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(INTELLIGENCE.GOV.ZA) Ronnie Kasrils - Biography

COMMENT - One of the ANC's and MK's great freedom fighters, 'Red' Ronnie Kasrils.

Ronnie Kasrils
Minister for Intelligence Services
Republic of South Africa
2004 -

Ronnie Kasrils was appointed to President Thabo Mbeki’s cabinet as Minister for Intelligence Services after the third democratic elections in South Africa on 27 April 2004.

He brings to the portfolio a personal experience of intelligence and security– acquired through the many years he served in the African National Congress’ clandestine structures.

Prior to his appointment, Kasrils served as the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry (1999- 2004) and Deputy Minister of Defence (1994 -1999).



Early life

Kasrils was born in Yeoville, Johannesburg, in November 1938. His grandparents were immigrants from Latvia and Lithuania who fled from the Czarist pogroms at the end of the 19th century. His father was a factory salesman. His mother worked as a shop assistant prior to her marriage.

A matriculant at the King Edward VII High School, he excelled in athletics and history.

His initial career was as a script writer for a Johannesburg film studio and then for Lever Brothers, as Television and Film Director for their advertising division in Durban, until 1962.



Political history 1960 – 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 weSizwe (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 years

On the run from police, wanted notices were posted declaring him “armed and dangerous”. Kasrils eventually joined the ANC in exile where, over the next 27 years, he served 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 FW 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.


The new Democratic South Africa
Deputy Minister of Defence 1994 - 1999

In 1994, Kasrils was appointed Deputy Minister of Defence to the late Joe Modise, serving in the position until June 1999.

During this period he assisted Modise in the amalgamation of the previous adversarial military forces into a new South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and was engrossed in overseeing its transformation programme. This involved an unprecedented national defence review with extensive consultation, the creation of a civic educational programme and for the military, a defence re-equipment package to modernize the armed forces and replace obsolete weapons systems. Despite later criticism of the defence package it was based on the consultative review process which had the broad-based buy-in of all political parties and representatives of civic society.


Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry 1999 - 2004

From a military to water and forestry porfolio, Modise explained that his background had in fact helped prepare him since “the rivers and forest of the country and region were part of his natural habitat and sanctuary during the liberation struggle”. Kasrils described the metamorphosis as “from fire to water”. His most fervent wish, he said, was “to deliver safe water to the poor, the weak and the hungry”.

During his term as Minister for Water Affairs and Forestry, Kasrils prioritized:

The achievement of affordable and sustainable delivery of clean water and sanitation to all of South Africa, particularly the rural poor.

The protection and sustainable development of the country’s water and forestry resources, and

Transformation and representivity in his department, in keeping with the democratization and demographics of South Africa.

In his capacity as Minister, he played a prominent role in the establishment of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), participating in various international water conferences including the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).



Minister for Intelligence Services 2004

On his appointment to the intelligence portfolio in April 2004, Kasrils reiterated his commitment to working towards the safety, security and prosperity of South Africa.



Family

Married to Eleanor nee’ Logan since 1964, they have a daughter, two sons and two grandchildren. Eleanor too has a long history of political involvement. A member of the ANC and MK, she was arrested by the security police in Durban in 1963 – but outwitted the authorities and managed to escape from custody to join Kasrils before the couple were instructed to leave the country.

While in London, Eleanor studied geology and worked in various educational institutions. In 1992 she worked as archivist to the late Oliver Tambo.



Favourite pastimes

They include swimming, watching sport, reading, writing and, as he puts it, “I have become a struggling golfer”.



Palestine

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 President 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.



United Nations Role

In April 2004, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan invited him to serve on his Advisory Board on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals for Water and Sanitation.

He was invited to deliver the Inaugural “Sir Richard Jolly Lecture” – who is the past Chair of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) at the United Nations. The lecture was delivered on 30 April 2004, just two days after his appointment as the Minister for Intelligence Services.



Honours

Honours include a Cuban friendship award in recognition of solidarity support and a Nigerian chieftancy with the title “Emere Nyine Onana 1” (Chief of Good Deeds)



Publications

“Dear Bertrand Russel”, a selection of his correspondence with the general public, 1950 – 1968; published by George Allen and Unwin, London, 1969. Compiled and edited by Ronnie Kasrils and Barry Feinberg.

“Bertrand Russel’s Amercia”, his transatlantic travels and writings, Vol 1, 1896 – 1945. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1973. Co-authored with Barry Feinberg.

“Bertrand Russel’s America”, 1945 – 1970, Vol 2., London 1984, Co-authored with Barry Feinberg.

“Poets to the People” edited by Barry Feinberg, Published by George Allen and Unwin, 1974 and Heinemann African Writers Series, London, 1980. Includes a collection of poems under pseudonym ANC Khumalo.

“The Archives of Bertrand Russel” – a detailed catalogue of the Archives of Bertrand Russel. A limited edition published by Continuum, London, 1967 compiled by Barry Feinberg, Ronnie Kasrils and others.

“Armed and Dangerous – from undercover struggle to freedom” – an autobiography of Ronnie Kasrils. Published by Heinemann, United Kingdom, 1993; and Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg, 1998 and revised in 2004.



Articles

Numerous articles written between 1965 and 1990 on South Africa’s history and political struggle published in ANC and SACP periodicals ‘Sechaba’ and ‘ African Communist’ as well as in East and West African newspapers and journals under pen names ‘ANC Khumalo’, ‘Alexander Sibeko’ and ‘MK Mtungwa ’.

Among these were:

“The Battle of Isandlwana” in the African Communist on the centenary of the event in 1979.

“The Underground Voice” in the African Communist

“Twenty-five Years of Umkhonto weSizwe” in the African Communist

“The Red Army’s Victory over Nazi Germany” in the African Communist, 1985.

“On Insurrection” in Sechaba, 1986.

“Clandestine Methods of Struggle” a series guide, in umSebenzi, 1987 – 1989

“For the Sake of our Lives”, a guideline for creating people’s self-defence units, 1991

Following the unbanning of the political organizations and the creation of a new democracy in South Africa, Kasrils continued writing with his works appearing in South African newspapers and international journals. From 1994 his articles became focused on defence, development, water resource and forestry and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Noteworthy among these: “David and Goliath – Who is Who in the Middle East” ; pamphlet published by the ANC, 2007. “The Paradox of Cuito Cuanavale”, paper presented at a meeting in Havana, April 2008, on the twentieth anniversary of the Battle.

Labels: COMMUNISM, RED RONNIE KASRILS

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