Johannesburg – Ahmed Kathrada’s memorial service on Saturday afternoon will also be joined by the African National Congress in Gauteng as political parties and NGOs continue to shun government in paying tribute to the anti-apartheid stalwart.
The Gauteng ANC, perceived to be a somewhat independent minded coterie from the mother body, will be paying tribute to the liberation movement veteran amid discord between the Kathrada family and government.
The memorial service, which is organised by the Ahmed Kathrada and Nelson Mandela foundations and the South African Communist Party in Gauteng, will be held at Johannesburg City Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and Kathrada’s widow Barbara Hogan are among the listed speakers to pay tribute to the late Rivonia treason trialist.
This comes after the official memorial service for Kathrada organised by government was postponed indefinitely with no reasons given by the presidency. The official memorial service was scheduled to take place on Saturday morning at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa would have led the government delegation to the service as he did at the funeral earlier this week.
Kathrada was buried on Wednesday at Westpark Cemetery and President Jacob Zuma did not attend the funeral, apparently “in compliance with the wishes of the family”.
Kathrada died on Tuesday at the age of 87 at the Donald Gordon Hospital in Johannesburg after a short illness following brain surgery.
On Friday, Hogan said she was deeply hurt by Zuma’s decision to defy his own party and go ahead to remove Gordhan and other performing ministers immediately after the funeral of her husband, adding that Zuma had “gone rogue”.
ANC Gauteng chairman Paul Mashatile is expected to lead the party delegation to the memorial service on Saturday afternoon.
“Today, as we bid him farewell, we pay tribute to his legacy – the legacy of selflessly serving his people, the legacy of fighting corruption, the legacy of fighting against state capture, and the legacy of fighting racism and tribalism while building a united, non-racial nation,” the Gauteng ANC said in a statement.
“A gentle giant has bowed out. Fare thee well father of our revolution. You will always live in our hearts and minds.”
At Kathrada’s funeral, former president Kgalema Motlanthe laid bare the friction that pitted Kathrada against Zuma when he quoted the late stalwart’s letter in which he asked Zuma to resign.
Kathrada wrote a scathing open letter to Zuma in March last year asking him to step down following the Constitutional Court ruling that Zuma had failed to uphold‚ defend, and respect the Constitution as the supreme law regarding the matter of state spending on his private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.
Motlanthe said: “354 days ago today, comrade Kathrada wrote this letter to which a reply had not been forthcoming. As you are aware this letter went without any formal reply. I have quoted comrade Kathy at length in this regard to make a point that for better or for worse, what he stood for never changed according to the fluidities of history.”