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| Cosmas Desmond, whose ground-breaking book, The Discarded People, exposed the desperate living conditions of thousands of black South Africans, has died aged 76 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Desmond researched the book while serving as a Franciscan priest at a mission station in the former northern Natal Province. | Cosmas Desmond, whose ground-breaking book, The Discarded People, exposed the desperate living conditions of thousands of black South Africans, has died aged 76 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Desmond researched the book while serving as a Franciscan priest at a mission station in the former northern Natal Province. |
| He was born Patrick Desmond, the seventh of 11 children, into an Irish Catholic family in Stepney, east London. His father worked in public health for Poplar council. After Cardinal Vaughan Memorial school, west London, he trained for the ministry at St Mary's Friary, East Bergholt, Suffolk, and on being ordained chose the name Cosmas, after a saintly third-century physician who refused payment from his patients. Without further ado, Desmond left for a Catholic mission in Zululand to "convert the heathen hordes", but soon discovered, as he would say, "that the jungle was concrete and the heathens were white". | He was born Patrick Desmond, the seventh of 11 children, into an Irish Catholic family in Stepney, east London. His father worked in public health for Poplar council. After Cardinal Vaughan Memorial school, west London, he trained for the ministry at St Mary's Friary, East Bergholt, Suffolk, and on being ordained chose the name Cosmas, after a saintly third-century physician who refused payment from his patients. Without further ado, Desmond left for a Catholic mission in Zululand to "convert the heathen hordes", but soon discovered, as he would say, "that the jungle was concrete and the heathens were white". |
| His conversion to activism came at Our Lady of Sorrows church at the Maria Ratschitz mission, near Ladysmith, as his parishioners were being moved forcibly to Limehill, a dumping ground for what a cabinet minister called "surplus" people. Desmond learned that, across the country, black people were being ejected from "white" areas into the embryonic Bantustans that the Afrikaner nationalists hoped would turn South Africa into a white country. | His conversion to activism came at Our Lady of Sorrows church at the Maria Ratschitz mission, near Ladysmith, as his parishioners were being moved forcibly to Limehill, a dumping ground for what a cabinet minister called "surplus" people. Desmond learned that, across the country, black people were being ejected from "white" areas into the embryonic Bantustans that the Afrikaner nationalists hoped would turn South Africa into a white country. |
| He drove an ancient Volkswagen Beetle round South Africa, chronicling communities mired in hopelessness; no jobs, no water, rudimentary housing, no land even for subsistence survival. The only part of their lives that did flourish were the graves of small children. Desmond took his notes to the Christian Institute in Johannesburg and, in 1970, The Discarded People was published. The following year it appeared in Britain in the Penguin Africa library series. | He drove an ancient Volkswagen Beetle round South Africa, chronicling communities mired in hopelessness; no jobs, no water, rudimentary housing, no land even for subsistence survival. The only part of their lives that did flourish were the graves of small children. Desmond took his notes to the Christian Institute in Johannesburg and, in 1970, The Discarded People was published. The following year it appeared in Britain in the Penguin Africa library series. |
| Desmond was outlawed under the Suppression of Communism Act and subjected to house arrest – which was later relaxed so he could attend mass on Sundays. It became illegal to buy or possess his book. The church hierarchy was not pleased. His mother, Cecilia, said: "They are too concerned with saying mass, administering the sacraments and saving souls." In 1973 he left the priesthood but remained a practising Catholic. | Desmond was outlawed under the Suppression of Communism Act and subjected to house arrest – which was later relaxed so he could attend mass on Sundays. It became illegal to buy or possess his book. The church hierarchy was not pleased. His mother, Cecilia, said: "They are too concerned with saying mass, administering the sacraments and saving souls." In 1973 he left the priesthood but remained a practising Catholic. |
| Horst Kleinschmidt, who shared a house with Desmond in Johannesburg, recalled the constant surveillance. "We knew they were there from the glimmer of fag ends in their cars." One Sunday, he smuggled Desmond out of the house in the boot of a car and drove to a nearby Anglican church for him to address a congregation of carefully selected people. No one gave the game away. | Horst Kleinschmidt, who shared a house with Desmond in Johannesburg, recalled the constant surveillance. "We knew they were there from the glimmer of fag ends in their cars." One Sunday, he smuggled Desmond out of the house in the boot of a car and drove to a nearby Anglican church for him to address a congregation of carefully selected people. No one gave the game away. |
| The systematic documentation of forced removals caused an international outcry. In 1973 the UN general assembly adopted the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. The apartheid state was on its way to isolation. | The systematic documentation of forced removals caused an international outcry. In 1973 the UN general assembly adopted the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. The apartheid state was on its way to isolation. |
| The bans on Desmond were lifted in 1975 but, faced with death threats and unable to rely on police protection, he returned to Britain with his wife, Snoeks (Alethea), a human rights activist. He became director of the British arm of Amnesty International, ideal for a man who had been a prisoner of conscience. | The bans on Desmond were lifted in 1975 but, faced with death threats and unable to rely on police protection, he returned to Britain with his wife, Snoeks (Alethea), a human rights activist. He became director of the British arm of Amnesty International, ideal for a man who had been a prisoner of conscience. |
| However, within 18 months he was sacked, the victim of a power struggle between voluntary workers and the organisation's staff. Desmond was also a Labour councillor in Tower Hamlets, east London, but resigned in protest at the Labour council's refusal to veto a telephone contract with Plessey, which did business with the apartheid regime. He later worked for the Canon Collins Education trust. | However, within 18 months he was sacked, the victim of a power struggle between voluntary workers and the organisation's staff. Desmond was also a Labour councillor in Tower Hamlets, east London, but resigned in protest at the Labour council's refusal to veto a telephone contract with Plessey, which did business with the apartheid regime. He later worked for the Canon Collins Education trust. |
| In 1991, with the liberation of Nelson Mandela, he was allowed back to South Africa. He stood for the new parliament for the former Pan Africanist Congress but was not elected. He became director of the children's rights organisation Children First in Durban and edited its journal. He was soon disillusioned with the African National Congress, criticising in particular its inability to redistribute land. "The rural poor," complained the former Franciscan, "to all intent and purpose, are still the hewers of wood and the drawers of water." | In 1991, with the liberation of Nelson Mandela, he was allowed back to South Africa. He stood for the new parliament for the former Pan Africanist Congress but was not elected. He became director of the children's rights organisation Children First in Durban and edited its journal. He was soon disillusioned with the African National Congress, criticising in particular its inability to redistribute land. "The rural poor," complained the former Franciscan, "to all intent and purpose, are still the hewers of wood and the drawers of water." |
| He is survived by Snoeks and three sons. | He is survived by Snoeks and three sons. |
| • Cosmas (Patrick Anthony) Desmond, clergyman and activist, born 19 November 1935; died 31 March 2012 | • Cosmas (Patrick Anthony) Desmond, clergyman and activist, born 19 November 1935; died 31 March 2012 |