Braam Hanekom

Braam Hanekom in PASSOP protest t-shirt

Braam Hanekom, whose english name is Abram Hanekom, is a Zimbabwean born South African refugee rights activist. He is named after Bram Fischer and is the son of Kallie Hanekom and Professor Jennifer Jelsma. He was born on the 5th of February in 1984, in Harare, into a family with strong links to the African National Congress during the time of aparthied in South Africa. His uncle Derek Hanekom and aunt Trish Hanekom spent 3 years in jail for their involvement in the African National Congress during his childhood. He left Zimbabwe after leaving school to assist the Movement for Democratic Change in their 2002 presidential campaign. He then moved to Cape Town, South Africa where his family lives. His childhood in Zimbabwe strongly influenced his views on refugees and he is fluent in Shona. He is a founding member and the current chairperson of PASSOP.^[1]. He is an activist in the fight for the rights of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees ^[2]. He writes a weekly column for a newspaper the zimbabwean.^[3] During the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 he was arrested four times for different protest actions, in three of the four arrests charges were withdrawn by the state.^[4] He is sueing the South African Police Service for unlawful arrest and failure to comply with proceedures. During the same period he was instrumental in exposing the crisis at refugee centres in South Africa.^[5] He remains an active member of the ANC an is a member of his ANC branch executive commitee BEC.

References

External links

[1] ttp://www.passop.co.za/home

[2] ttp://reuters.viewdle.com/search?q=Braam+Hanekom

[3] ttp://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

[4] ttp://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20080109110624361C764561

[5] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7090730.stm

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