Biography of Rafiq Rohan
Rafiq Rohan hails from Durban where he was a student activist at the University of Durban-Westville in the late 1970s.
After university, Rafiq moved to Cape Town where he taught at a high school on the Cape Flats, from which he was fired for being an “agitator” during the high school uprisings of the early 1980s. He went on to become a reporter at the crusading anti-apartheid newspaper, Muslim News.
In 1984, Rafiq moved back to Durban where he became a reporter at The Leader,and later a political reporter at the Post-Natal newspaper until 1987. While being news editor at Post-Natal, he was shot by police, arrested and accused of terrorism. He was held in solitary confinement for six months at the Westville and Pietermaritzburg prisons, before being put on trial.
In 1987, he was convicted of 29 counts of terrorism, for being a member of Umkhonto We Sizwe and being in possession of arms and ammunition. He was sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment, and to serve 15 years effectively. He was incarcerated on Robben Island, and was the last occupant of the infamous B-Section cell where Nelson Mandela was held before being moved to Victor Verster Prison.
Rafiq was in the very last group of 15 prisoners released from Robben Island, after going on a protracted hunger strike in 1991.
On his release, Rafiq became deputy editor and then editor of the anti-apartheid newspaper SOUTH. From 1994 to1999, he worked as parliamentary bureau chief for The Sowetan, followed by a stint as marketing/communication manager of Robben Island.
In 2000, he was appointed political editor of The Sowetan. This was followed by his appointment as executive editor of The Star. Between 2004 and 2005, Rafiq also wore the caps of editor of the Independent on Saturday and deputy editor of the Daily News in Durban. He was also the first recipient of The Foster Davis Award for excellence in journalism, bestowed by the Poynter Institute in Florida, of which he is a Fellow.
Rafiq Rohan joined Government Communications as Chief Director: Vuk'uzenzele (South Africa government magazine) in June 2005.
2008-03-10
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