In conversation: Parcel baby: aliases, apartheid and neurosurgery

IN CONVERSATION PARCEL BABY: ALIAS

ES, APARTHEID, NEUROSURGERY

Dr Shafik Parker, neurosurgeon; Emeritus Professor Anwar Mall, University of Cape Town

Thursday 22 January  3.00 pm  COURSE FEES R115; Staff and students R58

As a baby, Cassiem was uprooted from his home on the Indian subcontinent and stripped of his identity. He was shipped to South Africa with the name of Shafik Ahmed and forced into a life of servitude. Against a backdrop of racial prejudice and societal constraints as a youngster, he forged a path of resilience. With determination as sharp as the scalpel he would one day wield, Shafik Ahmed ascended from the humblest of schools on the Cape Flats to pioneer the complexities of neurosurgery. Yet fate dealt a cruel blow, abruptly ending his surgical career. His memoir, Parcel Baby, peels back the layers of mystery and deception to reveal the extraordinary life of a man who transformed adversity into triumph. Having built a world from nothing, Shafik Parker’s legacy extends far beyond his personal triumph. His heart, as boundless as his ambition, is dedicated to inspiring others with hope and compassion.

Dr Shafik Parker will be in conversation with Professor Anwar Mall.

Recommended reading

Parker, S. 2025. Parcel Baby. Cape Town: iRon Publishers.

TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/performance.aspx?itemid=1575250342

Dr Shafik Parker is a specialist in private practice as a Neurosurgeon and attached to Department of Neurosurgery, Groote Schuur Hospital as a part-time Senior Consultant. He has also developed a keen interest, in spinal work, and thus over a period spanning between 25 and 30 years, have devoted a considerable amount of time and energy pursuing this interest. The invaluable and extensive experience that was gained at Groote Schuur Hospital, has led him to maintain regular contact with the Department of Neurosurgery at that fine teaching hospital. In 2018 he received a Distinguished Surgeon Award from the Faculty of Health Sciences (University of Cape Town).

He is a member of the of S.A. Neurosurgical Society, as well as a member of the South African Brain and Behaviour Society.

Dr Parker also does a great deal of Medico-legal work involving personal injury claims and any other claims, both for Plaintiff and Defendant alike. He often assist attorneys to quantify the merits of cases in which patients seek compensation for, what they consider to be, wrongful treatment by hospital staff. Currently he is still in full-time practice.