■ Hassen Ebrahim

Hassen Ebrahim received his law degree at the University of Edinburgh and Botswana and has since then become an important political figure in South Africa. Hassen Ebrahim spent 12 years in exile from South Africa because of his membership in the African National Congress. He returned from exile in 1991 to assist the ANC in establishing its legal structures within the country. Later in 1991, he joined the ANC's National negotiations team as its National Coordinator to facilitate the constitutional negotiations at Codesa and the Multi-Party Negotiations.   After South Africa's interim constitution was adopted, Hassen was elected to the Gauteng Legislature in the first democratic elections in 1994. He later asked to resign in order to assume the post of CEO in the Constitutional Assembly. After successfully managing the negotiations for the country's first democratic constitution, Hassen joined the Department of Justice and the Department of Constitutional Development as a Deputy-Director General. In the Department of Justice, Hassen quickly made an impact by taking responsibility as the fist CIO, establishing the Department of Corporate Services, and ultimately receiving an appointment as the country's first Chief Master.   After a short time spent in the private sector where he became a member of the executive team of T-Systems, Ebrahim returned to the public sector in January 2009 to assume responsibility as one of the special advisors to the National Minister of Health.   This interview about his experience and viewpoints was conducted in April 2009 in Cape Town.