AHMED Kathrada, a fellow Rivonia triallist and long-time friend of late president Nelson Mandela, remembers the elder statesman as someone who was presidential even before taking up office as South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994.
Mr Kathrada was speaking on Monday at a special sitting of the Johannesburg city council as the city remembered its most famous resident ahead of the national memorial service at the FNB Stadium near Soweto on Tuesday and the state funeral in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu on Sunday.
The sitting was also attended by Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau, who said public transport facilities, including Putco and Reya Vaya buses, the Gautrain and Metrorail trains, would be free on Tuesday for residents travelling to attend the memorial service.
Councillors had gathered on Monday morning with some singing Mandela praise songs. A large candle bearing the image of a red ribbon — a well-known HIV/AIDS awareness symbol — was lit next to a portrait of the elder statesman.
In depth: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 1918- 2013
News and views on the death, and life, of former president Nelson Mandela, with
tributes and photographsMr Kathrada called Mandela a "super democrat", saying he had exhibited the qualities of a model president even before he was elected.
"There were a number of qualities about Madiba," he said. "One thing was, everything he did, he read up on it. He never did anything without proper preparation ... He always behaved like a president. Even when we were on the island (jailed on Robben Island) he always polished his cell and did the dishes but we were not even expected to do so."
Mr Kathrada also recalled the violence of 1993 in areas around South Africa, a year also marked by the assassination of South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani. He said it was Mandela’s appearance on national television that marked a significant start to the country’s journey of reconciliation.
"When Hani was killed, the country was on the edge of a violent upsurge," he said. "Hundreds of MK (Umkhonto we Sizwe veterans) were in the country and no one knew what would happen. And I remember Madiba got on the television, and that was a significant beginning to the next stage for South Africa."
Mr Tau said the city was honoured to have been Mandela’s home for many years of his life outside prison.
"Let us remember and proclaim with humility and appreciate that it was in a small bedroom in Alexandra where he stayed before beginning a movement that changed the world," the mayor said. "It was the University of the Witwatersrand where he did law before starting a law firm with (Oliver) Tambo.
"It was in Vilakazi Street, Orlando West, where he established his first home and held meetings for the African National Congress and the youth league. He participated in the adoption of the freedom charter in Kliptown."
Councillors from opposition parties, including the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Congress of the People, the Democratic Alliance and Al Jama-ah, also paid tribute to Mandela and passed on their condolences to his family.
Mandela was conferred with the Honorary Freedom of the City by former Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo in 2005. It is the highest honour that can be bestowed on a member of the Johannesburg community.
