Barry Streek
LETTERS FROM ROBBEN ISLAND: A SELECTION OF AHMED KATHRADA’S PRISON CORRESPONDENCE, 1964-1989 edited by Robert D Vassen (Zebra)
From prison, Ahmed Kathrada wrote thoughtful letters, initially twice a year and then once a month, to the outside world, knowing that they would first be censored by prison officials, then examined in detail by the security police, before finally reaching their recipient (usually a member of his family or a friend) -to then be scrutinised by the African National Congress for secret messages.
There were indeed codes embedded in the letters, as was revealed when this collection of Kathrada’s letters was first published last year. Now they have been reissued.
Besides of the codes, there is Kathrada making commitments and expressing love for his girlfriend, expressing condolences to friends and family, intervening twice when there was family debate about proposed marriages, and, indeed, political decisions such as when the National Party government twice tried to persuade him to accept a conditional release.
Convicted of treason in 1964 along with the rest of the internal ANC leadership, Kathrada was given a life sentence. Never once did he waver in his political beliefs. These letters are a highly moving testimony to that remarkable commitment. It is hard not to be moved by them.
The book itself is unfortunately marred by some poor editing. While some footnotes provide details of who the code names refer to, there are large gaps which leave guessing. The editor’s remarks on individual letters are often obvious and repetitive.
Of course, the letters are not only from Robben Island. The first few were written in Johannesburg, and the last 117 pages contain letters written while he was in Pollsmoor. So, just 111 pages contain letters from Robben Island, making the title a bit misleading.
These are, however, minor quibbles. This is an important book which says much about the man and about some of the horrors of the system that was imposed on South Africa by the National Party. As Nelson Mandela writes in the forward, the letters will “give people a new kind of insight into what it was like as a member of the liberation movement to live in an apartheid jail for year upon year”.
Madiba adds: “As I have often found to my cost he is a person of strong opinion and sharp insight. But he also has great humour and humanity.”
An example from the book confirms this. On 15 December 1979, he wrote to his niece, Shamima Kola, after she had told him of her family’s rejection of Neelan, a non-Muslim, with whom she was in love. Kathrada wrote back reminding her that the problems of love had been raised in poetry, drama and history, a reminder that the problem was “by no means easy to solve”.
Many parents want to choose partners for their children, he writes, and their range of choice “is, in general, severely restricted by religious beliefs, colour consciousness and, in many cases, social prejudice. I do not have to tell you that I condemn these prejudices and find them totally unacceptable and abhorrent.”
The family eventually accepted the marriage although some remained stubborn. “Please don’t let this upset you or allow it to mar your happiness,” Kathrada wrote to the couple 10 months later. There were no codes in these letters. Kathrada wrote them because that is how he felt at the time. (He recently confirmed to me that the couple are still happily married.)
Letters from Robben Island shows such humanity time and time again.