美国国家公共电台 NPR Anti-Apartheid Activist Ahmed Kathrada Dies At 87

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We are mourning the loss of a human rights champion. Ahmed Kathrada died today in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was 87 years old. Kathrada was a veteran of the anti-apartheid movement, and he spent decades in jail with Nelson Mandela. After the fall of apartheid, he kept fighting for human rights and really helped shape South Africa's future. Peter Granitz reports from Johannesburg.

PETER GRANITZ, BYLINE¹: Friends and strangers alike called Ahmed Kathrada by the nickname bestowed² on him by his eighth grade teacher who was Afrikaans, a member of the white minority descended³ from Dutch colonists⁴.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

AHMED KATHRADA: Afrikaans-speaking chap - and he could not pronounce my name - Kathrada - so he changed it to Kathy. And it stuck since 1944 (laughter).

GRANITZ: Kathy was a leader in the fledgling Indian rights movement in Johannesburg in the 1950s. He moved to Jo'burg when he was 8 to attend school because there was no school for Indians in his hometown of Schweizer-Reneke. His parents were immigrants from Gujarat. Indian families in rural South Africa were quite rare.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

KATHARADA: So when I get arrested in the Free State in 1955, the head of the police says I've never seen an Indian in my life. I've got a cell for whites. I've got a cell for blacks. I've got no cell to put you (laughter).

GRANITZ: In an interview with NPR, Kathrada said he initially⁵ supported passive resistance, then eventually agreed with the African National Congress, the struggle movement turned political party to create an armed resistance to overthrow⁶ the apartheid government. When the ANC was banned in 1960, Kathrada went underground.

On July 11, 1963, he was arrested with other ANC leaders. It led to the Rivonia trial, the most famous case in South Africa's history. Kathrada with fellow treason defendants⁷ including Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki and Walter Sisulu agreed from the outset not to appeal the verdict.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

KATHARADA: They said prepare for the worst. They didn't use the word hang, but they said prepare for the very worst.

GRANITZ: Convicted and sentenced to life in prison, the 34-year-old Kathrada was sent to Robben Island, the infamous⁸ prison off Cape⁹ Town. He remained locked up until he was 60. He says he never lost faith. He would one day be freed. He and other ANC leaders helped Mandela draft his memoirs¹⁰ in prison and smuggle¹¹ them outside. After his release, Kathrada preached forgiveness. Indeed, his best friend later in life was one of his prison guards.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

KATHARADA: Unlike other colonial countries where the colonists went home after freedom came, our oppressors were South Africans born and bred in South Africa, and not a few thousand, but a few million.

GRANITZ: When the ANC won control of South Africa in the first ever all race elections in 1994 and dismantled¹² apartheid, Kathrada served as President Mandela's parliamentary adviser¹³. He, like Mandela, stepped down after one term. Later, he actually moved back to Robben Island, this time to a private house where he lived for years as president of the Robben Island Museum. He enjoyed giving VIP tours of the prison turned museum to world leaders.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

KATHARADA: That's on my CV - professional, unpaid¹⁴ tour guide. (Laughter) I've been there over 300 times.

GRANITZ: Kathrada is survived by his longtime partner Barbara Hogan, herself a former political prisoner and government minister. For NPR News, I'm Peter Granitz in Johannesburg.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

3 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

4 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

7 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

9 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

10 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

12 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

13 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

14 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。