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Lifetime Achievement Award
Chatsworth's first dentist, Dr Adam Mahomed in
2011 declared that life was his enemy and that
death was his best friend.
He was speaking at the launch of his book,
Journey Into the Unknown.
It is a heart-wrenching read, which had the
audience at its launch spellbound.
This is what the blurb reads:
Journey Into the Unknown is a true story. It is an
inspiring story of dealing with loss, something
that all of us encounter at sometime in our lives.
Noorjehan and Adam Mahomed, a Durban
based couple, in a tragic motorcar accident, lost
their three young daughters. This story, traces
how they coped with the challenge of living with
their loss and looking for meaning in what looked
like an empty life.
The book alternates between Noorjehan and
Adam's writing, giving the reader an insight into
what it takes to face tragedy and understand
nature's way of healing. Every loss – especially
of those you love, brings with it suffering.
This story helps you see what holds you chained
to the past and the courage it takes to move on
and look forward.”
He lost his wife in 2005 and he was left alone,
but the couple had a history going back to the
time they got married in 1973.
They knew hardship and suffering from their own
experiences and always felt the pain of others.
Working in Chatsworth brought the young couple
face to face with reality – poverty.
They became philanthropists, running feeding
schemes, medicine and paying the school fees
of scores of children.In honour of the memory of
their three daughters whom they lost in the tragic
accident, they set up a Centre for the Hearing
Impaired in Amanzimtoti.
It is very much an integral part of the people
whom it serves with distinction.
Soon after the launch of the book, Dr Mahomed
shook out the pain and threw himself back into
his practice and to serve the community.
With the Rotary Club, he financed and launched
a Dialysis Clinic in Chatsworth providing life
saving treatment free for poor people in 2012.
By 2017, thousands of people who would
otherwise could have been dead enjoy a
reasonable quality of life despite their illness.
During June 2017, he was asked whether he still
believed that life was his enemy and that death
was his best friend?
“No. I believe that I still have a lot of work to do. I
believe that the indigent need a great deal o
essential facilities and I have to do something
about it.
“I want to make life comfortable for the future
generations. I do not know what I am going to do,
but it has to be substantial. It is a legacy which I
want to leave that will make a positive difference
to those less fortunate,” said Dr Mahomed.
At 77, he is now involved in a host of programmes
fighting poverty, illness, ignorance.
He is also spreading hope as a motivational
speaker, offering confidence and trying to change
mindsets of people whom he believes can play a
substantial role in society.
He believes that South Africans are a good
people, regardless of the crime and political
uncertainty.
“Our people are forgiving, hard working and
believe in a bright future. I am going to make my
contribution to ensure that they are served with
some of the essentials of life,” he said.
Adam Mahomed was one of 11 children born on
the 4th August, 1940 in the small town of Balfour
in what was then the Transvaal province.
His parents ran a general dealer store and
stocked everything from farming implements to
cars, cattle, sheep and groceries.
“We sold everything and my parents made a good
living. Then we were struck with a tragedy in 1952
when an older brother was killed in a motor
accident.
“When I was in standard 8, one of my brothers
were murdered and my father was devastated. I
had to leave school to run the family business
which I did for nine years.”But during that time, he
continued to study and completed his matric.
He then told his father that he wanted to study
further and he was sent to Pakistan where he