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Zamiwonga James Kati (4 January 1924 – 29 September 2006) was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly until his death in 2006. He joined the ANC in 1949 and was a member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe underground in the Transkei.
James Kati | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 3 July 2001 – 29 September 2006 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Zamiwonga James Kati 4 January 1924 Luheweni, Ngcobo Cape Province, Union of South Africa |
| Died | 29 September 2006 (aged 82) |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Nickname | Castro |
Kati was born on 4 January 1924[1] in Luheweni, a village in Ngcobo in the former Cape Province.[2] He joined the ANC in Cape Town in 1949 and was first arrested in 1952 during the Defiance Campaign.[2] After the ANC was banned by the apartheid government in 1960, he became a leading member of its underground in the region that became the Transkei bantustan.[3] He also joined the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe,[4] where he was known by the nom de guerre Castro.[3]
He was detained for his political activities on several occasions and was imprisoned on Robben Island between September 1964 and July 1971.[5] He served another six-year prison sentence in the 1980s.[6] After the democratic transition, he testified to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he had been severely tortured while in detention.[6][2]
Kati was not initially elected to Parliament in South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994,[7] but he joined the National Assembly during the legislative term that followed, filling a casual vacancy in the ANC's caucus.[8] He was not immediately re-elected in the next general election in 1999 but returned on 3 July 2001, filling the casual vacancy that had arisen when Smangaliso Mkhatshwa was elected Mayor of Tshwane in 2000.[9] Kati was re-elected in 2004, representing the Eastern Cape constituency,[1] and at the time of his death, aged 82, he was the oldest serving Member of Parliament.[10]
Kati's wife died during apartheid while he was imprisoned.[2] He was hospitalised in Umtata in 2006[11] and died on 29 September.[4][12] ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma spoke at his funeral.[13]
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