Abdurahman Achmat Salie
Premium memorialLovingly known as “Oom Abdu”
19 August 1938 — 27 October 2023 · aged 85
Long Street master tailor who dressed Cape Town and never forgot District Six
Cape Town, South Africa Born in District Six, Cape Town Resting at Mowbray Muslim Cemetery, Cape TownAbout Abdurahman
In the window of a shop on Long Street, a navy suit hung for sixty years with a small card pinned inside the lapel: 'Made by Salie.' Half the lawyers, ministers and bridegrooms of the Cape wore one at some point, and most of them would swear Oom Abdu had measured them for life.
Born in District Six in 1938, Abdurahman was the son of a tailor and a koesister seller, and he grew up above his father's shop on Hanover Street. He left Trafalgar High School at fifteen to apprentice at the family business, learning to cut cloth by eye and to hide a stitch so well that a customer once accused him of cheating. In 1960 he began working for a gentlemen's outfitter on Long Street, and eventually bought the shop.
In 1971 the family was forcibly removed from District Six under the Group Areas Act and resettled in Athlone. Every working day for forty-seven years he took the early bus into the city, passing the empty lots where his old street had been. He never complained about the journey, only about the grass growing where houses used to be. He helped the District Six Museum record the memories of his old neighbours, and gave his time freely to young researchers.
He sewed the satin costumes of Cape Malay choirs and minstrel troupes, and on the second of January each year stood on a pavement in Bo-Kaap to watch the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade go by, a glow in his face that his grandchildren photographed. He loved bobotie, Friday prayers at his local mosque, and the sound of a good sewing machine at dawn.
Oom Abdu died peacefully in Athlone in October 2023. He leaves his wife Zaitoon, three children, and eleven grandchildren, one of whom studies at UCT and wears the first suit he cut for her.
“A good seam is invisible. A good man is the same.”
- Faith
- Muslim
- Place of birth
- District Six, Cape Town
- Resting place
- Mowbray Muslim Cemetery, Cape Town
- Passed away
- 27 October 2023, Cape Town
Janazah Prayer
Saturday, 28 October 2023 at 08:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Secondary schooling
Trafalgar High School1951 – 1953 · District Six, Cape Town
Left at fifteen to join the family tailoring business.
Apprentice tailor
Salie & Son, Hanover Street1953 – 1960 · District Six, Cape Town
Trained by his father in cutting and finishing.
Married Zaitoon Davids
1962 · Cape Town
A marriage of sixty-one years.
Master Tailor and Owner
Salie's Gentlemen's Tailors, Long Street1960 – 2018 · Cape Town
Dressed generations of Cape Town professionals.
Forced removal to Athlone
1971 · Athlone, Cape Town
Resettled under the Group Areas Act.
Contributor to the oral history project
District Six Museum1996 – 2015 · Cape Town
Recorded the memories of old neighbours.
Tap an organisation to find others who studied or worked there.
Family & connections
Abdurahman is survived by
- Zaitoon Salie· Spouse
- Fatima Salie-Davids· Daughter
- Yusuf Salie· Son
- Imraan Salie· Son
- 11 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
5 people have shared a memory of Abdurahman.
Knew Abdurahman? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- YC
District Six childhood friend, now in Perth
We were boys together on Hanover Street. He had the best marbles and the straightest posture. When we were moved out in 1971 he told me, 'We will remember where the street was.' He kept his word. District Six lost a witness today.
- AD
Granddaughter, UCT student
My grandfather cut my graduation suit from a pattern he drew on brown paper. He refused to let me buy a ready-made one. When I put it on, he said, 'Now you look like a Salie.' I wore it to the lecture hall and I will wear it to his grave.
- LJ
Former apprentice
He taught me the difference between speed and care. 'Hurry slowly,' he said, and handed me a bag of buttons to sort by feel. It took me a month to learn. Fifty years later I still sort things by feel. Thank you, Oom.
- IA
Imam, Masjid An-Nur, Athlone
He mended the community's kopiahs and prayer coats for free and never accepted a rand for it. At Friday prayers he always had a needle and thread in his pocket, in case someone needed a quick repair. May Allah grant him Jannah.
- AP
Long-time customer
He made my first court suit in 1986 and my last in 2019. Every time he stood behind me with the chalk and said, 'Shoulders back, my boy.' I have never felt more like a lawyer than I did in his mirror. Ag, Oom, we will miss you.
