Kathrada’s indelible impact
DEEPENING non- racialism was the main project of Isithwalandwe Ahmed Kathrada’s last decade.
The title arises from the highest recognition bestowed by the ANC on those who have played a stellar role in the struggle for South African freedom.
Comrade Kathrada worked tirelessly to unite our people and build our country.
As a veteran of the 1955 Freedom Charter, he constantly reminded us of the unifying message in its opening lines: “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. He was astute enough to calculate that 23 years of democracy had achieved political liberation but that there were still considerable fault-lines in building the society that his generation had envisioned.
As we mobilise to honour his memory, his prophetic words come sharply into focus: “In death you once more challenge people from every strata, religion and position to think about how their own actions do and can change the world for better or worse.”
In his 70-plus years of activism, he worked constantly against the ravages of colonialism, apartheid, poverty and inequality.
There can be absolutely no doubt that his generation of the Mandelas, Luthulis, Sisulus, Babenias, Slovos, Meers and Mxenges changed our world for the better.
They made good on the activists’ adage that “Every generation must either betray or fulfil its mission”.
Kathrada represents that iconic generation of leaders from whom we have sought inspiration and whose track records are the beacon that must guide us in our onward challenges.
We will remember him as a gentle soul with a lion heart, always at the forefront of our struggle.
From early in his teens Kathrada dedicated his life to the ANC, the Natal and Transvaal Indian Congresses, the Communist Party of South Africa and the overall liberation of our country and continent.
We recognise with great pride the fact that he started out early in life as an activist and he never stopped being one. Interrupting his schooling at 17, Kathrada participated in the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign led by the SA Indian Congress. He was part of 2 000 resisters who were arrested and imprisoned. Since the late 1940s he was involved in all major ANC campaigns up to his arrest in the Rivonia Trial.
In 1952 he was among those who were sentenced to nine months in prison with hard labour – suspended for two years – for organising the Defiance Campaign.
In 1956 he was again in the dock as part of the 156 Congress activists and leaders charged for high treason. Following the banning of the ANC in 1960, he worked underground in Umkhonto weSizwe.
He was arrested in July 1963 and subsequently sentenced in the Rivonia Trial to life imprisonment along with Mandela, Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni.
He was released on October 15, 1989. After the unbanning of the ANC in 1990 he served in various senior roles, including being elected onto the national executive committee in 1991.
He declined nomination to the ANC NEC at its 1997 conference, giving way to younger comrades. As an elder of our movement, he dedicated his remaining years to deepening non-racialism, promoting social cohesion, good governance and liberation history.
He remained a brave, critical and respected voice right to the very end. We are encouraged by the programmes of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and the younger generation of activists whose work promotes his legacy.
Our collective condolences go to his wife Barbara Hogan, also an ANC stalwart and former long-term political prisoner.
Hamba Kahle Umkhonto.
RAVI PILLAY is a member of the provincial executive committee of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works