Johannesburg – The Mayor of Cape Town Patricia de Lille on Thursday bestowed the freedom of the city on struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada.
Speaking during a special council meeting held to bestow the honour on “uncle Kathy” – as Kathrada is affectionately known – De Lille said: “There is a social and economic liberation that has yet to be fully achieved that helps all of us live the formal freedoms we have secured.”
The mayor said there was the liberation of the mind that “helps us grow beyond the limitations of our past – a liberation that we have to work towards every day”.
She added: “Uncle Kathy has been a fighter for each of these – fights which he still leads.”
De Lille said Kathrada’s journey “to the stage today is the journey of our country’s struggle for a society based on freedom, fairness, and opportunity”.
During the struggle, she said Kathrada sat on Robben Island, imprisoned for his belief that this country should belong to all who live in it.
“After liberation, he counselled our first democratic president, Tata Madiba, who was also awarded the Freedom of Cape Town, in parliament,” said De Lille.
“All too often we hear of great figures in history becoming intoxicated with power. Not so Uncle Kathy who quietly left office in 1999, content to leave the project of nation-building to the next generation. But as he sits here today, he has remained a counsellor to our young country in the project of reconciliation.”
Accepting the honour, Kathrada said: “With due respect to you Madam Mayor; in accepting this worthy gesture, I wish to dedicate it to several men and women – who would have been more worthy recipients of this honour.”
Kathrada said he had in mind: Dulcie September, who was assassinated in Paris by apartheid agents; Ashley Kriel, killed by the police in July 1987; Anton Fransch – on 17 November 1989, Fransch Anton was killed after his lone seven-hour gun-battle with a 30-member police squad; Vuyisile Mini – on 6 November 1964, Vuvisile Mini was hanged for refusing to give evidence against ANC Stalwart Wilton Mkwayi; Amy Biehl – on 26 August 1993, the 26-year-old American Fulbright scholar was stabbed to death in Gugulethu by a group of youth shouting, “Kill the settler”; and the 600 unarmed Soweto school kids, who in 1976 were mowed down by the police.
“The death of these martyrs reminds us of how protected we were in prison. No policemen could come to Robben Island and shoot or tear-gas us,” said Kathrada.
“Madam Mayor, I have been a resident of Cape Town for a very long time. For 26 years I was an involuntary inmate of two jails that fall in your constituencies: Robben Island and Pollsmoor.
“Thereafter, I lived here voluntarily for 5 years while serving in President Mandela’s office; and another 7 years as Chairperson of Robben Island Museum Council, during which time I was given a house on Robben Island,” said Kathrada.
He said he was reminded of his late elder brother Ismail Meer, who was his friend and mentor, saying he once remarked: “We struggled to get Kathy out of Robben Island. Now, whenever I phone for Kathy, I’m told, ‘He’s on Robben Island’. We succeeded in getting him out of Robben Island, but we have failed to get Robben Island out of him.”
Kathrada said as a pensioner, he still continued to be an on-and-off casual citizen of Cape Town.
“I spend a fair part of my retirement time as an unpaid professional tour guide,” said the struggle hero.
“Since my release, I have accompanied individuals and groups to Robben Island more than 300 times. And I continue to go there. A couple of months ago, after returning from Robben Island with the Cuban 5, I was asked by a media person ‘Are you excited?’.
“By a slip of the tongue, unthinkingly, I allowed myself to betray my life-long bonds with Cuba by saying ‘no I took Beyoncé to Robben Island.”
He joked that he hoped the leader of the SA Communist Party Blade Nzimande “doesn’t hear this”.
Addressing the mayor, Kathrada said: “When you advertise “must see” spots in Cape Town for tourists, will you kindly consider including Robben Island? Among its numerous messages, the one that stands out is: ‘Robben Island represents the triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil’.”
Kathrada said seldom in the world’s history, has there been a similar dramatic development; literally, within a short space of time; from prison to Parliament, to President.
African News Agency
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