Zuma not cancelling memorial service for anti-apartheid stalwart: presidency

The South African Presidency on Saturday denied reports that President Jacob Zuma has cancelled the memorial service for anti-apartheid stalwart Ahmed Kathrada.

Kathrada, who died on Tuesday morning at 87, last year sent a letter to Zuma calling on him to resign, citing his alleged involvement in a series of corruption scandals.

"As is publicly known, the President did not attend the funeral and was not going to attend the memorial service either, respecting the wishes of the family," presidential spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said.

Zuma declared a Special Official Funeral for the late stalwart and directed the government to organize an official memorial service to be addressed by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on behalf of the government.

Zuma was not involved in the planning of the memorial service nor in the cancellation thereof, said the spokesperson.

"Any impression created that the President cancelled or ordered the cancellation is erroneous and unfortunate," Ngqulunga said.

The South African government first planned an official memorial service for Kathrada on Saturday, but postponed it indefinitely without giving any reason.

Instead, several organizations arranged a memorial service for him in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Regarded as a giant of the African National Congress (ANC), Kathrada spent over 26 years in prison, 18 of which were on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela, who later became South Africa's first black president, was also imprisoned.

Kathrada has had an illustrious political career, having served between 1994 and 1999 as the parliamentary counsellor to then President Mandela. Endit