Mercury Reporter
Esteemed and award-winning educationist Professor Yusuf Karodia died in a Durban hospital yesterday morning. Karodia was the founder of private distance education institutions, Regent Business School and Mancosa.
Yesterday, Regent paid tribute to Karodia, saying through his work in education he had touched the lives of many people in positive and meaningful ways.
“The loss from his passing will be felt by tens of thousands of students, colleagues, friends and partners all across Africa and beyond.
“A life so beautifully lived deserves to be beautifully remembered. His family and the community at Regent Business School request all who knew him to join them in prayer to mourn his passing.”
In March this year, Karodia received the African Leadership Person of the Year Award for education and development, for a second consecutive year.
Each year, African Leadership Magazine hosts the prestigious annual African Leadership Persons of the Year Award under various categories.
At the time of the award, The Mercury’s sister newspaper Post reported that Dr Ken Giami, publisher of the African Leadership magazine, acknowledged Karodia’s enduring legacy and contribution to the education sector.
“At a time of deepening rot in the education system of several African states, we see in Professor Karodia a man on a mission to salvage our educational system. We are pleased with his contributions as he continues to set the pace in transforming higher education across the continent,” Giami said at the time.
The Madina Institute also paid tribute to Karodia, for being a philanthropist who founded the Yusuf Karodia Foundation “Million Books Project” aimed at providing more than a million books to schoolchildren across South Africa through mobile libraries.
The institute said it admired his commitment to the growth and development in higher education.
“Our trustees, staff and students express their heartfelt condolences to the bereaved