ANC must learn from Kathrada
AHMED Kathrada, one of the last of the great Struggle veterans, is gone.
Like the other great ANC leaders, he dedicated his life to the fight against apartheid, sacrificing 26 years of his life on Robben Island for freedom, equality, justice and human dignity for the masses.
A quiet, unassuming, private man, he avoided the limelight and remained in the shadow of his leader Nelson Mandela, preferring to work quietly behind the scenes.
But what I admired most about the man was his letter to Jacob Zuma, asking him to step down as president.
Tributes have been pouring in for the Struggle stalwart from all over the world.
The ANC will give a rousing send-off to the quiet man of politics with long, eloquent speeches extolling his virtues.
But Kathrada, true to his character, did not want the pomp and ceremony of a state funeral. In fact, his family took the rather unusual step of telling Zuma he can attend but not speak at the funeral.
A slap in the face from a dead man who left the earth with an unblemished character.
Of what good is a man who has the world at his feet, but has lost his soul?
A lasting tribute to the veteran stalwart will be if the ANC does some serious soul-searching and exorcises the evil that is bedevilling it – which is most unlikely to take place.
It never changed after Mandela’s death – there is little hope it will now.
All that matters to Zuma is the game of power politics. He has shuffled his cards deftly and is ready to reveal his crooked hand with another rand-rattling trick up his sleeve. T MARKANDAN Silverglen