Ronnie Kasrils
 Ronnie Kasrils    (politician) | |
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| Born | 15 November 1938 |
Ronald Kasrils (born 15 November 1938) is a South African politician. He was Minister for Intelligence Services from 27 April 2004 to 25 September 2008. He was a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1987 to 2007 as well as a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) from December 1986 to 2007.
On 17 January 2021, speaking at the online launch of Jeremy Corbyn's Peace and Justice Project, Ronnie Kasrils said:
- “The waves of protest are signalling a new dawn. In India alone over 250 million people took part in protests and strikes.”[1]
Political evolution (1960 to 1994)
The Sharpeville massacre prompted Kasrils to join the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960, serving as the secretary of the ANC-aligned Congress of Democrats in Natal until it was banned in 1962.
His involvement led to bannings from gatherings and various forms of employment, and having his movement restricted to Durban.
In 1963 he registered to study a Bachelor of Arts degree and joined the Cross Country Team at the University of Natal. His plans were cut short when the security police sought to arrest him under the draconian Terrorism Act.
He evaded arrest and began operating underground.
A member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the ANC’s military wing, since its inception in 1961, he was involved in its first operation. In 1963 he became the Commander of the Natal Regional Command of MK.
Exiled
On the run from police, wanted notices were posted declaring Ronnie Kasrils “armed and dangerous”, he eventually joined the ANC in exile where, over the next 27 years, he was in various capacities and deployments in London, Luanda, Maputo, Swaziland, Botswana, Lusaka and Harare.
Alongside the late Joe Modise, then MK Commander, and Commissar Moses Mabhida, Kasrils completed a general military course and a military engineering specialist course, graduating from the Odessa Military College in the Soviet Union at the end of 1964.
He went on to complete a specialist course in intelligence and a general officers course at Brigadier level.
In 1983, Kasrils was appointed Chief of MK Intelligence.
He served on the ANC’s Politico-Military Council (PMC) in Lusaka from 1985, of which Joe Nhlanhla was secretary, on the National Executive Committee (NEC) from 1987, and on the South African Communist Party’s Central Committee (SACP) from 1985.
Kasrils also worked closely with the late Mzwai Piliso, who was the ANC’s head of security and intelligence, during his deployment to Angola as a political instructor in 1977 and later as Regional Commissar.
Just before the unbanning of the ANC in February 1990, Kasrils played an active role in Operation Vula which aimed to infiltrate leadership back into South Africa. He consequently lost the indemnity given to returning NEC members by F.W. de Klerk’s government – and again was on the run from police, this time until June 1991.
In July 1991 he was elected to the ANC’s NEC and in December, that same year, to the SACP’s Central Committee. He served on these structures, until 2007.
From 1991 to 1994, Kasrils also headed the ANC’s Campaign Section at the organisation’s headquarters in Johannesburg, was an active participant in the negotiations between MK and the former South African Defence Force (SADF) and a member of the Transitional Executive Council ’s Sub-Council on Defence.
Palestine
Ronnie Kasrils has passionately espoused the cause of the Palestinian people for justice and national self-determination and believes this is the only way to secure peace and security for both Israeli and Palestinian peoples. He believes that as a South African of Jewish origin he has a moral obligation to speak out against Israel’s unacceptable policies and has founded a South African solidarity group called Not in my Name. He has written numerous articles and letters on the issue and in February 2004 met the late Yasser Arafat in Ramallah. He has been to Palestine several times and with the Palestinian Ambassador to South Africa, Ali Halimeh, has founded the broad based End the Occupation committee.[2]
References
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