One Year On The elder brother who became a father figure Ahmed Kathrada
| Three of Nelson Mandela’s comrades look back on their time with him
It was 1946. He was a law student together with two chaps I knew — Ismail Meer (the husband of Fatima Meer) and JN Singh. So they were students together at university and after law lectures Madiba used to come with them — Ismail Meer had a flat in Market Street, which I subsequently occupied — so every now and then they used to come together and that’s where I met him.
My lasting impression was his ability to relate to all kinds of people — aristocrats, monarchs, peasants, anyone. He was able to relate to them on equal terms, so he immediately made you comfortable when you were in his presence. What’s your most memorable Mandela moment?
It was a negative moment. It was in 1950 when the Transvaal ANC, the Transvaal Indian Congress and the trade unions had organised a strike against the pending Suppression of Communism Act. The ANC Youth League — of which Mandela was at some stage president — opposed the strike. Their policy wasn’t racist, but their policy was exclusivist and their policy, if I may just take the liberty of summing it up, was: “It is an African struggle led by Africans.” They were not prepared to work with any other group. After exchanging pleasantries, the thing came up about the strike, which Mandela was opposing, and it became heated and I, with the foolishness of youth — he was 11 years my senior — challenged him. I chal- FOLLOW HIS ADVICE: Ahmed Kathrada, right, talks to Nelson Mandela in parliament during his presidency in 1999 lenged Madiba to choose any platform in any area and I’d be prepared to stand and debate with him and I would win. It was in that atmosphere that we parted. The strike took place and 18 people were killed.
People having been killed, which was not expected, there was a joint meeting of the na-
I was told that he would die that night, but I couldn’t tell anyone
tional executives of the ANC, the Indian Congress, the Communist Party and the trade unions to decide what steps to take. I was not a member of any of these organisations, but I was present either as a doorman or a driver. At this meeting, Mandela was now a member of the NEC (national executive committee) of the ANC, so he was there. I was just driving people there and standing at the door, checking people who were coming in, and, much to my surprise and shock, he raised a question about me and my being disrespectful to him. I was hoping that my mentors would defend me, but they didn’t. Their response was: “Just forget this hot-headed youth. Don’t take him seriously.” I’m listening to all of this, standing at the door.
During our imprisonment, by which time we had come to know each other much better, I could tease Madiba and say: “I won.” When was the last time you saw Mandela?
I saw him when hope had been given up that he would ever recover. I saw him in hospital. He had tubes in his mouth, so he couldn’t communicate. He could sort of indicate with his eyes that he understood and it was in that situation that I saw him. He could of course recognise me and he held my hand quite tightly. It was a matter of a few minutes and I just wished him well and all that and that ended.
Subsequent to that, there was a meeting about Mandela, not about his illness, and I was told that he would die that night but I couldn’t tell anyone.
Our relationship became very close but I never called him my friend, because he was my elder. I regarded him rather as an elder brother than a friend. My father died in 1943 when I was 14 years old. In Johannesburg I had met Walter Sisulu and it didn’t take long before I came to regard him as a father figure, someone I could go to for the most private matters.
To give an example, I got involved with a white woman and it was against the law. I consulted with Walter and I said: “If we get arrested it’s going to have a negative impact on the organisation.” His response was that the ANC is against all racial laws, including this one, so his advice was: “I’m not saying you must stop. We are against all these laws. Just be careful. If you get arrested, rest assured that we will be with you.”
So it was that type of thing that I could speak to him about and, automatically almost, when he died, I could confide in Madiba.
My approach would be to follow his advice. He felt uncomfortable being regarded as a saint. He always insisted that he did not make policy or give instructions as an individual. He was part of the collective, so he wouldn’t like to be regarded as an individual doing anything, so any credit should go to the collective. That was his approach. — Interview by Tymon Smith