The bars were a still purple One that trickled down your spine Twisted it while you stood The floor, a striking grey No amount of light could make it shine The walls an uninspiring yet unforgettable brown Qhawe What was meant to diminish your spirit Bring you down Make you bend to the…
On the eve of what would have been Ahmed Kathrada’s 88th birthday, Derek Hanekom reflects on Kathrada’s remarkable ability to ‘draw people in’… In Ahmed Kathrada’s Memoirs, Edwin Markham is quoted: “He drew a circle to shut me out – heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: we…
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation is deeply disgusted at the reported attack on an African couple by six white males. A video surfaced on social media this week of the group of males attacking a man identified as Jacob Sono and his wife at a KFC drive-through based in Pretoria. This was after the couple…
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation welcomes the reopening of the inquest into the death of teacher and anti-apartheid activist, Ahmed Timol. Monday, June 26, will see the case reopening before Judge Billy Mothle at the South Gauteng High Court. The inquest comes 45 years following Timol’s (30) death in police detention after he fell…
Mandla Nkomfe At the first anniversary of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1984, Albertina Sisulu said that “the patience of the people has been exhausted now”. Sisulu, a veteran leader, also stated that the UDF had given her hope about several things, one of which was the possibility of a “just South Africa…
Future South Africa welcomes the SABC interim board’s decision to institute legal proceedings to recover money from former executives Hlaudi Motsoeneng and James Aguma. Yesterday, interim board chairperson Khanyisile Kweyama said that the SABC would withhold the pensions of Motsoeneng and Aguma to recover irregular benefits enjoyed during their tenure. “The SABC interim board…
Future South Africa On Madiba’s birthday, over 600 people representing 130 organisations gathered at the Rhema Bible Church at the Conference for a Future South Africa. The Conference resolved to unitedly tackle a number of issues to fight state capture and corruption, and to reclaim South Africa. A civil society coalition, FutureSA, was subsequently born,…
Future South Africa, a new broad front of civil society organisations, has called on all South Africans to support the ‘National Day of No Confidence’ in President Jacob Zuma on August 8. FutureSA was launched today at the Ahmed Kathrada Auditorium at Mancosa in Johannesburg. This followed the Conference for the Future of South…
It is appropriate that we pause to pay tribute to Ahmed Kathrada on the celebration of Madiba’s Birthday. Apart from the many years as struggle comrades as well as the many years as fellow prisoners on Robben Island, Kathy & Madiba shared so much in common. They were people of integrity and selflessness on the…