Ahmed Kathrada: South Africa's anti-apartheid veteran dies aged 87

[TahirFan]

Inna lillaahi wa inna ilayhi Raaji'oon

Ahmed Kathrada is the second biggest political icon after Nelson Mandela

He spent 18 years in imprisonment on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela

Veteran South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada has died aged 87, his foundation says.

It says Mr Kathrada passed away peacefully in a Johannesburg hospital "after a short period of illness, following surgery to the brain".

Along with Nelson Mandela, Mr Kathrada was among eight African National Congress activists sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964.

They were convicted of trying to topple the white minority government.

Apartheid was a legalised system of discrimination against non-white people introduced in South Africa in 1948.

But laws that discriminated against non-whites existed prior to that

Mr Kathrada, affectionately known as Kathy, spent more than 26 years in prison, 18 of which were on the notorious Robben Island, where Mr Mandela was also jailed.

He was not only one of Mr Mandela's closest friends, but also a human rights activist in his own right who had a long history in the struggle against discrimination and apartheid

http://sunnewsonline.com/s-africas-anti-apartheid-veteran-kathrada-dies-aged-87/

Born in 1929, the fourth of six children
Joined the Young Communist League aged 12
At 17, part of protests against a discriminatory law
Received suspended sentence in 1952 for organising anti-apartheid defiance campaign
Arrested in 1963 for being part of armed struggle and put on trial alongside Nelson Mandela
Released from prison in 1989
Joined the government as President Mandela's adviser in 1994


He joined the Young Communist League at the age of 12 and later became a member of the Transvaal Indian Congress.

He was released from prison in 1989, and after South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, President Mandela persuaded Mr Kathrada to join him in government as his political adviser.

 

[pakistan cricket fan]

Inna lillaahi wa inna ilayhi Raaji'oon

 

[TahirFan]

 

[Saeed]

Rest in peace. Extremely selfless person, spending 2 decades prove that. Now days desis put down Africans just to appease racists.

 

[TahirFan]

Rest in peace. Extremely selfless person, spending 2 decades prove that. Now days desis put down Africans just to appease racists.

Spot on. Todays desis mainly vote for the racist 'Back to apartheid' DA party.

What is even more shocking is that most muslim desis vote for this party that is openly Pro Zionism. This party is funded by Nation Kirsh , the director and owner of Israel's Magal Security Systems which supplies the security systems for the construction of Israel's illegal apartheid wall.

 

[Nostalgic]

RIP.

[MENTION=142991]TahirFan[/MENTION], if you don't mind my asking, how long has your family been in South Africa? I've always been fascinated by what desi life was like under Apartheid. I've read a bit about it, but it would be great to hear it from someone who really experienced it.

 

[TahirFan]

Hi Nostalgic

My family arrived in South Africa in 1895.

In Bombay the stories of Cape Town and the mining boom in South Africa were heard from Konkani sailors working on British vessels.

The Cape was a British colony and this facilitated the emigration from Konkan to the shore of Cape Town by several Konkanis escaping the social and economic situation in Konkan.

The majority of South African Indians are hindu and live in KwaZulu Natal arrived in South Africa from Tamil Nadu and the state of Gujarat. All the konkanis are muslim who mainly speak Urdu or Konkani. My family spoke Urdu

When I was a 6 year old boy the group areas act came into being. Whites and Indians were separated and had to move into their own areas. My family was forcefully removed from Claremont (town next to Newlands) and had to relocate to Rylands. Our goods were thrown out of the house onto the pavement by the apartheid police.
Jewish estate companies bought these houses for R10. That's less then one US Dollar . Today these same houses are valued over R5 million Rand

We were dumped into the Indian area. There were no schools at that time in the area and we were forced to study in shipping containers with no air conditioning in the hot African heat. My fathers shop was also confiscated and sold the jewish estate companies for R20

The job reservation law came into effect. Indians could only be employed as factory workers or farm labourers. We lived in extreme poverty and family survived on a glass of sugar water for a long time.

Non white education was grossly inferior to white education because we meant to be cheap labour for the white man. Low paying jobs with the government were offered to Indians only if they converted to Christianity. Many Hindus converted but I am not aware of any Muslim converting to Christianity.

A new law was passed where Indians could a shop in their own areas but could not sell their goods to white people. They had to put a sign 'Native Shop' on their shop. Many small Indian shops were opened and my father opened a little shop selling cheap clothing. Many Indian became prosperous with these shops

Many cities in South Africa became 'White by Night'. Which meant non whites could not visit big cities after 6pm and were also barred on Sundays

Muslim shopkeepers donated generously to build a good quality school in Cape Town called 'Habibia'. I attended high school at Habibia where the standard of education was far superior to that of government schools

South African Indians were barred from attending sport events from all grounds. We had no sports facilties and had to play our sports in the bush. Despite these hardships were produced many good sportman notably Basil D'oliveira who emigrated and played for England

Non whites had poor medical facilities and had low lifespans. Indians rarely reached 50. Both my parents died before they reached 50. We had poor quality state hospitals that were overcrowded. Ambulances were reserved for the white man

We could only use 'Third Class' train carriages. 'First Class' was reserved for whites and the 'second class' was an empty carriage between the two

Indians started going into politics in the 70's. Amod Timol a school teacher was actively involved in politics fighting for our rights. He was arrested taken to the John Vorster police station and thrown down the 10th floor and died.

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on earth but under apartheid we could not go to the beach, we were not allowed on the mountains and use any of the publics amenities

In most buildings , Indians were not allowed to use lifts and I worked for a company that was on the 12th and I had to walk up and down 12 floors every day. Some building allowed us to use separate lifts

We were not allowed in any restaurants or pizza shops in the city

At railway stations we also had to use separate stairs

Whites often shouted 'Coolie' at us. We could not complain because racism was the law.



Today 24 years after the death of apartheid, our bosses are still white racists and we are still earning salaries which are way lower than them

I once went for a job interview and the company offered me a salary way lower than what they advertised. When I enquired why they are not offering me the salary they advertised. You Indians have a much lower lifestyle than us


I can a write a book on my experiences

 

[czar]

Hi Nostalgic

My family arrived in South Africa in 1895.

In Bombay the stories of Cape Town and the mining boom in South Africa were heard from Konkani sailors working on British vessels.

The Cape was a British colony and this facilitated the emigration from Konkan to the shore of Cape Town by several Konkanis escaping the social and economic situation in Konkan.

The majority of South African Indians are hindu and live in KwaZulu Natal arrived in South Africa from Tamil Nadu and the state of Gujarat. All the konkanis are muslim who mainly speak Urdu or Konkani. My family spoke Urdu

When I was a 6 year old boy the group areas act came into being. Whites and Indians were separated and had to move into their own areas. My family was forcefully removed from Claremont (town next to Newlands) and had to relocate to Rylands. Our goods were thrown out of the house onto the pavement by the apartheid police.
Jewish estate companies bought these houses for R10. That's less then one US Dollar . Today these same houses are valued over R5 million Rand

We were dumped into the Indian area. There were no schools at that time in the area and we were forced to study in shipping containers with no air conditioning in the hot African heat. My fathers shop was also confiscated and sold the jewish estate companies for R20

The job reservation law came into effect. Indians could only be employed as factory workers or farm labourers. We lived in extreme poverty and family survived on a glass of sugar water for a long time.

Non white education was grossly inferior to white education because we meant to be cheap labour for the white man. Low paying jobs with the government were offered to Indians only if they converted to Christianity. Many Hindus converted but I am not aware of any Muslim converting to Christianity.

A new law was passed where Indians could a shop in their own areas but could not sell their goods to white people. They had to put a sign 'Native Shop' on their shop. Many small Indian shops were opened and my father opened a little shop selling cheap clothing. Many Indian became prosperous with these shops

Many cities in South Africa became 'White by Night'. Which meant non whites could not visit big cities after 6pm and were also barred on Sundays

Muslim shopkeepers donated generously to build a good quality school in Cape Town called 'Habibia'. I attended high school at Habibia where the standard of education was far superior to that of government schools

South African Indians were barred from attending sport events from all grounds. We had no sports facilties and had to play our sports in the bush. Despite these hardships were produced many good sportman notably Basil D'oliveira who emigrated and played for England

Non whites had poor medical facilities and had low lifespans. Indians rarely reached 50. Both my parents died before they reached 50. We had poor quality state hospitals that were overcrowded. Ambulances were reserved for the white man

We could only use 'Third Class' train carriages. 'First Class' was reserved for whites and the 'second class' was an empty carriage between the two

Indians started going into politics in the 70's. Amod Timol a school teacher was actively involved in politics fighting for our rights. He was arrested taken to the John Vorster police station and thrown down the 10th floor and died.

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on earth but under apartheid we could not go to the beach, we were not allowed on the mountains and use any of the publics amenities

In most buildings , Indians were not allowed to use lifts and I worked for a company that was on the 12th and I had to walk up and down 12 floors every day. Some building allowed us to use separate lifts

We were not allowed in any restaurants or pizza shops in the city

At railway stations we also had to use separate stairs

Whites often shouted 'Coolie' at us. We could not complain because racism was the law.



Today 24 years after the death of apartheid, our bosses are still white racists and we are still earning salaries which are way lower than them

I once went for a job interview and the company offered me a salary way lower than what they advertised. When I enquired why they are not offering me the salary they advertised. You Indians have a much lower lifestyle than us


I can a write a book on my experiences

Very Interesting read.

It seems that you are in yours 40s if you have lived through the apartheid era.

 

[Saeed]

Good and well detailed post [MENTION=142991]TahirFan[/MENTION] . You should write for a newspaper. We don't realize many people suffered and fought for us so we could have a better life, we take whatever we have for granted.

 

[TahirFan]

S.Africa anti-apartheid icon Kathrada laid to rest

 

[TQ89]

Hi Nostalgic

My family arrived in South Africa in 1895.

In Bombay the stories of Cape Town and the mining boom in South Africa were heard from Konkani sailors working on British vessels.

The Cape was a British colony and this facilitated the emigration from Konkan to the shore of Cape Town by several Konkanis escaping the social and economic situation in Konkan.

The majority of South African Indians are hindu and live in KwaZulu Natal arrived in South Africa from Tamil Nadu and the state of Gujarat. All the konkanis are muslim who mainly speak Urdu or Konkani. My family spoke Urdu

When I was a 6 year old boy the group areas act came into being. Whites and Indians were separated and had to move into their own areas. My family was forcefully removed from Claremont (town next to Newlands) and had to relocate to Rylands. Our goods were thrown out of the house onto the pavement by the apartheid police.
Jewish estate companies bought these houses for R10. That's less then one US Dollar . Today these same houses are valued over R5 million Rand

We were dumped into the Indian area. There were no schools at that time in the area and we were forced to study in shipping containers with no air conditioning in the hot African heat. My fathers shop was also confiscated and sold the jewish estate companies for R20

The job reservation law came into effect. Indians could only be employed as factory workers or farm labourers. We lived in extreme poverty and family survived on a glass of sugar water for a long time.

Non white education was grossly inferior to white education because we meant to be cheap labour for the white man. Low paying jobs with the government were offered to Indians only if they converted to Christianity. Many Hindus converted but I am not aware of any Muslim converting to Christianity.

A new law was passed where Indians could a shop in their own areas but could not sell their goods to white people. They had to put a sign 'Native Shop' on their shop. Many small Indian shops were opened and my father opened a little shop selling cheap clothing. Many Indian became prosperous with these shops

Many cities in South Africa became 'White by Night'. Which meant non whites could not visit big cities after 6pm and were also barred on Sundays

Muslim shopkeepers donated generously to build a good quality school in Cape Town called 'Habibia'. I attended high school at Habibia where the standard of education was far superior to that of government schools

South African Indians were barred from attending sport events from all grounds. We had no sports facilties and had to play our sports in the bush. Despite these hardships were produced many good sportman notably Basil D'oliveira who emigrated and played for England

Non whites had poor medical facilities and had low lifespans. Indians rarely reached 50. Both my parents died before they reached 50. We had poor quality state hospitals that were overcrowded. Ambulances were reserved for the white man

We could only use 'Third Class' train carriages. 'First Class' was reserved for whites and the 'second class' was an empty carriage between the two

Indians started going into politics in the 70's. Amod Timol a school teacher was actively involved in politics fighting for our rights. He was arrested taken to the John Vorster police station and thrown down the 10th floor and died.

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on earth but under apartheid we could not go to the beach, we were not allowed on the mountains and use any of the publics amenities

In most buildings , Indians were not allowed to use lifts and I worked for a company that was on the 12th and I had to walk up and down 12 floors every day. Some building allowed us to use separate lifts

We were not allowed in any restaurants or pizza shops in the city

At railway stations we also had to use separate stairs

Whites often shouted 'Coolie' at us. We could not complain because racism was the law.



Today 24 years after the death of apartheid, our bosses are still white racists and we are still earning salaries which are way lower than them

I once went for a job interview and the company offered me a salary way lower than what they advertised. When I enquired why they are not offering me the salary they advertised. You Indians have a much lower lifestyle than us


I can a write a book on my experiences

Wow that was so touching. Didn't know times were so hard in apartheid era

 

[Slog]

Hi Nostalgic

My family arrived in South Africa in 1895.

In Bombay the stories of Cape Town and the mining boom in South Africa were heard from Konkani sailors working on British vessels.

The Cape was a British colony and this facilitated the emigration from Konkan to the shore of Cape Town by several Konkanis escaping the social and economic situation in Konkan.

The majority of South African Indians are hindu and live in KwaZulu Natal arrived in South Africa from Tamil Nadu and the state of Gujarat. All the konkanis are muslim who mainly speak Urdu or Konkani. My family spoke Urdu

When I was a 6 year old boy the group areas act came into being. Whites and Indians were separated and had to move into their own areas. My family was forcefully removed from Claremont (town next to Newlands) and had to relocate to Rylands. Our goods were thrown out of the house onto the pavement by the apartheid police.
Jewish estate companies bought these houses for R10. That's less then one US Dollar . Today these same houses are valued over R5 million Rand

We were dumped into the Indian area. There were no schools at that time in the area and we were forced to study in shipping containers with no air conditioning in the hot African heat. My fathers shop was also confiscated and sold the jewish estate companies for R20

The job reservation law came into effect. Indians could only be employed as factory workers or farm labourers. We lived in extreme poverty and family survived on a glass of sugar water for a long time.

Non white education was grossly inferior to white education because we meant to be cheap labour for the white man. Low paying jobs with the government were offered to Indians only if they converted to Christianity. Many Hindus converted but I am not aware of any Muslim converting to Christianity.

A new law was passed where Indians could a shop in their own areas but could not sell their goods to white people. They had to put a sign 'Native Shop' on their shop. Many small Indian shops were opened and my father opened a little shop selling cheap clothing. Many Indian became prosperous with these shops

Many cities in South Africa became 'White by Night'. Which meant non whites could not visit big cities after 6pm and were also barred on Sundays

Muslim shopkeepers donated generously to build a good quality school in Cape Town called 'Habibia'. I attended high school at Habibia where the standard of education was far superior to that of government schools

South African Indians were barred from attending sport events from all grounds. We had no sports facilties and had to play our sports in the bush. Despite these hardships were produced many good sportman notably Basil D'oliveira who emigrated and played for England

Non whites had poor medical facilities and had low lifespans. Indians rarely reached 50. Both my parents died before they reached 50. We had poor quality state hospitals that were overcrowded. Ambulances were reserved for the white man

We could only use 'Third Class' train carriages. 'First Class' was reserved for whites and the 'second class' was an empty carriage between the two

Indians started going into politics in the 70's. Amod Timol a school teacher was actively involved in politics fighting for our rights. He was arrested taken to the John Vorster police station and thrown down the 10th floor and died.

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on earth but under apartheid we could not go to the beach, we were not allowed on the mountains and use any of the publics amenities

In most buildings , Indians were not allowed to use lifts and I worked for a company that was on the 12th and I had to walk up and down 12 floors every day. Some building allowed us to use separate lifts

We were not allowed in any restaurants or pizza shops in the city

At railway stations we also had to use separate stairs

Whites often shouted 'Coolie' at us. We could not complain because racism was the law.



Today 24 years after the death of apartheid, our bosses are still white racists and we are still earning salaries which are way lower than them

I once went for a job interview and the company offered me a salary way lower than what they advertised. When I enquired why they are not offering me the salary they advertised. You Indians have a much lower lifestyle than us


I can a write a book on my experiences

wow what an interesting post brother

if you dont mind me asking. how old are you?