Huletts deserve to be honoured

I was saddened to read of the municipality’s proposed to rename Hulett Street after Goolam Suleman.
Naming a street after the Hulett family has nothing to do with apartheid or colonialism. They deserved to be honoured for their contribution to the economic prosperity of our town. The Hulett family, under the patrician Sir Liege Hulett, was one of the pioneers of sugar cane farming in our area. They provided employment for thousands on these sugar cane plantations and the workers were taught the necessary skills to do their jobs.
To process the sugar cane into raw sugar, sugar mills were built – providing even more people with employment workers were also taught and trained in specialised skills required in these sugar mills.
Workers were provided with free housing, monthly food rations, wood, coal and coal stoves.
The Hulett family built roads, bridges and dams which are still being used today. Their social responsibility involved building schools, clinics, hospitals, community halls and recreational facilities.
The Hulett family was responsible for the economic boom that our farms and the surrounding areas, is now enjoying. It is wrong to honour Goolam Suleman by dishonouring the Hulett name. The late Goolam Suleman certainly would not have approved.
It is indeed unfortunate that not many people of the present generation know or even have heard of Goolam Suleman and E.V Mohammed. These gentlemen were true humanitarians who played their part in no small measure for a democracy for which money paid the supreme sacrifice.
They went about doing what had to be done in total secrecy because members of the “Special Branch” were everywhere. They did not fight the good fight for fame and fortune – unlike some today who like to pose for the camera when a destitute family is provided with a house or food parcels being distributed or hampers given on special occasions or even posing in front of road tarring machines!
Both these gentlemen and their families deserve something better than re naming streets after them. Both the ANC and Luthuli family will hear testimony to the unselfish contributions of these gentlemen and their families to humanity. I would like to suggest that the municipality approach the department of education, through the public works department to build two state of the art schools to cater for our growing pupil population. Name the schools after Goolam Suleman and E.V Mohammed. That would be a fitting tribute! I would like to appeal to Haroon Mohammedy to find some time from his well deserved retirement to write a series of articles in this newspaper about these two remarkable human beings.
KRISHNA GOVENDER
KwaDukuza