Johannesburg - Former president Thabo Mbeki says the best way to honour Struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada is for the ANC to host a consultative conference.
Kathrada, who died on Tuesday morning, was one of the more than 100 ANC stalwarts who formed a group to try to save the party. One of their demands has been that a consultative conference be held before this year’s elective conference.
At a media briefing in Killarney on Tuesday, Mbeki said: “Kathy belongs to a group of ANC veterans called 101 Veterans. He thought that intervention by the party veterans was important and would succeed in ensuring that the ANC addresses the challenges it faces.
“Kathrada was quite fearless in confronting what was wrong in the ANC. What he was hoping for is that the process of veterans would help produce the right results.”
The former president said Kathrada and his peers, who include Rev Frank Chikane and Andrew Mlangeni, were correct in asking the party leadership to be accountable to its members.
“I think Kathy was correct in what they want to achieve in terms of their engagement with the ANC leadership, including a national consultancy conference.
“If that process works, to then directly consult the challenges in the ANC that would be the best tribute. A real tribute to him would be continuation of that process and ensuring it comes with the changes that are needed,” Mbeki said.
The 101 Veterans group was formed to rescue the party and to “make sure it does the right things”, Mbeki said.
He said it was “not surprising” that Kathrada had not left the ANC, but worked hard to ensure it was fixed internally.
“Kathy, for all the years he’s been in the Struggle, has been very loyal. The fact that he stayed in the ANC despite being very critical of the leadership and things that have gone wrong, it didn’t surprise me that he stayed,” Mbeki said.
“We have really lost one of the giants of our struggle. Kathy has been involved in the Struggle since the 1940s. He has sustained his position of close attachment to the idea of the creation of a non-racial South Africa.”
He said for members of the ANC, Kathrada was a “resource person because of his experience in the Struggle and because of his own mind and intellect”.
“Kathy was a very modest person. Not a person who wants to shine, but he had a great depth of knowledge. I’ve known him since the 1960s before they were arrested and before I left the country. He was one of the people who brought us up politically,” he said.
Mbeki said he saw Kathrada before he went into hospital.
“He was in a good mood and hopeful about future of the country. He was quite determined to continue to make his contribution.”
Kathrada was one of the last three remaining Rivonia Trial prisoners, and losing him was a great loss to the ANC and the country, Mbeki said.
Kathrada will be buried on Wednesday at Westpark Cemetery.