Abraham Williams (born 12 December 1940) is a retired South African politician from the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

. He was the last

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

-era Minister of Sport from 1993 to 1994 and then was the first post-apartheid Minister of Welfare and Population Development from 1994 to 1996. Latterly a member of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

(NP) and New National Party (NNP), Williams served in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

until August 2000, when he was convicted of

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

and incarcerated. He served one year of a three-year prison sentence before receiving parole in September 2001.

Early life and career

Born on 12 December 1940, Williams was formerly a prominent

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

administrator. Designated as

Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

under apartheid, he served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, the all-Coloured house of the

Tricameral Parliament The Tricameral Parliament, officially the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, was the legislature of South Africa between 1984 and 1994, established by the South African Constitution of 1983, which gave a limited political voice to ...

, where he was a member of the Ministers' Council. In February 1993, President

F. W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk ( , ; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as the seventh and final state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President of South Africa, deputy president a ...

announced that he had appointed Williams to his cabinet in a reshuffle, naming him as Minister of Sport. He and two others appointed at the same time – Jac Rabie and

Bhadra Ranchod Bhadrakumar Ghaloo "Bhadra" Ranchod (born 1943 or 1944) is a retired South African politician, diplomat, and lawyer who served as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly from May 1994 to March 1996. He represented the National Party and previou ...

– became the first non-white politicians to serve in the South African cabinet, in a move viewed as an attempt by de Klerk's party, the NP, to broaden its appeal ahead of the upcoming multiracial elections. In May 1993, Williams told the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', "I think Coloureds have great respect for elsonMandela, but we fear the ANC".

Post-apartheid political career

Minister of Welfare: 1994–1996

In the 1994 general election, Williams was elected to represent the NP in the new multi-racial National Assembly. In addition, newly elected President Nelson Mandela appointed Williams to his multi-party

Government of National Unity A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

as Minister of Welfare and Population Development. The ''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...

'' was highly critical of Williams's performance in that portfolio: for two consecutive years in 1994 and 1995, the newspaper awarded Williams's work a score of two out of ten, quipping that Williams had "shown a keen interest in welfare – his own".

Backbencher: 1996–2000

In February 1996, less than two years into the legislative term, Williams's homes and offices in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

were raided by law enforcement officers, who said that they were at an early stage of a

investigation. Later the same day, Williams tendered his resignation from the cabinet, though he emphasised that his resignation was not an admission of guilt. He remained an ordinary Member of Parliament and was re-elected to a second term in his seat in the 1999 general election, serving the Western Cape constituency. However, the law enforcement investigation continued , and after Williams's criminal conviction, he left his parliamentary seat on 14 August 2000, ceding his seat to Johnny Schippers.

Fraud conviction

In June 1999, shortly after the second democratic elections, Williams was charged with several counts of fraud and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. The charges pertained to his time as a member of the Ministers' Council in the House of Representatives: he was accused of having accepted

kickbacks A kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker in exchange for services rendered. Generally speaking, the remuneration (money, goods, or services handed over) is negotiated ahead of time. The kickback ...

from two companies which did business with the state. He was also charged with

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

, in connection with political donations that he had accepted for his community work on the Cape West Coast but had allegedly used for private purposes instead. The NNP said that he would retain his parliamentary seat until the trial was concluded, though he resigned as deputy chairman of the NNP caucus in Parliament. In June 2000, the

Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the ...

convicted Williams on 36 counts of theft (in connection with an amount of R268,142 in donations) and four counts of fraud (in connection with an amount of R240,112). He was handed a suspended sentence for the theft convictions but was sentenced to three years in prison on the fraud charges. His appeals were unsuccessful, and his prison sentence began in early September 2000. Williams served just over a year in

Pollsmoor Prison Pollsmoor Prison, officially known as Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, is located in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai in South Africa. Pollsmoor is a maximum security penal facility that continues to hold some of South Africa's most dangerous c ...

before he was paroled in September 2001. Upon his release, he would not comment on his professional plans, saying, "I've always been a community man and I will try to serve my community irrespective of whether or not I am in politics". He gave a partial account of his actions:

If I must say sorry, then I apologise to communities I might have hurt, and the world. I made mistakes and I paid the price. I have no regrets about going to prison... It was not my intention to pocket the money. Although most of the money I used was spent on political-party work, the law found me guilty of fraud. I accept that.

References

1940 births Living people Coloureds National Party (South Africa) politicians New National Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004 South African politicians convicted of fraud Prisoners and detainees of South Africa Corruption in South Africa {{Nelson Mandela cabinet 1