Moosa Moosa: Movie boss whose cinemas defied race bar 1943-2018
Outside his theatres SA was black and white — inside was a different picture
● Moosa Moosa, who has died at the age of 75, was synonymous with Durban’s independent chain of Avalon cinemas, a company closely associated with the antiapartheid movement.
Born on April 24 1943, Moosa was the son of company co-founder AB Moosa snr. He died unexpectedly in hospital on Sunday, following surgery the previous week.
Everything outside the Moosa family’s cinemas in the 1940s was black and white, racially speaking. Inside was a completely different picture.
The Avalon Group had 10% of the national market at the time. In its cinemas, interracial couples held hands. Blacks and whites sat alongside each other watching the actors on the screen, in defiance of what the government allowed.
Those same cinemas were used to host political gatherings after 1948, when antiapartheid leaders gave rallying cries from the stage.
Moosa’s son, AB Moosa jnr, said his father’s legacy was one of integrity, generosity and justice. He is particularly proud of his father’s stance for human rights.
He said his father, who took over from grandfather AB snr in the 1980s, was a devoted husband for 53 years and a very loving father and grandfather.
“He took me to my first movie when I was just five years old. He was not just my father, but my best friend, my mentor, with whom I shared a special bond and love. He made me who I am,” said AB jnr.
Moosa defied the apartheid government. “My grandfather, too, would open up his cinemas for political rallies, some of which had been forcibly removed off the streets by the security forces.”
It was an approach that took a massive toll on the business.
Avalon, which was co-founded by AB Moosa snr in 1939, had in less than a decade become a major player on the national cinema landscape. It had 18 screens by the late 1940s, which equated to 10% of the national share at that time — and the company was growing fast.
Then the apartheid government stepped in.
From 1948 onwards, under the Group Areas Act, the company lost 90% of its assets and its businesses were expropriated.
It was left with just one cinema in downtown Durban.
But the cinema dream was not over — thanks to Moosa Moosa.
“My father’s tenacity and strength is what kept the Avalon dream alive through the tough times.
“When many had already begun to write the company’s obituary my father’s resolve never wavered,” said AB jnr.
In 1991, AB jnr joined his dad in the family business and they have continued to rebuild Avalon anew. They now own screens in Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg and Durban, as well as being in movie distribution and other media and technology businesses.
Avalon is regarded as South Africa’s largest and oldest independent cinema and entertainment concern.
AB jnr puts the success down to the lessons he learnt from his father, which included being proactive, to anticipate, to embrace and adopt change, and to never lose sight of “our core family principles of ethics and integrity in business”.
“My father’s untimely passing came as a shock. As much as my mother, sisters, nieces and nephews are pained by the loss and wish we could have had many, many more years with him, we feel blessed to have had such a wonderful person in our lives and are grateful for the time we had with him,” he said.— Matthew Savides
He was not just my father, but my best friend, my mentor . . .