Icon second to none

THE PROGRESSIVE Professional Forum is shocked to learn of the passing of one of the revolutionaries of our time, Judge Essa Moosa. A fighter and a revolutionary whose humility and kindness was beyond measure.

E Moosa and Associates was the law firm which all activists in the 70s and 80s turned to and relied on when the apartheid machinery weighed in on them. It was the law firm which law students in the 80s spoke about in awe and dreamt of doing articles with.

Judge Moosa located the prisons in which activists were held to establish that at least they were alive and not killed or assassinated.

He succeeded in activists being released and returned to their loved ones. It was Judge Moosa who was woken up at all hours of the night to defend and represent those arrested under the infamous Internal Security Act of detention without trial.

It was Judge Moosa who reminded the police through his intervention that the prisoners were not alone, were not forgotten and that the security apparatus was being watched by him and his legal team.

It was the presence of Judge Moosa which gave activists the courage and comfort that should they be arrested for treason or public disturbance, he would be by their side defending them against the apartheid state. It was Judge Moosa who defended activists without any compensation or demand for legal fees.

Judge Moosa did it all with no promise of financial reward, material gain, fame or fortune but only driven by the belief in justice, rule of law and the fight against injustice. Death can be horrific for the family and friends, but the PPF believes such leaders’ lives must be celebrated rather than being mourned.

Rest In Peace.