Umamah Bakharia

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AFK) has launched an exhibition of its namesake at Constitutional Hill in Braamfontein, Johannesburg to commemorate the late apartheid activist birthday.

The exhibition carries detail of the life of Kathrada as a young boy to him being imprisoned at the an early age of 34.

“We needed to tell Kathrada’s story to as many people as possible and this permanent exhibition allows us to bring people here and understand his story in the briefest way possible,” says executive director of AKF, Neeshan Balton.

The exhibition opening was attended by SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter, Anti-apartheid activist and former cabinet minister Barbara Hogan and activist and supporters from across the board.

Addressing the audience, Hogan criticised the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policy saying it fosters a culture of entitlement. Adding that it failed to live up to what it was created for.

“It became an excluding thing where only people with political connections and status could benefit from the policies and the bulk of black South Africans remained unempowered,” she says.

Meanwhile, Kieswetter called on all South Africans to ensure that politicians deployed to public office must perform their mandate.

“We must hold our elected public officials accountable and demand of them to remain true to the promise of the constitution,” says Kieswetter.

[PICTURES] The Exhibition of Ahmed Kathrada at Constitutional Hill. @KathradaFound pic.twitter.com/FwlSxYU0Of

— Radio Islam (@radioislam) August 21, 2022

The Kathrada exhibition is a permanent exhibition that is open to the public around the corner to the Old Fort at Constitutional Hill.