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 previously served as Minister of Tourism for a brief period from 1993 to 1994 under President F. W. de Klerk.

Bhadra Ranchod
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly
In office
9 May 1994 – March 1996
SpeakerFrene Ginwala
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byBaleka Mbete
Member of the National Assembly
In office
9 May 1994 – March 1996
Minister of Tourism
In office
February 1993 – April 1994
PresidentF. W. de Klerk
Preceded byOrg Marais
Succeeded byDawie de Villiers
Personal details
Born1943 or 1944 (age 79–80)
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyNational Party
Alma materUniversity of Cape Town
Leiden University

Ranchod was the head of private law at the University of Durban-Westville until 1986, when he accepted appointment as South African Ambassador to the European Common Market and became South Africa's first non-white ambassador. He resigned from the National Assembly in March 1996 in order to take up another diplomatic posting as South African High Commissioner to Australia.

Early life and academic career

Ranchod was born in 1943 or 1944 and was classified as Indian under apartheid.[1][2] He studied law at the University of Cape Town and completed his postgraduate education abroad at the University of Leiden.[1]

From 1974 to 1986, he was the head of the private law department at the University of Durban-Westville, a majority-Indian university.[1] He also served as the dean of the university's law school from 1976 to 1979, and in 1985 he was appointed to the board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.[1]

Apartheid government

In 1986, Ranchod was named as South African Ambassador to the European Common Market in Brussels and thus became the country's first non-white ambassador.[1] On serving the government during the prevailing racially charged civil conflict, Ranchod said:

There is violence in the country that is not doing anyone any good. One has got to try to work for a more just society. I hope to be able to do so in my new position. I have consistently supported the protection of human rights in South Africa. I have not departed from that.[1]

In May 1987, UPI reported that Ranchod had twice applied unsuccessfully for an exemption from the Group Areas Act, seeking permission to buy a home near his university in the white-designated suburb of Westville, Durban.[3]

In February 1993, President F. W. de Klerk announced that he had appointed Ranchod to his cabinet in a reshuffle, naming him as Minister of Tourism. He and two others appointed at the same time – Jacobus Rabie and Abe Williams – became the first non-white politicians to serve in the South African cabinet, in a move viewed as an attempt by de Klerk's National Party (NP) to broaden its appeal ahead of the upcoming multiracial elections.[4]

Post-apartheid government

In the 1994 general election, South Africa's first under universal suffrage, Ranchod was elected to an NP seat in the new National Assembly.[5] In the aftermath of the election, he was also appointed Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly as a result of an agreement between the NP and the governing African National Congress (ANC); he deputised Speaker Frene Ginwala of the ANC.[6] The Mail & Guardian said that Ranchod was among the "verligte" (Afrikaans for enlightened, meaning progressive) ranks of the NP.[7]

In early 1996, Ranchod announced that he would resign from the National Assembly in March to become South African High Commissioner to Australia. He apparently had not discussed the appointment with his party beforehand.[6] He was replaced as Deputy Speaker by Baleka Mbete of the ANC.[8]

References
  1. "Indian Becomes First Non-White South African Ambassador". AP News. 15 September 1986. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  2. Hashim, Fateh Ali (1994). "Wind of Change in South Africa". Pakistan Horizon. 47 (3): 9–13. ISSN 0030-980X.
  3. "Ambassador refused permission to live in white area". UPI. 25 May 1987. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  4. Keller, Bill (22 February 1993). "De Klerk Names Three Nonwhites to Cabinet Posts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  5. "Minutes of proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly" (PDF). Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. 24 May 1994. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  6. "Ranchod's exit could spark row". The Mail & Guardian. 2 February 1996. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  7. "Diplomatic posts for NP, IFP". The Mail & Guardian. 16 August 1996. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  8. "Ginwala gets the axe". The Mail & Guardian. 22 April 2004. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
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