Mac Maharaj is born

Sathyandranath Ragunanan (Mac) Maharaj, political activist and first SA Minister of Transport in the democratically elected government in 1994, was born in Newcastle, Natal. As minister he formulated a new policy and restructured the Department of Transport (DoT). During the years prior to his appointment as minister, he had been an activist, a detainee, a political prisoner, an exile, an underground commander, and a negotiator. He was the main accuser of Bulelani Ngcuka of abuse of power as Director of Public Prosecutions in 2003. This came at the time Ngcuka's office was investigating him for corruption and fraud during his tenure as the Minister of Transport. Due to the nature of the crime he was accused of having committed, First Rand, a division of First National Bank, gave him a golden handshake to resign as member of its board, to prevent his presence from having negative impact on business.