Ohm Collins Chabane (15 April 1960 – 15 March 2015) was a South African Minister of Public Service and Administration. At the age of 17, he went into exile and joined the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) underground military wing

Umkhonto we Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...

(MK). Chabane also went to

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

for military training in 1980, and began work underground in 1981.

Early life and education

Chabane was born in Xikundu Village, in what was then the Northern Transvaal District (now the

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

province) of the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

province. He attended Shingwedzi High School and after high school registered for a BSc at Turfloop University, but a year at the age of 17 he joined the ANC underground. Chabane was arrested by the Security Police in 1984, and was sentenced to six years imprisonment on charges of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. He was imprisoned at the same time as

Tokyo Sexwale Mosima Gabriel "Tokyo" Sexwale (; born 5 March 1953) is a South African businessman, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and former political prisoner. For many years, Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activities, ...

Kgalema Motlanthe Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (; born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who served as the 3rd president of South Africa from 25 September 2008 to 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. Thereafter, he was deputy president und ...

Mosiuoa Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary for the African National Congress (ANC) who served jail time with Nelson Mandela from 1985 and who left the ANC to form the Congress of the Peo ...

and

Popo Molefe Popo Simon Molefe OLS (born 26 April 1952) is a businessman and former politician from South Africa. Early life One of eight children, Molefe was the son of a laborer and a domestic worker, though he was raised largely by one of his aunts, San ...

. During his time in prison he obtained a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from Technikon South Africa, and studied aviation. Chabane also held a Diploma in Management from Arusha in Tanzania.

Politician

After his release from prison, Chabane was elected to parliament in 1994, where he served on the constitutional affairs, defense and intelligence committees. In 1997, he was appointed MEC for Limpopo, in Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi's cabinet. In 1998, he moved to public works, where he is credited as having established the province's Roads Agency. Under the first term of

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

's presidency, he was appointed as Minister in the Presidency. He also arranged

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

's funeral in December 2013.

Personal life

Chabane also developed his interest in music (while in prison), headed a marimba band and recorded two CDs.

Death

In the early hours of 15 March 2015, Chabane was killed, aged 55, in a traffic accident when a truck made a U-turn in front of Chabane's car on the N1 near Polokwane, after attending a funeral of

Samuel Dickenson Nxumalo Samuel Dickenson Nxumalo (1926 – 7 March 2015) was the third and last Chief Minister of Gazankulu, a former bantustan in apartheid-era South Africa Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of instit ...

, the third Chief Minister of Gazankulu homeland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chabane, Collins 1960 births 2015 deaths African National Congress politicians Politicians from Limpopo South African revolutionaries South African politicians convicted of crimes UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel South African anti-apartheid activists Road incident deaths in South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Government ministers of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999

Early life and education

Politician

Personal life

Death

See also

References