One of the founding members of the anti-apartheid SA Cricket Board of Control has been honoured with an honorary doctorate from UWC.
|||Cape Town - One of the founding members of the anti-apartheid South African Cricket Board of Control (SACBOC) has been honoured with an honorary doctorate from the University of the Western Cape.
Hassan Howa was posthumously honoured with an honorary degree (DPhil in Community and Health Sciences) on Monday.
The university said Howa, who was born in District Six and matriculated from Trafalgar High School, had worked for a family business. He later took up the challenge of cricket administration and the promotion of the sport, and was a founding member of SACBOC in 1947.
“As the country began to feel the grand impact of the apartheid government on all spheres of life, the right to sport became increasingly prescribed and Howa found it impossible to remain quiet in the face of such injustices. Howa then refused to co-operate with the apartheid-endorsed cricket establishments in the Western Cape,” the university said.
“He argued for the creation of an overarching body that would transcend all boundaries to pursue non-racist sport and he was instrumental in the founding of the South African Council on Sports, where he lobbied for the expulsion of South Africa from international participation.”
The university said that through SACBOC, Howa led a fearless campaign throughout the 1970s against “white” cricket.
He galvanised the support of communities and community organisations, and, with the support of international organisations, the campaign succeeded in ensuring that the Springboks were banned from participation in international cricket.
“Despite constant harassment and persecution by the security police who kept a close watch on his movements and activities, Howa never relented on his fundamental purpose and mission. The boycott campaign let to the isolation of apartheid sport as part of the international campaign to bring an end to the apartheid regime.”
Cape Argus