Kathrada's legacy must not be distorted for narrow party political gain

23 May 2023

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation dissociates itself from the speech by the leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, at a rally held in Chatsworth, Durban, on Saturday, 20 May 2023.

In that speech the DA leader refers to Ahmed Kathrada's Indian ancestry and the role he played in the struggle for liberation, and mischievously links it to the Employment Equity Amendment Bill.

That the DA has cited Kathrada's role in our freedom struggle is appreciated though one wonders where this appreciation was when Kathrada had died. Not a single DA national leader chose to attend his funeral. One wonders where this appreciation was throughout the years after his release from prison, where there was no attempt by the DA to engage him to better understand his political values and life.

Without this one wonders how the DA can even attempt to claim to know what would be his responses to current issues.

The disturbing point is that the DA narrative assumes that Kathrada would have been enthusiastic about its call for defiance of a law that will be approved by a democratic parliament. And that he would have done so because he was Indian.

If the DA had made a genuine effort to read the many books, speeches, interviews and articles on Kathrada, it would come to realise the following:

- Kathrada abhorred racism and exploitation.

- Kathrada resented all efforts to sow divisions among the people of South Africa

- Guided by the teachings of Nehru, Sisulu, Dadoo, Naicker and Chief Albert Luthuli, Kathrada placed the unity of the Indian and African people as being of paramount importance. He would often quote Nehru in this regard: "The destiny of the Indian people is intertwined with that of the African people." It is this belief that guided him and the Indian Congresses to build a lasting political alliance with the ANC.

Kathrada's understanding of non-racialism was premised on the goals of the Freedom Charter and the attainment of equality in all respects in South Africa. In short, he was not colour blind in his non-racialism.

Kathrada certainly believed in mass-based defiance of unjust and oppressive laws.

It is questionable whether he would support such action against legislation without this legislation being thoroughly engaged with through all the democratic channels in our constitutional democracy, including the courts. He would be most concerned about any mass action that further divides our people along racial lines.

He would be appalled at attempts to elevate his "Indianness" and struggle contribution in a crude vote-catching and fear-mongering exercise as the DA has done. Kathrada would have urged all actions by individuals and political parties to be guided by a deep conviction to political principles, and not to short-term party-political gains advanced through performative politics.

Kathrada was mindful of the complexities of transformation as his writing in the April 2012 Edition of Politikon, Volume 39, number 1, indicated. In it he reflected on the meaning and focus of non-racialism in democratic South Africa. He wrote: "The challenges of deepening our understanding of what non-racialism means in post-apartheid South Africa requires deep intellectual and rigorous practical work.

We need to refine our understanding of its origins and its application to everyday life today. I would still insist that meeting the modern challenges of poverty, hunger, homelessness and so on requires an approach that has a non-racial outlook embedded within it. As time goes on and society's demographics change, we might want to arrive at a point where racial classifications become meaningless and disappear, not through some piece of legislation but through their complete lack of relevance to individual, groups, and national identity. I look forward to that day."

He, however, understood the relative privilege of his racial identity and the sacrifices that it required of him. This is best illustrated in the following text from his book, "A Simple Freedom", which deals with the days before sentencing at the Rivonia Trial.

"Although there is in my case little evidence against me, I have a special responsibility. I am an Indian, belonging to one of the minority groups...when Madiba suggests that when we are found guilty, and even sentenced to death, we should not appeal. I wholeheartedly agree, knowing what it means.

So, Madiba speaks for me too, when at the trial he makes one of history's most dramatic speeches: 'During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve but if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."'

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation requests from the DA and all political parties to refrain from using the names of liberation heroes and heroines, and in this instance, Ahmed Kathrada, to draw false historical narratives and conclusions from their lives. They are better-off educating themselves about what Kathrada actually believed in, and use that to guide their behaviour and their public utterances.

Issued by Zusipe Batyi, Communications Manager, Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, 23 May 2023