Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation of the Republic of South Africa
| Profile: Mr Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim |
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Ebrahim joined the liberation movement as a youth activist in 1952, and participated in the Congress of the People Campaign, which drew up and adopted the Freedom Charter in 1955. He was active in all the campaigns of the 1950’s, and after the banning of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960, Ebrahim joined the armed wing of the ANC, Umkhonto We Sizwe in 1961. He was arrested in 1963 and charged under the sabotage act with eighteen other accused in the Pietermaritzburg Sabotage Trial. He was sentenced to 15 years on Robben Island. He was released in 1979, was banned and restricted to his home town in Durban. He was prevented from participating in any public or political activities. In 1980, as per instruction of the ANC, he went into exile. He operated from the frontline states bordering South Africa and was responsible for the political underground.
In December 1986, he was kidnapped from Swaziland by the South African Security Forces and detained in South Africa where he was severely tortured. He was charged for high treason and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on Robben Island. In 1991, the appeal court ruled that his kidnapping from a foreign country was illegal, and that the South African court had no jurisdiction to try him. He was subsequently released from prison in early 1991.
In July 1991, he was elected to the National Executive Committee of the ANC and also became a member of the National Working Committee. During the CODESA (Convention for a Democratic South Africa) negotiations, Ebrahim was tasked by the ANC to establish the Patriotic Front, which consisted of over 93 organisations. The Patriotic Front brought together political, religious, community, cultural and civic organisations. The aim of the Patriotic Front was to achieve consensus on both the negotiation process and the final outcome of the negotiations that led to the establishment of a democratic South Africa. Ebrahim also participated in the CODESA negotiations.
Ebrahim was elected a member of the National Assembly of Parliament in 1994. In August 1997, he was elected Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee and also became a member of the Joint Select Committee on Intelligence. Ebrahim resigned from Parliament in July 2002, to take up the position of the Senior Political and Economic Advisor to the Deputy President of South Africa.
Since 2002 Ebrahim has been actively involved in conflict resolution efforts between Israel and Palestine, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as in Burundi, Kosovo, Bolivia, and Nepal.
In 2006 Ebrahim was appointed as Head of International Affairs at the African National Congress Head Office.
In May 2009 he was appointed as Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. He continues to serve as a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee.
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