UnknownEdits0303 at 06:31, 19 April 2026

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{{Short description|South African anti-apartheid activist (1937–2021)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Ebrahim Ebrahim
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Ebrahim in 2010
| office1 = Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
| president1 = [[Jacob Zuma]]
| term_start1 = 11 May 2009
| term_end1 = 25 May 2014
| predecessor1 = [[Aziz Pahad]]
| successor1 = [[Nomaindia Mfeketo]]
| birth_name = Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|07|01|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Durban]], [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|12|06|1937|07|01|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]]
| party = [[African National Congress]]
| other_party =
| spouse = {{marriage|Shannon Ebrahim (née Field)|2000}}
| partner = 
| relations = [[Gora Ebrahim]] (brother)
| children = 3
| education =
| alma_mater = [[University of South Africa]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Bachelor of Commerce|BCom]])
| occupation = [[Internal resistance to apartheid|Anti-apartheid]] activist, lawmaker
| profession =
| known_for =
| committees =
| awards =
| website =
| alongside1 = [[Sue van der Merwe]]
}}

'''Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim''' [[Order of Luthuli|OLG]] (1 July 1937{{Spaced en dash}}6 December 2021) was a South African anti-apartheid activist of [[Indian South Africans|Indian origin]] who was a member of the [[African National Congress]]'s armed wing [[uMkhonto we Sizwe]]''.'' He was tried in the Pietermaritzburg sabotage trials of 1963 and was sentenced to a 15-year imprisonment at the [[Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island|Robben Island Maximum Security Prison]].

Popularly known as Ebie, he served as a lawmaker in the [[1994 South African general election|first democratically elected government of South Africa in 1994]] and also served as the country's deputy minister for international relations between 2009 and 2014.

== Early life ==
Ebrahim was born in [[Durban]] in 1937 to parents, Hafeeza and Mohammed Adam Modan, of Indian origin. His father was from [[Gujarat]] and traveled to [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]] in 1933, while his mother was born in South Africa. His father took the surname Ebrahim from the family with whom he had traveled to South Africa.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=7 December 2021|title=Explained: Who was Ebrahim Ebrahim, the Indian-origin anti-apartheid veteran?|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-was-ebrahim-ebrahim-indian-origin-anti-apartheid-veteran-7661106/|access-date=8 December 2021|website=The Indian Express|language=en|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208020415/https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-was-ebrahim-ebrahim-indian-origin-anti-apartheid-veteran-7661106/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Ebrahim, Shannon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1061275307|title=Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim : a gentle revolutionary|oclc=1061275307|access-date=8 December 2021|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208221001/https://www.worldcat.org/title/ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim-a-gentle-revolutionary/oclc/1061275307|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ebrahim's schooling was taken care of by his grandmother after the authorities denied him primary school admission, stating that schools for Indian students were full and could not admit him. This continued for five years until he was ten. He then joined a government funded school The Hindu Tamil Institute.<ref name=":1" />

== Career and activism ==
Ebrahim was exposed to speeches from the [[African National Congress|African National Congress (ANC)]] and [[Natal Indian Congress|Natal Indian Congress (NIC)]] leaders when he attended their rallies in [[Durban]] as a 13 year old. During this time he was introduced to activism that fought discrimination against Indians in the country.<ref name=":1" /> He was an admirer of [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s [[passive resistance]] movement, and attended rallies where ANC leader [[Albert Luthuli]] spoke.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=S.African anti-apartheid veteran Ebrahim dies aged 84|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/africa/safrican-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-dies-aged-84-1.84227893|access-date=8 December 2021|website=gulfnews.com|date=7 December 2021 |language=en|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208055009/https://gulfnews.com/world/africa/safrican-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-dies-aged-84-1.84227893|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ebrahim joined the [[Internal resistance to apartheid|anti-apartheid]] movement by joining the NIC in 1952 during the [[Defiance Campaign|Defiance campaign]].<ref name=":1" /> In the same year, he became a member of the [[ANC Youth League]]. As a member of the NIC he got to be a delegate to [[Congress of the People (1955)|Congress of the People]] that adopted the [[Freedom Charter]] in 1955.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=6 December 2021|title=South African anti-apartheid veteran Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim dies at 84|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3158670/south-african-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim-dies|access-date=8 December 2021|website=South China Morning Post|language=en|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208015927/https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3158670/south-african-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim-dies|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim|url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim/|access-date=8 December 2021|website=People's Assembly|language=en|archive-date=10 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710010536/https://www.pa.org.za/person/ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim/|url-status=live}}</ref>

He went on to become a member of the [[ANC]] armed wing ''[[Umkhonto We Sizwe]]'' in 1961 and was a member of the organization that carried out sabotage across the country.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=8 December 2021|title=Remembering Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim|url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/12/ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim-anc-apartheid-south-africa-obituary|last=Kasrils|first=Ronnie|access-date=9 December 2021|work=Tribune|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208214222/https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/12/ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim-anc-apartheid-south-africa-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref> He would later say that the [[Sharpeville massacre]] of 1960, where 69 protestors were shot dead by the Transvaal police, changed his mind about peaceful means of protest and passive resistance, leading him to join the armed wing of the ANC.<ref name=":3"/>

He was arrested in 1963 under the [[General Law Amendment Act, 1962|Sabotage act]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> He was tried in the [[Pietermaritzburg Sabotage Trial]] that included 18 other activists and was sentenced to a 15-year imprisonment at the [[Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island|Robben Island Maximum Security Prison]]. His time at the prison coincided with the time that other prominent activists including [[Nelson Mandela]] were in the same prison.<ref name=":0" /> During his time in prison, for a brief period he shared his cell with [[Jacob Zuma]], who would later be the president of the country.<ref name=":3" />

Ebrahim would write in his memoir later of the physical abuse, torture, and suffering inflicted in the prison saying, "In prison we were assaulted, starved, under-clothed and exposed to bitter cold weather. We were sworn at and humiliated in the most degrading manner. We broke stones and ate a measly meal. For years we were made to stand stark naked for long periods of time in an open courtyard, sometimes in biting cold weather." Despite this, he used his time in the prison to obtain two university degrees, [[Bachelor of Arts]] and [[Bachelor of Commerce]], from the [[University of South Africa]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2"/>

Ebrahim was released from prison in 1979, with the condition that he not participate in any political activities,<ref name=":1" /> and followed the ANC's order to go into exile the following year.<ref name=":2" /> However, he was arrested again in 1989 for planting landmines in white-owned farms in [[Swaziland]] (now [[Eswatini]]) in 1986, along with two others. He was kidnapped from Swaziland by South African apartheid agents and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment, again in Robben Island.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=6 December 2021|title=S. African anti-apartheid veteran Ebrahim dies aged 84|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211206-s-african-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-dies-aged-84|access-date=8 December 2021|website=France 24|language=en|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206230139/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211206-s-african-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-dies-aged-84|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Battersby|first1=John D.|date=17 January 1989|title=Afrikaner Paper Urges Talks With Mandela|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/17/world/afrikaner-paper-urges-talks-with-mandela.html|access-date=8 December 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208071955/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/17/world/afrikaner-paper-urges-talks-with-mandela.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During the trial, a former Umkhonto we Sizwe operative turned state witness, [[Glory Sedibe]] (known in court as “Mr X1”), testified for the prosecution against Ebrahim and his co-accused in 1988.<ref>[https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2014-11-15-how-do-you-tell-a-man-his-courage-has-run-out/ How do you tell a man his courage has run out], Times live, 15 November 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2022</ref><ref>[https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/opinion/ebrahim-ebrahim-obituary-a-life-that-leaves-behind-a-substantial-legacy-of-kindness-and-compassion-f05263aa-903e-46af-8bdd-37fc5260a91c Ebrahim Ebrahim Obituary: A life that leaves behind a substantial legacy of kindness and compassion. Retrieved 23 February 2022]</ref><ref>[https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/ebrahim-maseko-and-dladla-are-abducted-swaziland Ebrahim, Maseko and Dladla are abducted in Swaziland. Retrieved 25 February 2022]</ref> Ebrahim was released in 1991; the kidnapping was [[State v Ebrahim|ruled illegal]] since it had taken place outside South African jurisdiction.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa and Fadhl Al-Maghafi, Minister Plenipotentiary, Yemen with a joey from Caversham Wildlife Park.jpg|thumb|Ebrahim in Australia (2013)]]

Ebrahim was part of the [[1994 South African general election|first democratically elected government of South Africa in 1994]],<ref name=":0" /> first as a member of the National Assembly, and then as an advisor, assisting with conflict mediation between the [[Palestinians]] and Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and in Nepal, Bolivia, [[Kosovo]], and Burundi.<ref>{{Cite web|title=South African Anti-Apartheid Veteran Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim Dies At 84|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/south-african-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim-dies-at-84-2639524|access-date=8 December 2021|website=NDTV.com|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206143149/https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/south-african-anti-apartheid-veteran-ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim-dies-at-84-2639524|url-status=live}}</ref> As a mediator in the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] he advocated for a middle ground between the multiple Palestinian organizations. He met the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] leader [[Yasser Arafat]] in 2001 in the [[West Bank]] during this time. In 2002, he was part of a group of South Africans that called for a Palestinian boycott of Israel and called for sanctions against the Israeli state.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Call for South Africa to cut ties with Israel|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/call-for-south-africa-to-cut-ties-with-israel-83765|access-date=8 December 2021|website=www.iol.co.za|language=en|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206173119/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/call-for-south-africa-to-cut-ties-with-israel-83765|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, he had called for an end to the "cleansing of Palestinians from Jerusalem" noting that the "Israel and Palestine conflict (was) primarily about freedom to live in dignity".<ref>{{cite news|last=AFP and TOI staff|title=South African anti-apartheid, Palestinian rights advocate Ebrahim dies at 84|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/south-african-anti-apartheid-palestinian-rights-advocate-ebrahim-dies-at-84/|access-date=8 December 2021|website=[[The Times of Israel]]|language=en-US|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206190954/https://www.timesofisrael.com/south-african-anti-apartheid-palestinian-rights-advocate-ebrahim-dies-at-84/|url-status=live |issn=0040-7909}}</ref>

He was appointed the [[Minister of International Relations and Cooperation|deputy foreign minister]] in 2009 and served in the position for six years between 2009 and 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mahlati |first1= Zintle|last2=Morais|first2=Sheldon |title=Former deputy minister Ebrahim Ebrahim dies aged 84 |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/former-deputy-minister-ebrahim-ebrahim-dies-aged-84-20211206 |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> He also served as the member of the [[National Executive Committee of the African National Congress]] for over 26 years between 1991 and 2017.<ref name=":1" /> He represented the constituency of [[Chatsworth, KwaZulu-Natal|Chatsworth]] in [[KwaZulu-Natal]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kianja |title=Ebrahim Ebrahim – Farewell to a Gentle Revolutionary |url=https://www.thediplomaticsociety.co.za/3600-ebrahim-ebrahim-the-gentle-revolutionary |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=www.thediplomaticsociety.co.za |language=en-gb}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Ebrahim, who was also known as Ebie,<ref name=":1"/> met his future wife Shannon née Field, a [[United Nations]] official, in 1998. The couple married in 2000 and went on to have a son and a daughter. He also had another daughter from his earlier relationship with an American academic Julia Wells.{{Efn|Some sources note the spelling of Wells's first name as Julie}}<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Ebrahim Ebrahim obituary: A life that leaves behind a substantial legacy of kindness and compassion|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/opinion/ebrahim-ebrahim-obituary-a-life-that-leaves-behind-a-substantial-legacy-of-kindness-and-compassion-f05263aa-903e-46af-8bdd-37fc5260a91c|access-date=8 December 2021|website=www.iol.co.za|language=en|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207184442/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/opinion/ebrahim-ebrahim-obituary-a-life-that-leaves-behind-a-substantial-legacy-of-kindness-and-compassion-f05263aa-903e-46af-8bdd-37fc5260a91c|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ebrahim-ismail-ebrahim |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref>

Ebrahim was a fan of [[Indian film|Indian film music]], listening to singers including [[Lata Mangeshkar]], [[Mohammed Rafi]], [[Kishore Kumar]], and [[Geeta Dutt]]. It is noted that when he was underground on radio duty scanning radio stations, including [[Radio Moscow]], [[Voice of America]], [[South African Broadcasting Corporation]], and the [[BBC]], he would find himself tuning to [[All India Radio]] listening to Indian film music.<ref name=":4" /> When incarcerated prisoners in Robben island were allowed to choose music for broadcast, he would select [[Bollywood music]] to confuse the prison warders.<ref name=":4" /> He was also a fan of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] realist writer [[Nikolai Ostrovsky]]'s works.<ref name=":4" />

Ebrahim died on 6 December 2021 at home in [[Johannesburg]]. He was aged 84.<ref name=":0" /> He was provided a state funeral by the [[Gauteng]] province at the [[Westpark Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=WATCH: Gauteng Premier David Makhura pays tribute to Struggle stalwart Ebrahim Ebrahim|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/watch-gauteng-premier-david-makhura-pays-tribute-to-struggle-stalwart-ebrahim-ebrahim-5178ba71-324b-46a5-ae28-618e2de14d85|access-date=8 December 2021|website=www.iol.co.za|language=en|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207191459/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/watch-gauteng-premier-david-makhura-pays-tribute-to-struggle-stalwart-ebrahim-ebrahim-5178ba71-324b-46a5-ae28-618e2de14d85|url-status=live}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|last=Ebrahim|first=Shannon|title=Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim: a gentle revolutionary|oclc=1061275307}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [https://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/archive-files/ebrahim_ismail_ebrahim_book_pdf.pdf Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim: A Gentle Revolutionary] at SAHistory.org.za
* {{YouTube|id=79v_YSQBeIw|title=Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim funeral}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebrahim, Ebrahim Ismail}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:African National Congress politicians]]
[[Category:South African anti-apartheid activists]]
[[Category:Inmates of Robben Island]]
[[Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019]]
[[Category:Activists from Durban]]
[[Category:South African politicians of Indian descent]]
[[Category:South African people of Gujarati descent]]
[[Category:South African prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:University of South Africa alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Luthuli]]
[[Category:South African activists for Palestinian solidarity]]

Ebrahim Ebrahim - Revision history

UnknownEdits0303 at 06:31, 19 April 2026