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A Tribute

By 16 August 2024November 2nd, 2024No Comments
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Ahmed Kathrada

A tribute on the 95th anniversary of his birth

On 21st August 1929, Ahmed Kathrada was born in South Africa. His family had to move to Johannesburg when he was a young boy as there was no school for Indian children in the small town of Schweizer-Reneke, in the North West province, where they lived.
He joined the Young Communist League at the tender age of 12 and the Transvaal Indian Congress in 1945. In 1946 he took part in the Gandhi inspired Passive Resistance Campaign.

Above; Ahmed Kathrada and some of his co-defendents at the Rivonia Trial. Cutting from the Rand Daily Mail published 9th October 1963. Digital Collections, The Liliesleaf Trust UK

Alongside his comrades, Kathrada participated in the 1952 Defiance Campaign which involved defying petty Apartheid laws including going to White areas where the majority of South Africans (Blacks, Indians & Coloureds) were prohibited from entering. This resulted in his arrest and 2 years imprisonment under the Apartheid regime’s Suppression of Communism Act. In 1956, Kathy (as he was known by his comrades) was one of the 156 accused in the Treason Trial and placed under a banning order. All were eventually acquitted after 5 years.
He later faced house arrest to curb his activism so went underground to work for the liberation movement in May 1963.
Following the discovery of the leadership’s hideout at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia and the ensuing special branch raid, Kathrada was amongst those arrested. He was summoned to court along with 10 comrades including Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela. 8 of them were eventually sentenced to life imprisonment. Even as prisoners, the state used race to divide them, 7 were incarcerated on Robben Island whilst the only white comrade served his sentence in Pretoria.
Despite the hardship and isolation of having their freedom taken, these remarkable leaders held strong and refused to compromise on their political principles.
Kathrada was a contemporary of my father, Paul Joseph, a fellow activist in the Passive Resistance and Defiance Campaigns as well as a defendant in the 1956 Treason Trial. Uncle Kathy, as my sisters and I referred to him, was occasionally allowed to write to my parents from prison. I was amazed at his positive attitude and interest in the world beyond.
Here in London, in the early 1980s, I was given a brass bangle with his name on, and 1964 to mark the year of his imprisonment, that I wore until the day he was released from prison. Our local Barnet Anti-Apartheid group “adopted him” so as to shine a light on lesser known prisoners of Apartheid. We also produced t-shirts featuring his image in order to raise awareness.

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Above; bangle worn by Nadia Joseph during Ahmed Kathrada’s imprisonment, Joseph Family Collection

Above; T-Shirt produced by the Barnet Anti-Apartheid Group, Joseph Family Collection

Above; poster produced by the West London Anti-Apartheid Movement Group in 1970s. Local AAM groups ‘adopted’ individual political prisoners in a bid to highlight their cases, as well as those of other political prisoners. Like the West London AAM group, Barnet AAM campaigned for Ahmed Kathrada’s freedom. Courtesy Anti-Apartheid Movement Archives.

Above; Article reporting on the symbolism of the bangle worn by Nadia until Kathrada’s release. The Times Group Newspapers (covering Hendon, Finchley & Mill Hill), 26.10.1989. Joseph Family Collection.

Uncle Kathy wrote to my father after he’d visited us in London in 1992. Once released from jail, Kathrada was able to use notepaper of his own choice and personalise it ‘from the desk of Ahmed Kathrada’. He addressed it to ‘Navvie’, which was the abbreviation of my father’s Indian name, Navarajh. Kathrada shows a light, playful side to his character through his choice of notepaper with Garfield the cat at the top.

The letter itself contains a more serious focus. For Muslims, a pilgrimage to Mecca at some point in their lifetime is of huge importance. For Kathrada, it was particularly poignant as he was sentenced to life imprisonment and could have died in jail so this was a journey of religious, spiritual and political meaning.

The full letter and others materials connected to the liberation struggle in South Africa from my parents’ archive have been donated to Senate House Library’s special collections (University of London). In remembrance of what would have been his 95th birthday in 2024, I have taken the time to look through these and other items we’ve kept in his honour.

Cover page of letter from Ahmed Kathrada to Paul Joseph, The Paul and Adelaide Joseph Collection, Senate House Special Collections.

Above; portrait of Ahmed Kathrada by Jürgen Schadeburg, 1994. Published by UNISA Press, 2012. 

Once released from jail, Kathrada was appointed Mandela’s Parliamentary Counsellor. Amongst the many awards in recognition of his contribution to the liberation struggle, he received the Freedom of the City of Johannesburg in 2012 and the Freedom of The City of London in 2016.
He died aged 87 in March 2017.

Written by Nadia Joseph, August 2024.   

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