Kammala wannan jumla: Achmat ya ƙone makarantarsa a Salt River don tallafawa
1976 dalibi zanga-zangar da aka kurkuku sau da yawa a lokacin da ya matasa ga siyasa ayyukan. Ya shiga jam'iyyar African National Congress (ANC) a 1980 yayin da yake zaman kurkuku. Tsakanin 1985 da 1990 ya kasance memba na Marxist Workers Tendency na ANC, kungiyar Trotskyist mai rabuwa da ANC kuma magabata ga Democratic Socialist Movement.