Dr Imtiaz Ismail Sooliman, founder of the humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers and holder of an NWU honorary doctorate, was announced Social Justice Champion for 2021.
He obtained his honorary doctorate from the NWU in 2019, and received the 2021 Social Justice Champion Award at the third annual social justice summit and international conference. This conference aims to reflect on the state of social justice in South Africa.
The organisers said a social justice champion was a person who had “moved the needle consistently in 2021 to advance equality and reduce poverty, a person who has shown a commitment to justice as justice for all, while galvanising others to pull together in a socially cohesive manner”.
Dr Sooliman is known for his extraordinary leadership traits and his immense contributions towards cross-border and international cooperation.
More about Gift of the Givers
Over the past 29 years, the Gift of the Givers Foundation has assisted thousands of people in more than 44 countries with hunger alleviation, disaster response, water provision, healthcare, education and social upliftment.
This foundation is the largest disaster response non-governmental organisation of African origin on the African continent.
More on the good doctor
Dr Sooliman was born on 7 March 1962 in Potchefstroom in the North West province. He matriculated from Sastri College in Durban in 1978, and subsequently qualified as a medical practitioner at the University of Natal in 1984.
He started out with a private practice in Pietermaritzburg. After establishing Gift of the Givers on 6 August 1992, he became engaged full-time in this organisation in 1994.
Not only does Dr Sooliman have a long list of individual and organisational awards from local and international organisations and governments, by he has also enriched his career by designing and developing the world’s first and only containerised mobile hospital in 1993. It was deployed in Bosnia and appraised by CNN as one of the best hospitals in Europe.
The NWU applauds Dr Sooliman and Gift of the Givers for their continued work of restoring dignity and hope to the most vulnerable and congratulates him on being announced Social Justice Champion for 2021.
Dr Imtiaz Ismail Sooliman.
