The great-grandchildren of UCT’s first black student to graduate with a medical degree, Muhammad Shukri Effendi, told of how they were bullied while growing up because of their Turkish and South African roots.
In a moving response to UCT Historian Dr Halim Gençoğlu, Waseela Muhammad Effendi said Gençoğlu’s research, which revealed that Shukri Effendi was UCT’s first black doctor, evoked emotions and was a reminder of how they were part of South Africa’s forgotten history.
“This brings up so many emotions from when we were children, we were made fun of, people used to laugh at us because we came from Turkey.
“We were teased about being Christian and not Muslim, among other things, they made fun of us all the time and even the clergy didn’t fully accept my great-grandfather,” Waseela said.
She was speaking at a seminar at the Centre for African Studies at UCT, which was to unpack Gençoğlu's research.
It was held a day before the anniversary of Effendi’s death on September 3, 1946.
She said it meant that the Effendi family story was omitted from history despite being the family that gave South Africa the first black Muslim politician in Parliament.
“This is not being taught in history as well, he was also a great religious scholar after having studied in Turkey, he didn’t only focus on religion but he went from province to province initiating organisations of all sorts and kinds, and until today this was never mentioned.
“This is all part of the forgotten history and probably many more which we have missed” she said.
Waseela added that Gençoğlu’s research would also enrich Turkish-South African history.
Gençoğlu's research in 2016 revealed that Dr Muhammed Shukri Effendi was the first black medical student to graduate from UCT.
Effendi, who studied at Trafalgar High School, went on to pursue his studies at UCT medical school and graduated as a medical doctor in 1942.
Until Gençoğlu investigated the matter it was believed that Maramoothoo Samy-Padiachy, Cassim Saib and Ralph Lawrence were the first black medical doctors to graduate from UCT – in 1945.
Professor Anwar Mall said Gençoğlu’s discovery shocked and took him aback.
“In 1995 we had an enormous 50th anniversary for the first black doctors and I was thrilled because I had a personal interest in Dr Saib,” Mall said.
He said Saib had relocated to Grey Town after qualifying as a doctor and opened a practice and subsequently became his family's doctor.
"This matter was corrected and we now agree that Dr Effendi was the first black doctor at UCT but that raises many questions about the outrageous madness of Apartheid.
“That he, who would been classified Malay, Asian, coloured during the apartheid dispensation was taken into UCT because he looked white and had fair skin and that is how ridiculous apartheid was,” Mall said.
Gençoğlu said while he was given access to medical archives through Mall, his research could have not been complete without the family archives.
“The research indicates that being Turkish did not necessarily define the ethnic identity of Turkish people, they can be white or non-white but the religious factor was more important for the segregation of nations in the context of South African history.
“Therefore it can be said that Dr Muhammed Shukri Effendi’s religious identity might have been (honoured) by university administration but his national identity might have caused the misunderstanding in South African history,” Gençoğlu said.