Cape Town – "For the ordinary citizens of this country, it is time for your voices to be heard. This is not a time for petty differences amongst us to divide us. Our sworn enemies – and we all have our little fights in the progressive movement – can no longer be enemies."
These were the words of Struggle veteran, former minister and widow of Ahmed Kathrada, Barbara Hogan, at Ahmed Kathrada's memorial in Johannesburg.
Some might have remembered her as a former Minister of Health and of Public Enterprises. Others might just know her as 'Ahmed Kathrada's widow'.
Here are five facts you need to know about Barbara Hogan.
* She joined the ANC in 1977 after the Soweto Uprising. It was then when she became involved in its underground work and mobilised people who opposed Apartheid.
* She was the first white woman to be charged and convicted of treason. In 1981, she was arrested on charges of high treason and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1982. She was released in 1990 from Pretoria Central Prison.
* Hogan served as a council member of the Robben Island Museum. She was a member of the Amandla Aids Fund that established in 2003.
* Barbara Hogan met Ahmed Kathrada after her release from prison in 1990.
* She is not only regarded as a prominent public figure in South Africa. In 2009, she was included in the Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, under the category of 'Scientists and Thinkers'