Acclaimed academic and gender activist, Professor Anshu Padayachee, has passed away.
The cause of her death is unknown at this stage.
She was instrumental in starting the Advice Desk for the Abused in 1986 in Durban, to provide support for victims of gender-based violence. She also took her work global by leading the South Africa-Netherlands Research Programme for Alternatives in Development.
Most recently, Padayachee was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Technological Higher Education Network South Africa.
Her close friend and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, says she will miss Padayachee’s generosity the most.
“Her readiness to serve all of us, so everybody went to her with their problems. Long after she resigned from the advice desk for the abused she was just readily open to anyone. Even to me, we all need her for an advice. So that’s what all of us will miss. Her generous heart and the time she takes to care about everyone of us in need. So that’s why I feel it’s such a loss.”
