Dr Fuad Jakoet. (Supplied)
- Popular Cape Town doctor Fuad Jakoet died with Covid-19 on Youth Day.
- His patients presented posters and notes of thanks at his rooms in Salt River.
- He was described as “selfless and dedicated”.
“We are only here a short while,” said Dr Yusuf Jakoet, the brother of Cape Town doctor Fuad Jakoet, who died of Covid-19 on Youth Day.
The Jakoet family is well-known in Cape Town, with their roots as doctors stretching from Bo-Kaap to Salt River, to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
They have provided comfort and cure for the ailing and the desolate for decades, and have celebrated the arrivals of new babies in their communities.
The Jakoet brothers stayed in the medical field, opting to consult from humble rooms within their communities.
Dr Fuad Jakoet’s consulting rooms are in Albert Road in Salt River, squeezed between shops selling hard-to-find vegetables, furniture, and heavily embellished fabrics meant for garments.
They had also doctored the garment workers who once dominated the area.
And so, when their beloved Dr Fuad Jakoet died of Covid-19 on 16 June, there was sense of deep sorrow, but also gratitude for his work.
A wall of the surgery on Albert Street is covered with handmade tributes, and notes of thanks.
“Shukran (thank you) Dr Fuad Jakoet”, read one, with three red hearts painted next to the words.
Tribute to Cape Town doctor Fuad Jakoet (Jenni Evans, News24)
Another offered “deepest sympathy for the loss of an outstanding doctor”.
He was described as “selfless and dedicated” and, in another message, was remembered for his kindness to the community.
Another read: “Peace and blessings. May you be granted a special place in heaven”, which said he embodied ubuntu and caring for people.
Taking a moment from his busy surgery in Bo-Kaap on the other side of the CBD, his brother, Yusuf, told News24 that death is something they accepted as part of daily life.
“We are only here for a short time and we all accept our destiny,” said Yusuf Jakoet.
“We should always get ourselves ready, knowing that we could be next,” said the deeply spiritual doctor.
“Nothing is here forever. You realise that your journey in life is to be productive. Don’t run away from your responsibilities. We are all in the same boat.”
He said that, as doctors, they have to be available to the people, and cannot shirk their responsibilities because of Covid-19.
