A Life of Colour: A South African doctor’s pursuit of integrity

DR ERROL HOLLAND: A LIFE OF COLOUR A SOUTH AFRICAN DOCTOR’S PURSUIT OF INTEGRITYErrol Holland grew up in Coronationville, a then ‘coloured’ township in Johannesburg. As a child he witnessed the destruction of the flamboyant racially mixed suburb of Sophiatown. As a young medical student in Cape Town he saw a similar destruction in District Six. In 1976, while a registrar physician at Baragwanath Hospital he worked among the carnage of the Soweto uprising. He tasted apartheid at first hand as he matured into a tireless political activist and a brilliant specialist haematologist. With millions of others, he rejoiced when Nelson Mandela became the first president of a democratic South Africa. Under the new regime, his interests turned increasingly to health administration and socially responsible doctor training. He became the Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand and then the Executive Dean of Health Sciences at the University of Limpopo. But the waves of corruption and dishonesty contaminating South African affairs during the first two decades of the 21st century crashed through what should have been a triumphant conclusion to his distinguished career.Professor Holland survived, his dignity intact and his integrity strengthened. He continues his quest for equal health care for all in this country. This book is his profoundly South African story. For nine years, David Robbins edited Limpopo Leader, the University of Limpopo’s flagship publication. Janice Hunt, who assisted in this book, also wrote extensively on Faculty of Health matters.