Dullah Omar, 69; Anti-Apartheid Activist, South African Official
Dullah Omar, 69, a leading human-rights lawyer and anti-apartheid activist in South Africa who served as justice minister in the country’s first black-led government and was currently transport minister, died Saturday of Hodgkin’s disease at a clinic in Cape Town.
A leading member of the ruling African National Congress, Omar was a spokesman for Nelson Mandela in the months leading to his release after 27 years in prison. Mandela called him a “pillar of strength.”
“A humbler, more committed, more decent person you could not wish to find,” Mandela said.
Born in Cape Town, Omar studied law and set up his own legal practice in 1960 because he couldn’t find a firm that would employ black lawyers.
For his efforts in defending political prisoners, Omar was harassed, banned and detained by apartheid security forces.
After the first black government came to power, Omar oversaw the establishment of the landmark Truth and Reconciliation Commission that heard victims’ accounts of human rights abuses under the apartheid government.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
