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Cape Town - Struggle icon Ahmed Kathrada will officially receive the Freedom of the City Award at Cape Town’s City Hall on Thursday.
Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille will be hosting the event.
In an earlier statement to News24, De Lille said the award was the highest honour that council could bestow on any person of distinction.
Kathrada joins other recipients such as former president Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, as well as Professor Richard van der Ross.
The statement went on to say that Kathrada's struggle against apartheid started in 1941 and he was arrested for the first time at the age of 17 for his involvement in the Passive Resistance Campaign.
During the Rivonia Trial, he was among the eight accused who were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour.
He spent 18 years of his 26-year sentence on Robben Island.
He was released from Pollsmoor Prison in 1989.
In 1994, he was elected to Parliament and appointed as Mandela’s Parliamentary Counsellor.
De Lille said this was a token of appreciation for the heroic service he has rendered to our country.
