Among the mourners were two former presidents, and two former wives of Nelson Mandela.
TVC NEWS Vauldi Carelse has the story that a simple funeral, for a very humble man – but Ahmed Kathrada held his principles dear and in his final years, those principles couldn’t abide the current presidency.
Kathrada had written to President Jacob Zuma, urging him to quit. And that letter was read out again – at his funeral.
“Is it too much to hope for that you will listen to the movement that is growing in momentum and choose the correct path and consider stepping down?
“354 days ago, Comrade Kathrada wrote this letter to which a reply has not been forthcoming. As you aware his letter went without any formal reply,” the letter red in party.
Kathrada had been in the dock with Nelson Mandela. He spent years jailed with Mandela on Robben Island and even as South Africa settled into democracy,
He provided a conscience to the ruling party – an icon in his own right.
Kathrada died on Monday at the aged of 87 from complications following brain surgery. But his funeral, far from being an occasion for grief, was more a platform for powerful yet dignified protest.
