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Minister of Defence

Personal

• Date of Birth: 13 September 1942
• Marital Status: Married
• Pastimes: Composing choral music and writing poetry

Current Positions

• Minister of Defence of the Republic of South Africa since 25 September 2008.
• Member of the Central Committee of the SACP since July 2007.

Academic Qualifications

• Attended primary school in Cradock.
• Matriculated at Lovedale (1959 - 1963).

Career/Positions/Memberships/Other Activities

• Worked as waiter and wine steward in a hotel and later as clerk in the Department of Bantu Education.
• Began working as a journalist for Midland News, a regional weekly newspaper in Cradock (1966).
• Served as political reporter for Imvo Zabantsundu, based in King Williams Town (1973).
• Worked for the Daily Dispatch in East London from 1976 until he was placed under a banning order in 1981.
• The authorities revoked the banning order in 1982 because the village he lived in fell into Ciskei, which became independent in 1981. Nqakula was declared a prohibited immigrant and was unable to enter South African territory.
• Became a member of the Union of Black Journalists and was elected Vice-President of the Union in 1976. The Union was banned in October 1977 as part of a government crackdown on organisations supporting the Black Consciousness Movement.
• Elected Vice-President of the Writers' Association of South Africa (WASA) (1979). He was subsequently elected Vice-President of the Media Worker's Association of South Africa (MWASA) when WASA was broadened to include others in the media industry.
• Frequently detained either by the South African or Ciskeian authorities.
• Started Veritas News Agency in Zwelitsha towards the end of 1982.
• Elected publicity secretary of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983.
• Arrested in East London for being in South Africa without a visa in 1983. By this time Nqakula was an underground operative for the ANC, specialising in propaganda.
• Left South Africa, travelled to Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia in October 1984. He underwent military training in Angola and joined MK. He then travelled to the Soviet Union and East Germany for further military training.
• He infiltrated South Africa as one of the commanders of Operation Vula, with a mission to build viable underground and military structures. Served as commander in the Western Cape (1988).
• He emerged from the underground when he was granted amnesty by Government (1991).
• Served on the interim leadership group of the SACP, as convernor of its National Organising Committee. Was also a member of its political committee and served on the SACP's Secretariat.
• Was elected Deputy General Secretary of the SACP (1991) and subsequently as the party's General Secretary following the assassination of Chris Hani in 1993.
• Re-elected to this position at the SACP National Congress in April 1995.
• Elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC in 1994, 1999 and 2004.
• Parliamentary Counsellor to the President until 26 January 2001.
• Deputy Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa (24 January 2001 - 6 May 2002).
• Was part of the Parliamentary team led by the speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Feni Ginwala that was sent to Mozambique to assess deluge damage in that country in 2000. The team proposed a rescued plan.
• Appointed as Minister in May 2002 which means he became the chairperson of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster of Ministers.
• Facilitated the peace process in Burundi where he brokered a ceasefire agreement, set up political and military principles underpinning peace and achieving a cessation of hostilities with rebels returning and working on efforts to achieve sustainable peace (2005).
• Minister of Safety and Security of the Republic of South Africa from 7 May 2002 to 25 September 2008.

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Last modified: 26 September 2008 09:44:28.