2. Kathrada’s involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African National Congress (ANC) led him to his long-term imprisonment following the Rivonia Trial, in which he was held at Robben Island and Pollsmoor Prison.
3. Following his release in 1990, he was elected to serve as a member of Parliament, representing the ANC.
4. He has authored a book, No Bread for Mandela- Memoirs of Ahmed Kathrada, Prisoner No. 468/64.
5. He was the fourth of six children in a Sunni Bohra Gujarati-family of South African Indian Muslim immigrant parents from Surat in India.
6. Kathrada received the Isitwalandwe Award (the ANC’s highest possible accolade) whilst still in prison.
7. He has also been awarded four Honorary Doctorates, including the University of Missouri, Michigan State University and the University of Kentucky.
8. Kathrada was also voted 46th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004.
9. He was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in 2005.
10. He was the chief guest on Nelson Mandela International Day at the India International Center, where he shared his views with children.
