Cachalia shares Mandela memories
Dr Ahmed Cachalia, a Lakefield resident who had the privilege of meeting and working with the great Nelson Mandela, shared his memories with the City Times.
He came to know Mandela through his uncles, Ismail and Yusuf, who were heavily involved with Mandela in the Defiance Campaign, in 1952, with Ismail being the deputy volunteer-in-chief to Mandela.
Ahmed remembers delivering messages to Mandela from his uncles,who were members of the Indian National Congress..
Mandela and Oliver Tambo were lawyers and had an office opposite the Johannesburg High Court,and it is there that Cachalia took letters to him and met the great man.
Mandela was very close to the Cachalia family.
“He always had a smile on his face,” recalled Cachalia.
“I also remember him walking in the street with Tambo; he was a tall man, while Tambo was bit short, but handsome.”
Cachalia also went with Dr Aziz Kazi to pick up Mandela, when he returned from the underground in North Africa, in 1962.
“We went to pick him up from the Botswana border but, due to tight security, we couldn’t pick him up that night and had to do it the following night,” he said.
Soon after, Mandela was arrested.
Another memory came from 1942, when Cachalia was serving time in the Modderbee Prison for his role in the Defiance Campaign.
“Mandela used to send us special messages to help us keep up,” he said.
Cahcalia described Mandela as a simple, humble, and caring man, who respected the rich and poor.
He walked with kings, but still respected paupers,” said Cachalia.
His memory of Mandela post 1994 was when Madiba first went to parliament.
“I learned there that he had a phenomenal memory; he came to greet me and called me by my name.” said Cachalia, who also served in the health committee under the Mandela presidency.
Of the icon’s death, Cachalia said: “It’s obviously a big and a sad loss”.
He said Mandela, together with the likes Walter Sizulu and Oliver Tambo, sacrificed a lot and their legacy should be respected.
“It’s important to celebrate his death, but we should not forget his sacrifice, and the only way to do so is to be honest, dedicated, and to put people first,” he said.
He added that people should respect the constitution, and the rights of all people.
“Fighting corruption, crime, poverty and other social ills is the only way to pay tribute to this great man who struggled and sacrificed a lot for democracy,” he said.
