AHMED Kathrada’s activism spanned just over 75 years, from the age of 12 until his death at 87.
While his activism took various forms over the seven-and-a-half decades, his principles and values remained consistent. It opposed all forms of discrimination and championed the ideal of a non-racial and equal society at all times.
His was an activism that embodied service without the expectation of reward, as well as one that saw him being prepared to accept the consequences of his actions and for which he did not seek any preferential treatment. This came through clearly when facing the possibility of getting a death sentence at the Rivonia Trial. He chose not to appeal, whereas he could have, any sentence, including the death sentence.
Politicised
Kathrada barely had time to be a child. He became politicised at a young age just from observing how apartheid affected black people.
Born in Schweizer-Reneke on August 21, 1929, to trader Mohamed Kathrada and his wife, Hawa, he was the fourth of six children.
“My life as a young South African was smooth, marked by the joy of major celebration, and the warmth and friendship, the sense of community, the small-town life,” Kathrada had said.
But as the child of Indian immigrants, he was barred from attending
