Judge Kathleen Satchwell had several good reasons to be happy about being in Grahamstown this past weekend – and she made it clear that she was truly delighted to be here.
Judge Kathleen Satchwell had several good reasons to be happy about being in Grahamstown this past weekend – and she made it clear that she was truly delighted to be here.
She also had reason to feel sorry for herself, yet she made it equally clear that this was not the case. Satchwell came to Grahamstown to receive an Honorary Doctorate at this year’s Rhodes University graduation ceremonies and in a sincerely self-effacing mantra kept asking herself “why me?” If she had difficulty understanding why Rhodes recognised her considerable contributions to the cause of human rights in South Africa, she had no problems acknowledging the merits of her fellow recipients.
Satchwell described jazz musician Abdullah Ibrahim as her hero and she was positively thrilled to meet Dr Gordon Cragg, the man who developed the Taxol chemotherapy that she is taking as part of her cancer treatment.
Cragg (who was also conferred with an Honorary Doctorate) and Satchwell instantly eased into a lively discussion about their common interest in chemotherapy because not only did Cragg develop Taxol but he is also taking it as he has cancer of the appendix.
His first question to Satchwell was, “How is your peripheral neuropathy?” In this way he set up a connection between them as other people at the table did not know he was referring to the loss of sensation in hands and feet that often accompany this type of treatment.
Satchwell was raised in Port Elizabeth but attended Rhodes University which she loved because “there’s that explosion of freedom” of having left home and believing that “you know everything, and nothing is impossible”.
She recalled what it was like when “you discover Marx, you think you are the first people who understand how society works, you are the only people who know how to solve South Africa’s problems.
You are the only people who have identified the problems.” She said, “Rhodes is a very nurturing place, it was a very safe place, Grahamstown is very beautiful and for me it was an opportunity to explore the world, it felt like the centre of the world.”
Satchwell and her partner, Lesley Carnelly, have had a holiday home in Port Alfred for more than 20 years so they often visit this part of the world. She said she loved her visit because, “I suppose coming back to Grahamstown reminds me of what it is to be optimistic and to be excited.”
Satchwell is well known for her contributions in the struggle against apartheid. She worked for the Black Sash here in Grahamstown and represented Robben Island prisoners when they demanded their release in 1991.
However, she is perhaps best known for taking the President of South Africa and the Minister of Justice to court for discriminating against samesex partners.
She framed the application as a labour issue, but it became better known in the context of gay rights. The landmark case challenged the constitutionality of the Judges’ Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act on the grounds that it denied same-sex partners of judges benefits equal to those of heterosexual spouses.
The Constitutional Court agreed with her and she scored an important victory for the gay community in South Africa.
Satchwell is positive about the future of this country and to illustrate why she feels this way she told journalists an anecdote about her partner who works with an organisation that helps women with breast cancer at Jo’burg General Hospital.
At the crack of dawn every Friday she travels to the hospital where hundreds of women from all over Africa wait to receive their regular treatment.
As they arrive they are given bread and soup because most of the women have been up and about walking and catching taxis since the early morning.
The women start the day with a prayer and a hymn before they patiently wait for their treatment. Satchwell discovered that the cancer treatment given at Jo’burg Gen is exactly the same as she receives at an expensive private clinic showing that “The Jo’burg Gen will look after you.
Yes, you will have to wait, but there will be looking after.” She said, “People think South Africa is falling apart, but actually it is giving to the poorest of the poor.”
