Ahmed Laher (1933-2009)

My father, Ahmed Laher, died on Wednesday February 18, 2009. He passed quietly much like the man he was.

He took an interest in this blog and often asked me whether I was writing and about what.

On occasion I would talk to him about my posts here that relate to my 2007 visit to his father's village in India and his friendship with Robert Sobukwe, the founder and first president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).

My father and Sobukwe were close friends and much of my politics is founded on the content and character of their friendship and their shared politics.

Though he never sought to be anything more than a friend to Sobukwe my father in his own right contributed to the Africanist thinking about belonging and loyalty to the "soil" of our continent.

He was a "son of the soil" and committed to a South Africa where race and ethnicity do not qualify or disqualify our singular humanity.

Though he had reservations about the manner in which South Africa 'transitioned' from apartheid he thought it important to vote in the first multi-party general election in 1994.

My proudest memory of that day (April 27, 1994) was seeing my dad enter a booth to vote.

My heart is broken as it should be but I am proud of the man my father was and of the good work and memories he has left behind.

I am also very thankful to have been by his side in the last 14 months of his life here in South Africa.

May Allah rest his soul in peace until that day.

Onward!