Kader Asmal, political activist and future Member of Parliament, is born

Kader Asmal political activist, human rights lawyer, former Minister of Education (1999-2004) and of Water Affairs and Forestry (1994-1999); is born in Stanger, Natal (now Kwa-Dukuza). His resistance against apartheid began in 1952 when he organized a school boycott in his area. This was in support of the Defiance Campaign of 1952 after seeing those that were protesting against the government walking in prison uniforms through the streets of Stanger.   Asmal continued to be active in the resistance movement as a member of the ANC for the rest of the 1950s. Early in the 1960s, following the banning of the ANC, PAC and SACP, Asmal went into exile. He spent most of his time in exile based in Ireland, where he was active in the Anti- Apartheid Movement (AAM). On his return to the country he continued to be active in the ANC, becoming a prominent member of the ANC cabinet and considered the Party’s think tank and intellectual. Despite having served the ANC with distinction for the greater part of his life, he became critical of some tendencies developing in sections of the ruling party. Asmal suffered a heart attack which led to him slipping into a coma in June 2011. He died in Cape Town, leaving behind his wife Louise and their two sons. Read passages from the latest publication on Kader Asmal: Politics in My Blood