The Grey Street Literary Trail has lost another of its great writers. Aziz Hassim passed away on Friday 14 June 2013 after battling pneumonia in hospital for ten days.
“Writing is my own personal [Truth and Reconciliation Commission],” he had earlier said. “It’s the only way that I can record the untold history of the Casbah.”
Born and raised in Durban’s Casbah, Hassim believed where he lived and the people he grew up with had a profound impact on how he viewed the world. Although he began writing late in his life, he became one of the most important voices to emerge from South Africa in the last 20 years.