360º PERSPECTIVES | ISSUE 7 | 2020/2021
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Ebrahim Rhoda receives the inaugural UWC Gold Medal for Commitment to Community Service in 2018. Image Credit: Jeffery Abrahams.
Revealing the Cape’s hidden history » Ebrahim Rhoda has served his community for most of his life, not only through his research and writing but through active citizenship.
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N 2018, THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE AWARDED RHODA ITS INAUGURAL GOLD MEDAL FOR
COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY SERVICE, in recognition of his lifelong dedication to the Strand Muslim community. The medal acknowledges individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to their community through exceptional leadership, community involvement and activities that reflect meritorious contributions to public life or a significant benefit to society. Rhoda, who was then 80 years old, said: “Being the first person to receive the Gold Award from UWC meant much more than the value of gold.” In a later interview, he stated that “he accepted this honour on behalf of the Strand Muslim community.”
Rhoda was born in Strand and was a teacher and principal of Strand Moslem Primary School for 35 years. He recalls that in the early years, very few learners proceeded to matric. In fact, of the 174 learners who passed grade seven (standard five) between 1951 and 1962, only about 10% matriculated. He has been credited with playing a major role along with the late Maulana Yusuf Karaan in encouraging their community to value and pursue education. By the 1970s and 1980s, their efforts had borne fruits and many former learners not only completed high school but qualified at tertiary institutions in diverse professions and trades. Sheikh Muhammad Faadil Latief is one of Rhoda’s proud former pupils. “He was my teacher and mentor during my primary school years at the Strand Moslem Primary School,” says Latief, who went on to become a lecturer at the Cape Town-based International Peace College South Africa. >>
