Bibi Dawood

{{Infobox person | name = Bibi Dawood | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=ZAR|OLB}} | other_names = Asa | birth_name = Ayesha Dawood | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|01|31|df=yes}} | birth_place = Worcester, Cape Province<br />Union of South Africa | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|06|01|1927|01|31|df=yes}} | death_place = Worcester, South Africa | spouse = {{marriage|Yusuf Mukadam|1961}} }}

'''Ayesha "Bibi" Dawood''' (31 January 1927 – 1 June 2014) was a South African anti-apartheid activist from Worcester. She was an organiser of the Defiance Campaign and later became a Treason Triallist, before in 1968 she was exiled to India for over two decades.

== Life and activism == Dawood was born on 31 January 1927 in Worcester in the Cape Province.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Ayesha (Bibi) Dawood (Yusuf Mukadam) (1927 – ) |url=https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/ayesha-bibi-dawood-yusuf-mukadam-1927 |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=The Presidency |archive-date=31 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531110736/https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/ayesha-bibi-dawood-yusuf-mukadam-1927 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her father was an Indian merchant who had immigrated to South Africa in 1899; her mother was Malay from Calvinia.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2016-08-25 |title=60 Iconic Women — The people behind the 1956 Women's March to Pretoria |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-25-60-iconic-women-the-people-behind-the-1956-womens-march-to-pretoria/ |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Her political involvement began in 1951 when she helped organise a strike against pass laws in Worcester on 7 May 1951. The success of the strike led to the formation of the Worcester United Action Committee, an anti-apartheid residents' association, and Dawood became its secretary.<ref name=":0" />

Dawood was a key organiser for the Defiance Campaign in the Western Cape region, and she was later involved in the 1955 Congress of the People and the 1956 Women's March.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In the interim, she was charged with political offences on two occasions – first in 1954, leading to a suspended sentence in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act, and then in 1956 in the Treason Trial.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=1 June 2014 |title=Condolences to the family of Ayesha 'Bibi' Dawood |url=https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/condolences-to-the-family-of-ayesha-bibi-dawood |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=Nelson Mandela Foundation |language=en-us}}</ref>

In 1968, Dawood and her family were deported to India due to her husband's immigration status. She reportedly refused to collaborate with the apartheid government in exchange for the right to remain in South Africa.<ref name=":0" /> They lived in the village of Sarwa near Mumbai until South Africa's democratic transition,<ref name=":0" /> when they returned to Worcester.<ref name=":1" /> Dawood was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Bronze for her anti-apartheid activism.<ref name=":0" />

== Personal life and death == Dawood married Yusuf Mukadam in 1961 after he had deserted from the Indian Navy and entered South Africa illegally. They had several children.<ref name=":0" />

She died on 1 June 2014 in Worcester and was buried according to Muslim rites.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 June 2014 |title=Jacob Zuma saddened by struggle stalwart Ayesha Dawood's death |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/jacob-zuma-saddened-by-struggle-stalwart-ayesha-dawoods-death-20150429 |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Jaffer |first=Zubeida |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAQwAQAAIAAJ |title=The Story of Bibi Dawood of Worcester |date=1991 |publisher=UWC Historical and Cultural Centre |isbn=978-1-86808-074-8 |language=en}}

* {{Cite book |last=Jaffer |first=Zubeida |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGkxAQAAIAAJ |title=Love in the Time of Treason: The Life Story of Ayesha Dawood |date=2008 |publisher=Kwela Books |isbn=978-0-7957-0275-4 |language=en}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ayesha-bibi-asa-dawood Ayesha Bibi "Asa" Dawood] at South African History Project * [https://ourconstitution.wethepeoplesa.org/ayesha-bibi-dawood/ Ayesha "Bibi" Dawood] at Our Constitution

Category:People from Worcester, South Africa Category:Recipients of the Order of Luthuli Category:South African anti-apartheid activists Category:Prisoners and detainees of South Africa Category:2014 deaths Category:1927 births {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawood, Bibi}}