It’s vital to pass down the lessons of Comrade Kathrada
BETWEEN me and you, April is an important time for me. You obviously know the birthday of my country is in April, so we all smile during this month. That is probably why Comrade Ahmed Kathrada decided to go to heaven in March.
I remember him from the time when I was educated on the Rivonia Six with Madiba playing a major role in the parable.
In the 1980s, it was not usual to have a consciousness of the depths that were pushed by the progressive movement of this country. It was therefore for me a lekker discovery that Nelson Mandela had an Indian comrade. I shared that with my mom, and she said that she knew. I was obviously distraught because this was supposed to be important information that I brought her from university. Not just a university, but the University of the Wiwatersrand. Let’s explain that it was a major varsity. And to be told by my mom that was an old story was a bit disappointing for my ego of the 1980s.
So, you know my relief at the fact that Ahmed Kathrada did not leave in April, but rather in March. He did not want us to be saddened in a month that he knew to mean so much for us, so he decided to go to heaven in March. That again is indicative of his intellect. Well, that is what humble me thinks. He once said that “the hardest thing to open is a closed mind”. Now that he has passed on, I am afraid that the South African people might forget that humble fact.
It is also not so nice to think that of the Rivonia people, only two are left: Denis Goldberg and Andrew Mlangeni.
I am doing this reminder to make it clear that Ahmed was a person dedicated to the peaceful co-existence of the human being in South Africa and the world. In the times that I was in an environment he was in, I could not escape the warmth of his personality. I ended up thinking that apartheid guys were brain-dead to have jailed Uncle Kathy. Worse, they jailed him on Robben Island. That really is not cool! When he came out of jail, he insisted that we grow this country with love.
In other words, the love that is so characteristic if this country comes from people like Ahmed Kathrada. This means that we must remember them in order not to forget the dear love that is possessed by this beautiful land.
It is important that we teach our children – brother and sister – about the beautiful virtues that we were taught by them. It is, for me, very clear that such a teaching of the nation will benefit us and the world in a great deal. It is general knowledge that great part of our humility comes from moments like Kathrada and Mandela. It is, therefore, imperative that we uphold the many glorious essences that they have preached unto us. It is a major task that we must not fail at.
It is an important role that we must learn to teach the world in a humble manner that carries the depths of Comrade Ahmed Kathrada. As people in South Africa, we have the enormous task to uphold the major symbolisms of people like him, Sisulu and Mandela. It is not an easy task. It is an enormous responsibility that we must not fail at. That, we dare not fail.
All of us. How dare we? Kathrada and Mandela were the pretty and charming face of non-racialism that has taught the world beauty of humanity. We dare not fail them! Let us not fail them. Honestly speaking, I do not think I am going to fail them in the task of exhibiting the human spirituality that this country needs so much. I do think that as a country in Africa, we are expected by the world to exhibit the many complicated life skills of charming souls like this. Fortunately countries like South Africa posses the skills of living up to the challenge.
I think we can and shall do it. It is a task that all of us are challenged to achieve. I saw the funeral on television and was beautifully amazed by the plurality of my country. I also thought that moments like this might be a narrative to the world about the great majesties possessed by non- racialism.
We are in a great debt to the world to display the many charming beauties exhibited and displayed by Struggle heroes like the fallen Comrade Kathrada. Our sorrow is dimmed by the many glorious moments that they taught us to preserve in our hearts. We – the whole country – are obliged to thank heroes like Comrade Ahmed Kathrada with all our hearts. Enkosi.