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By Siyabonga Mkhwanazi 
11h ago
Dr. Vejay Ramlakan had marked his own path while leading a life that took him from the streets of Durban to the highest office in the country as physician to former President Nelson Mandela for seven years.
Ramlakan had seen for himself the ills of the apartheid system and decided to join Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in the 1970s, then led one of their units to fight the system.
Ramlakan was the commander of “Operation Butterfly”, a program to develop an integrated political-military clandestine command structure in the Durban metropolitan area and a campaign to destabilize the border regions of South Africa.
He said that he had decided to join MK because he wanted to overthrow the apartheid regime.
At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he declared: “I decided to get involved in the fight against apartheid and do everything in my power to overthrow the apartheid regime in 1976. I decided to take up arms and join uMkhonto we Sizwe as the armed wing of the African National Congress in pursuit of that goal. “
He has been described as an activist for most of his life. He joined politics at a young age. He attended school in Durban and later led students at the Natal University School of Medicine.
He has headed its student representative council from the late 1970s and joined MK’s underground faction in the Durban area during that period.
In the late 1980s, Ramlakan was arrested and imprisoned on Robben Island and was released following the removal of the ban on political organizations in the country.
During the integration process in the early 1990s, he led MK’s medical team in integrating the new defense force.
After joining SANDF in 1994, following the democratic elections that year, he rose to different positions.
He became Mandela’s former physician until his death in December 2013.
The book he wrote about Mandela in 2017 was pulled from the shelves after former first lady Graça Machel threatened to sue him.
In defending the book, Ramlakan had said at the time that it wasn’t just about Mandela’s last days.
“The book is not just about medical issues, the book is mostly about the entire period of his last years and initially focuses on a number of things that are already in the public domain.
“When I look at some of the comments that have been made, I can see, as you could see after reading the book, you walk away with great admiration for what had happened and how you had managed until the last moment. moment.”
Having held various positions in the South African Military Health Service and having served for many years, Ramlakan quietly resigned in 2015.
The ANC described him as a selfless leader who served the organization with distinction.
“Dr. Ramlakan belongs to a cabal of distinguished freedom fighters who sacrificed their personal comfort for the liberation of the rest of the people of South Africa.
“We salute this prominent activist in our liberation struggle and we hang our revolutionary flag in his honor,” said ANC spokesman Pule Mabe.
Although Ramlakan had retired from the military health service, he was still involved in political structures.
At the time of his death, he was serving on the national executive of the Association of Ex-Political Prisoners.
Defense and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula also expressed her condolences.
She described him as a dedicated soldier who fought for the liberation of the country.
Mapisa-Nqakula and Ramlakan worked together when the former served as minister and the latter as SANDF surgeon general. When he left, Mapisa-Nqakula was still in charge as the political head of the department.
The leader of the United Democratic Movement, Bantu Holomisa, also had contact with Ramlakan when he was still Mandela’s doctor.
Holomisa said that the former surgeon general had done an excellent job taking care of Mandela.
In addition to showing his leadership at the university, with MK, on Robben Island and after the integration of the old non-statutory forces and the statutory forces, he led from the front and rose through the ranks of the army.
He also received several medals in his honor for his contribution to health services.
Holomisa said Ramlakan had also worked closely with SANDF Surgeon General Lieutenant General Zola Dabula. Both served in the military health service for many years.
Political Bureau
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