Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada OMSG (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist.

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.

Ahmed Kathrada was born on 21 August 1929 in the small country town of Schweizer-Reneke in the Western Transvaal,[1] the fourth of six children in a Gujarati Bohra family of South African Indian immigrant parents from Surat, Gujarat.

[5] He remained in Europe in order to attend a congress of the International Union of Students in Warsaw,[5] and finally travelled to Budapest and worked at the headquarters of the World Federation of Democratic Youth for nine months.

[4] After the ANC (African National Congregation) and various other anti-apartheid organisations were banned in 1960, Kathrada continued his political activities despite repeated detentions and increasingly severe house arrest measures against him.

[4][5] On 11 July 1963, Kathrada was arrested at the South African internal headquarters of Umkhonto we Sizwe ("The Spear of the Nation" – the military wing of the ANC) in Rivonia, near Johannesburg.

[8] The trial ended in June 1964; Kathrada was sentenced to life imprisonment along with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Andrew Mlangeni, Billy Nair, Elias Motsoaledi, Raymond Mhlaba and Denis Goldberg.

For the following 18 years, Kathrada was confined to the Robben Island Maximum Security Prison off Cape Town along with most of his Rivonia Trial co-defendants.

[10] On 15 October 1989 Kathrada, along with Jeff Masemola, Raymond Mhlaba, Billy Nair, Wilton Mkwayi, Andrew Mlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi, Oscar Mpetha, and Walter Sisulu were released from Johannesburg prison.

Notable mourners were Former President Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, last two remaining Rivonia trialists Denis Goldberg and Andrew Mlangeni, last two remaining Little Rivonia Trialists Laloo Chiba and Mac Maharaj, former South African lawyer of Rivonia trialists and little Rivonia Trialist George Bizos, Graca Machel, Winnie Mandela, Sophia De Bruyn, EFF leader Julius Malema, including the Gauteng Premier David Makhura who made welcoming and the Former President Kgalema Motlanthe who was keynote speaker for the funeral and the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan who was given a resounding applause by everyone due to his fight against corruption led by president Zuma and the Gupta Famil.

[26] On 18 July 2011, he and his wife were the chief guests on Nelson Mandela International Day at the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan, where he shared his views with children.