Chatsworth’s legal and political fraternity has paid glowing tributes to the Baig brothers who passed away six months apart from each other, of Covid-19 related complications.
In the 1970s, from their home base in Crossmoor, elder brother Yacoob Baig, and his younger brother, Mahomed Yahya Baig had established themselves within the broader inner-city township community and were rooted in law and politics respectfully for over 50 years. President Nelson Mandela’s former lawyer, Krish Naidoo, also a Chatsworth resident, said he remembered the brothers who were schooling with him at the Orient High School in Durban. “Both brothers made a mark for themselves. Mahomed Yahya was one of the pioneering attorneys who established among the first law practices. Yacoob went into politics in the House of Delegates, and though discredited then, Mandela often told me that the Indian politicians should be forgiven and brought into the ANC and the new democracy.” Attorney Tymara Samuel said her father, leading criminal lawyer Siven Samuel, who died of complications of the deadly coronavirus in January, had also worked well professionally with MY Baig. “They were peers in the Chatsworth Legal Circle, where Baig served as a chairman, and my dad often spoke about Baig.’’
Veteran lawyer, Ebrahim Moolla, who recently relocated his law practice to Lenny Naidu Drive, Bayview, said Baig started a law practice that spawned the opening of scores of legal offices by newly-qualified attorneys and advocates who studied at the University of Durban-Westville (ULZN). “After Baig handed his practice to a colleague, he settled in Cape Town to be with his children. We were supposed to meet, but it did not materialise.” Croftdene attorney, Zain Fakroodeen, a family member and legal colleague of Baig, confirmed his senior partner’s death in a Cape Town hospital on 27 January, aged 66, and Yacoob passed away last week, aged 73, and both brothers had contracted Covid-19. “It is sad that it is now an end of an era for two prominent members of our community. I joined the law firm three decades ago and took over the practice when Baig moved his offices.” “Yacoob served politics in the House of Delegates in the 1980s and stayed at the Pelikan Park parliamentary housing complex. He was also part of the new democracy in the 1990s and recently he wanted to form his own independent political party to represent his Overport-Sydenham-Springfield constituency in the last local government election.”
Baig continued with his political contribution in the post-apartheid era and was elected as an ANC City Councillor for Ward 31 (Overport/Sydenham). “As a senior lawyer, Mahomed was respected among his peers and the justice system and local courts. He was elected as the chairman of the Chatsworth Legal Circle. He contributed his legal knowledge and skills to the sub-committees of the Natal (KwaZulu-Natal) Law Society, and served as a trustee at various mosques, including Unit 11 Chatsworth and the Musjid Saliheen in Sherwood,’’ Fakroodeen said. Yacoob Baig of Sherwood, Durban, made his mark in Indian politics. Afterwards, he joined the apartheid government’s tricameral parliament in the 1980s.
As a Member of Parliament (MP) for the National People’s Party during the House of Delegates parliament for co-opted Indians only and during the era of the SA Indian Council leadership of JN Reddy, Pat Poovalingam, YS Chinsamy, and notably the Minority Front’s controversial Amichand Rajbansi. His grieving daughter, Waheeda Shaik-Baig, said: “My dad was dedicated to politics and championing people, and until recently he worked among the disadvantaged communities within his ward. He was then one of the youngest chief whips in parliament.” Her daughter, Homarya Shaik-Baig, said her tribute: “In the early hours of 25 August, my beloved grandfather, Marhoom Mahomed Yacoob Baig, returned to his creator … to say his demise is a loss to us as a family and community is an understatement. While many measured my grandfather’s life in years of dedicated public service and impressive milestones, I remember him differently. Growing up, our grandparents’ house was our ‘home’ and they had an unofficial ‘open-door, open-fridge’ policy and guests came in and out and were blessed to be fed up to 2am. “My late grandmother, Najma (or Unida), was the driving force behind this welcoming home. My grandfather stood by her and helped her make the home a safe haven for many family and relatives. My grandfather’s phone was not silent, he was always on the phone advocating for justice and righteousness and counselling people, day and night,’’ she remembered.
