Dr.Goonam Naidoo
Dr.Kesaveloo Goonam, also known as Kesaveloo Goonaruthnum Naidoo (1906–1998) was the first Indian Origin South African doctor and anti-apartheid activist. She was also called "Coolie Doctor", which became the title of her 1991 autobiography.
She was the first Indian woman to practise as a medical doctor. She became a pupil teacher at just 11 years old, earning a salary of 10 shillings. She persuaded her father to allow her to train as a medical doctor and because there were no medical schools open to Indian women in South Africa, she went to Scotland in 1928 to study at Edinburgh University. She returned in 1936 and set up a practice in the Grey Street Complex in Durban.
At first, she met racist discrimination which denied her entry for hospital posts caused by white nurses refusal to take orders from an Indian doctor. Then, she established a medical practice among black and Asian women in Durban, who learned that "Dr. Goonam" would meet their needs, especially for reproductive healthcare, with understanding and discretion.
She became involved with organisations like Child Welfare and Friends of The Sick Association (FOSA). In 1939, she becomes vice-chairperson of Non-Europe United which was established in Natal. She was also active with the Natal Indian Congress, and was elected as the vice president and later became acting president. She became the committee member of The Anti Segregation Council (ASC), with Monty Naicker as chairman which was formed to oppose voluntary segregation on 28 April 1944.
Dr Goonam became involved in the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and was one of the main organisers of the passive resistance campaign of 1946.
During the 1950s, she helped India's deputy health minister and Sushila Nayyar to supervise family planning programmes as a government committee in New Delhi.
Dr Goonam with her relatives in UK
Her political activities continued, including hosting meetings of the in her medical offices in 1961 with Theo Kloppenberg, Eleanor Kasrils, Poomoney Moodley. She left South Africa for England in 1978 to escape harassment from a security officer for her own safety. Before she left, she founded Helping Hand Society to help families which were cast away from Clairwood and Cato Manor into Chatsworth. She continued to practice medicine for Indian refugees from Uganda and Kenya, before moving to Australia and Zimbabwe. She returned to South Africa in 1990, after Nelson Mandela was released from prison. She voted in the 1994 South African elections. Also in 1994, she called for the disbanding of the Natal Indian Congress, saying "now is the time to go."
She published her autobiography, Coolie Doctor, in 1991.
She was the first woman to attain the vice-presidency of the Natal Indian Congress, and became a leading political force in the Passive Resistance Campaign, launched in 1946 by fellow Edinburgh alum Dr. Monty Naicker against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Representation Bill. This Bill, enacted by the South African Parliament, “declared war on (South African) Indians” by segregating them into ghettos, and thereby earning the nickname “the Ghetto Act.”
When Goonam passed away at 92, Nelson Mandela offered his condolences, saying that South Africa had lost a great freedom fighter and an outstanding champion of democracy.
A street in the Durban Central Business District was renamed in her honor in 2008.
PhD Building at the University of Edinburgh - Scotland:
The University of Edinburgh's School of Social and Political Sciences, Scotland dedicated a newly created PhD building to Dr. Goonam in 2019.
Memorial Bust at Shri Mariamman Temple:
A memorial bust was unveiled at the Shri Mariamman Temple in South Africa, this bust was unveiled on Women's Day in August 2024.
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