeera.
He was jailed alongside Nelson Mandela and was the last prisoner to occupy Mandela’s old cell at Robben Island.
In an article penned by Rohan for Al Jazeera at the time of Mandela’s death, he described his relationship with the former president as a father-and-son-type relationship.
In his article, Rohan said“ “Fathers love their children and, at times, become so angered by the child’s behaviour, they won’t speak to them. Nelson Mandela was like my father and also, even though there were so many shared similarities in experiences as political allies on apartheid’s Robben Island Prison, there were times he wouldn’t speak to me.”
But, he said there were times when Madiba treated him like a favoured son. He relayed a story when he was the political editor of “The Sowetan” and joined a group of five senior journalists from South Africa to accompany Madiba to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in New Zealand soon after his appointment as South Africa’s first black president.
“During photo-calls and breakfast sessions, Madiba would always insist I stand or sit next to him on his right-hand side – a practice of cultural significance in SA. It’s an honour accorded to a favoured son in ethnic African belief. Other journalists complained that I was receiving preferential treatment due to my shared political past and experience with Madiba,” he said.
In October 1988, while he was a journalist at Independent Media’s “The Post” newspaper in Durban, he accompanied a delegation that was to meet with representatives of the ANC in Lusaka. While in Lusaka covering the story of the meeting, he said he met Aboobaker Ismail, who was known as MK Rashid, at the time the ANC’s Chief of Ordinance. As a result of his meeting with Rashid, he agreed to work for the ANC.
And so began his many years of dedication to the struggle for liberation.
Over a period of time he received intensive basic training in the use of explosives, including limpet mines, Makarov pistols and AK47s, and went to Zimbabwe on several occasions.
He also received political education on the policy of the ANC and the broad guidelines of the armed struggle, as well as training in military combat work, which included how to operate in an underground military environment.
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