Indian origin anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada passed away on 28
th March 2017 after brain surgery complications.
Settled in South Africa, Kathrada was one of Nelson Mandela’s closest aides in his struggle to end the white minority rule.
During his struggle, he spent 26 years and 3 months in prison, including 18 years on the infamous Robben Island.
Kathrada was among three political prisoners who were sentenced to life imprisonment after the infamous Rivonia Trial of 1964.
After the end of apartheid, he served from 1994 and 1999 as parliamentary counsellor to President Mandela in the first African National Congress (ANC) government.
Kathrada also got the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, India’s highest honour for foreign nationals of Indian-origin, in 2005 from the President of India.
As a prolific writer, Kathrada penned six books alone or with co-authors.
Kathrada was born in 1929 to Indian immigrant parents in northwestern South Africa.
