Abstract

VAHED, Goolam. The formal education journey of Cassim Dangor, 1963-1985: Reflections on education challenges in apartheid South Africa. Historia [online]. 2014, vol.59, n.1, pp.38-58. ISSN 2309-8392.

Most students who attended the University College, Durban, which was established on Salisbury Island in 1961, were pioneers in two important senses: they were amongst the first to attend a racially exclusive university for Indians, as well being first generation students. Both scenarios presented challenges. This article focuses on the experiences of the Transvaal-born Cassim Dangor who, as an "Indian", faced many restrictive segregationist policies in his attempts to acquire tertiary education. While apartheid is often portrayed as a totalising institution, and despite the fact that individual stories can be esoteric, anecdotal and unrepresentative, a life history methodology provides a means to examine how individuals understood apartheid; how they were affected by it; the ways in which they attempted to make sense of their lives; and how they sought spaces in the system. The article also charts the growth of Pharmacy as a discipline at the university.

Keywords : Salisbury Island; University of Durban-Westville; Pharmacy (as an academic discipline); apartheid; apartheid.

        · abstract in Afrikaans     · text in English     · English ( pdf )