Ivan Toms

Ivan Peter Toms (11 July 1952 – 25 March 2008) was a South African physician, who battled the Apartheid era government as a prominent anti-Apartheid and anti-conscription activist. He opposed conscription by the South African Defence Force, and was a co-founder of the End Conscription Campaign. He ran a clinic in the Crossroads shanty town where he was the only physician for 60,000 people. He went on a hunger strike in 1985 after the government decided to bulldoze the settlement. Toms was also involved with gay rights activism in South Africa and was a founding member of the Lesbians and Gays Against Oppression. At the time of his death in 2008, Toms was serving as the Director of Health for the city of Cape Town, South Africa.

Early life and education

Ivan Toms was born in Johannesburg on 11 July 1952. He attended Glenwood High School in Durban from 1965 to 1969. He was Deputy Head Prefect and captain of the second rugby team. Toms was a medical student at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He participated in a demonstration against the Bantu Education system, during which he was beaten by police with batons and received a broken nose. He spent much of his six months as a doctor in Namibia, which was then known as South West Africa and was controlled by South Africa.

As part of the "Fast for a Just Peace" campaign, He was a founding member of the Lesbians and Gays Against Oppression (LAGO) in 1987. Toms was also subject to homophobic attacks by his enemies. His funeral, which was attended by hundreds of people including Archbishop Tutu, was held at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town.