Neil Aggett, a medical doctor and labour activist who died in police custody in 1982 was honoured in a series of commemorative events this week.
Neil Aggett, a medical doctor and labour activist who died in police custody in 1982 was honoured in a series of commemorative events this week.
These included a one-day colloquium, a public lecture by the authour of "Death of an Idealist: In Search of Neil Aggett", and a naming ceremony for the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit.
The Unit was opened on Thursday 3 April, at an event attended by, among others, Mcebisi Jonas, the Eastern Cape MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
The Unit will be based at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), at Rhodes University.
Aggett, who went to Kingwood College and studied medicine at the University of Cape Town, became an anti-apartheid activist as a result of his work with black workers at hospitals in Umthatha, Thembisa and Soweto.
He was detained by the South African police in 1981 and died after 70 days in detention. He was only 28.
Aggett was the first white person to die in police custody since 1963. He was also the 51st person to die in police custody, joining a list of prominent anti-apartheid activists to so die, including Steve Biko.
