The life of Ivan Toms, who died in Cape Town on March 25, was shaped by his commitment to justice and innate sense of humanity.
When the apartheid government refused to provide services in Cape Town’s informal settlements, he worked with others in the South African Christian Leadership Assembly to build a clinic in Crossroads and worked there as a doctor during much of the 1980s.
The clinic continued to operate throughout the ”witdoek” attacks on Crossroads and KTC. Ivan treated all the injured, regardless of which faction they belonged to. He also sometimes confronted panga-wielding assailants who came into the clinic to ”finish someone off”.
He might have been small in stature, but when he spoke people listened and no one dared to enter his haven for the wounded.
The role of the South African Defence Force (SADF) in Crossroads led Ivan, who was born on July 11 1953, to decide not to serve in the army — he had previously completed his national service as a non-combatant, working in a Namibian mission hospital.
He was active in the End Conscription Campaign, fasting for 21 days in St George’s Cathedral for a ”just peace”. He often quipped that he ”lost his gall bladder to the struggle” — the effect of this marathon fast.
When he was called up for an SADF camp in 1987 he refused to go and was sentenced to nine months in Pollsmoor Prison, much of it in solitary confinement because prison officials feared he would be a bad influence on other prisoners.
The first thing Ivan wanted on his release was a glass of fine red wine — only to find that his friends had regularly gathered at his home to drink to his health, to the detriment of his wine collection. His home was always open to friends.
Ivan was known for his work in the National Medical and Dental Association, as coordinator of the National Progressive Primary Health Care Network and more recently as executive director of health in the City of Cape Town.
He was an excellent leader and manager, not simply sitting in his office but visiting the clinics regularly, participating in meetings with communities and inspiring his colleagues to tackle HIV/Aids, TB and other diseases.
He was outspoken on gay and lesbian rights and completely open about his own sexuality, always finding a way of throwing ”… and I am gay” into discussions or public presentations.
One of his proudest moments was receiving the Order of the Baobab for ”his outstanding contribution to the struggle against apartheid and sexual discrimination”. He was delighted at being recognised not just for his contributions in Crossroads and the ECC, but also for creating awareness of gay and lesbian rights. But he never flaunted his achievements.
Cape Town and South Africa have lost a great health and human rights practitioner and Ivan’s inner circle has lost a generous and supportive friend.
He gave people the freedom to be themselves. He shared his home with many people who needed a place to stay, was encouraging and supportive, giving those who needed it a leg-up in life.
We will miss him in front of the TV during Stormers matches, munching popcorn and screaming at the referee. And we’ll miss the red wine and the Weber-braaied chicken, the rising at an ungodly hour to take him to the Argus cycle tour, his energy and infectious laughter, his fierce loyalty and integrity, his vulnerability, outrageousness and openness. He lived his too-short life to the full.
Professor Di McIntyre is the South African research chair of the University of Cape Town’s school of public health and family medicine