Recognition for specialist health-care crusader
LEADING Cape Town psychiatrist Ashraf Jedaar has accepted an honorary doctorate from UWC.
He has been recognised for his achievements in championing the rights of others and his tireless efforts at providing specialist health care in communities in South Africa and abroad.
Jedaar was to have received the award last night, but could not do so due to unforeseen circumstances.
UWC spokeswoman Tashne Singh said Jedaar had worked extensively in the fields of famine and poverty alleviation in Sudan and Somalia as well as in conflict zones such as Afghanistan and Gaza.
He also co-ordinated relief efforts and medical support teams in the aftermath of natural disasters in Iran and Indonesia, among other countries.
“Working in impoverished communities sort of sparked off this whole journey. For me the motivation has always been to provide relief to communities in need and that continues to be my focus,” said Jedaar, who was born in District Six and is the oldest of three children schooled on the Cape Flats.
“The warmth of the District Six community is something I will always remember. We used to gather on our stoeps, in those days the houses were quite big, and there was a great sense of community and involvement.”
He moved to Belgravia Estate and went on to St Columbus Catholic School. He was later expelled from the school for his involvement in political activities.
Jedaar went on to complete a bachelor of science degree at UCT in 1980, bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery degrees at the University of Natal in 1986, and became a Fellow of the College of Psychiatry in 1992.
But in 1988, Jedaar was involved in a car accident that left him paralysed from the chest down and only mobile in a wheelchair.
“The car just rolled and I was pinned in the vehicle. I suffered from a spinal cord injury which left me paralysed. My back was crushed. I think my own experience of disaster also contributed to my career. You can’t plan these things. They can happen at any time.
“In times of disaster, there is a need for support, relief and it requires warmth and empathy, and that is what I want to bring to other people in that situation. And I won’t stop till my job is done.”
A year later he began specialist training at Valkenberg Hospital in 1989 and was appointed as a consultant in the Forensic Unit from 1992 until 1999, when he started his private practice.
Jedaar’s practice currently has two branches, one based at Rondebosch Medical Centre and the other in Wynberg. His role includes the evaluation and management of all distressed children, youth and adults as well as the forensic assessment of criminal offenders, Singh said.
He has initiated, developed and currently chairs the Western Cape branch of Muslim Aids Programme since 2001, Singh added.
He lives in Wynberg with his wife and two sons, in the home his father bought when Jedaar was a young doctor.
UWC rector Tyrone Pretorius said the award was in recognition and acknowledgement of Jedaar’s continuing activism in providing specialist health care and relief aid to the world’s most deprived communities.