Drexel University and the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice had the honor of recently hosting two renowned civil rights leaders. On November 10th, the Center held an intimate roundtable discussion with Ahmed Kathrada, South African human rights leader and prison confidante of Nelson Mandela. On November 12th, Barbara Hogan, South Africa’s newly appointed Health Minister, was the featured speaker of this year’s Jonathan Mann Health & Human Rights Memorial Lecture, hosted by Drexel University’s School of Public Health.
Ahmed Kathrada spent twenty-five years as a political prisoner at Robben Island in Capetown. Barbara Hogan was the first white woman to be tried for treason in South Africa for her nonviolent involvement in the struggles of the African National Congress. She was also imprisoned at Robben Island for nearly nine years.
Ms. Hogan and Mr. Kathrada shared their experiences and thoughts about pressing global issues of health and human rights facing both the United States and South Africa. It was indeed a special opportunity to hear first-hand and recognize the important contributions that these two leaders have made on behalf of justice, nonviolence and human rights.
Ahmed Kathrada
Ahmed Kathrada is one of the fathers in the struggle for freedom in South Africa. As a teenager he became politically active in anti-apartheid efforts and worked alongside leaders like Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. For many years, he was persecuted, punished and driven underground. Yet, Kathrada continued to fight for freedom. Eventually, he was sentenced to life in prison for treason at the Rivonia Trial in 1964. Kathrada served a total of 25 years imprisoned at Robben Island and Pollsmoor Maximum Prison in South Africa. On Robben Island, Kathrada buried the original copy of Mandela’s biography in his tiny garden, before it could be smuggled to London and published. After being released from prison in 1989, Kathrada served as an advisor to President Mandela and in various leadership capacities at the African National Congress. He is now the chairperson of the Robben Island Museum Council and the Ex-Political Prisoner’s Committee.
Barbara Hogan
Barbara Hogan was the first woman to be elected as a Junior Deputy-Mayor in South Africa. Arrested for the first time in anti-government protests at the age of 18, she became a student activist and joined the embryonic black trade union movement that was later to emerge as COSATU, the largest trade union federation in South Africa. In 1977, Barbara joined the banned, underground political wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1981 she was arrested and sentenced to an effective 10 years imprisonment for High Treason for so-called political offences. Her release came in 1990, one week after the unbanning of the ANC. Elected to Parliament in 1994, she served as Chair of Finance Portfolio Committee and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General and helped draft the financial clauses of the new Constitution. Ms. Hogan has recently been appointed Minister of Health by South Africa’s new president Kgalema Motlanthe.