Dr Aadil Moerat (1964 – 1998): “the people’s doctor” 

Dr Aadil Moerat was a medical doctor and anti-apartheid activist. Known as “the people’s doctor”, Moerat committed his tragically short life to serving those most in need. He was murdered in an armed robbery in his own practice when he was just 33 years old.  

Dr Aadil Moerat was born on 2 August 1964, the youngest of three children. He was raised by his parents who were both teachers.  

Moerat enjoyed learning. He obtained a first class pass in his final year at South Peninsula High School (SP), a school whose teachers were active in anti-apartheid activities and who encouraged political awareness and critical thinking. His journey as a leader and activist began in his teens when he became editor of the school magazine, Speak Up, in 1980. In 1981 he was elected to the Student Representative Council of SP and was also part of a group that raised funds to purchase books by black authors for the school library. Under the unequal, oppressive education system under apartheid, this was an act of resistance.  

Moerat studied medicine at the University of Cape Town (1982 to 1987). In this period, he was heavily involved in political activism. He helped form the Cape Youth Congress, an anti-apartheid youth movement that would eventually unite with youth across South Africa. As an activist, he was active in the United Democratic Front and later the African National Congress (ANC).   

In 1986, he was arrested and detained without trial. He spent five weeks in the Victor Verster Prison. This was a first for a student at UCT’s medical school. He eventually joined the armed wing of the ANC, Umkhonto weSizwe, as part of his anti-apartheid efforts. 

As a medical student, Moerat’s political resistance also reached into the health sector. He was a member of the National Medical and Dental Association and the Progressive Primary Care Network Emergency Services Group, both activist organisations. They provided support and first aid training in the townships where political unrest was common, and victims of police shootings faced the possibility of arrest if they sought medical care at public clinics or hospitals. Undoubtedly, these encounters shaped his thinking about justice and community healthcare.  

Supported by his close companion and wife, Rashida Hayat, in 1988 he relocated to complete his internship at Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth. He stayed on for two years after his internship was complete and during this time provided free medical care to former political prisoners, including Govan Mbeki. Thereafter, he and his wife spent two years in Saskatchewan, Canada, before returning to Cape Town. 

Moerat served a short stint practicing medicine in Nyanga, an impoverished and under-serviced suburb in Cape Town, and this experience cemented his commitment to practising where the need was greatest. In 1993, he refurbished a disused store on NY110 in Gugulethu (also an impoverished area). It was here that Moerat became known as “the people’s doctor” because he never turned anyone away. He had a particular bond with his elderly patients. He also tried to provide transport to patients in need as part of his ambition to offer comprehensive care to the community.   

He was a strong advocate for universal healthcare and, prior to his untimely death, was involved in negotiating the establishment of a primary care clinic with local colleagues to provide the Gugulethu community with easy access to reasonably priced healthcare. He died tragically in an armed robbery in his medical practice on 21 January 1998. The community worked with the police to find the killers and five people were arrested and eventually convicted of his murder.  

As part of the centenary celebration of the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2012, the conference room was renamed the Aadil Moerat Room to honour his life and work. In 2020, the Dr Aadil Moerat Medical Bursary Trust was registered to promote his legacy by supporting health sciences students in financial need who share his commitment to serving where the need is greatest.