With the death of Mr Ahmed Kathrada, South Africa lost one of the last members of the old Mandela-school politicians.
Mr Kathrada has played an important role in the time after 1994. He was then appointed as a political advisor to president Nelson Mandela. In the Mandela time win-win solutions to South Africa's political problems were sought.
Mr Kathrada's political style was to seek solutions that tried to accommodate everyone. Currently we are experiencing a political style where groups are being incited with racial stereotyping on all sides. It was not Mr Kathrada's style and probably explains why he was very critical of the current government.
Of the 400 members elected to parliament in 1994, including Mr Kathrada, barely ten is still in parliament today. It means a major rejuvenation of faces in parliament, but in addition a lot of continuity, organizational memory and wisdom of the past are lost. In that respect Mr Kathrada's peaceful political contribution is a loss to the whole of South Africa.
The Freedom Front Plus expresses its sympathy with the family of Mr Kathrada, who comes from Schweizer-Reneke, where I lived for six years and served as a member of parliament.
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