Ben Martins
| Ben Martins MP | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Energy | |
|
In office 10 July 2013 – 25 May 2014 |
|
| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Deputy | Barbara Thompson |
| Preceded by | Dipuo Peters |
| Succeeded by | Tina Joemat-Petterson |
| Minister of Transport | |
|
In office 12 June 2012 – 9 July 2013 |
|
| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Deputy | Lydia Sindiswe Chikunga |
| Preceded by | S'bu Ndebele |
| Succeeded by | Dipuo Peters |
| Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises | |
|
In office 1 November 2010 – 12 June 2012 |
|
| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 September 1956 Alexandra township, Johannesburg, Gauteng |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party |
African National Congress South African Communist Party |
| Alma mater |
University of South Africa University of Cape Town University of Natal |
Dikobe Ben Martins (born 2 September 1956, Alexandra township, Gauteng), is a former Minister of Energy and has held other posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He has served in Parliament since 1994 and has been a Central Committee Member of the South African Communist Party.
Ben Martins was born in Alexandra Township in Johannesburg and attended school at St Joseph’s School in Aliwal North, Bechet College in Durban and Coronationville High School in Johannesburg. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Africa, a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal) and a Master of Law Degree (LLM) as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Practice from the University of Cape Town.
Martins was a member of the Black Consciousness Movement beginning in the 1970s. With an artistic background after studying at Bill Ainslie's studio and at the Federated Union of Black Artists (FUBA) with the likes of Johnny Rieberio, Fikile Magadlela and Thamsanqa Mnyele, and posters for the movement. He later produced the famous poster distributed at Biko's funeral. In the late 1970s, he traveled to Botswana and Lesotho to meet with activists-in-exile such as Mnyele and Wally Serote and in 1979, became a member of the African National Congress (later joining Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed branch of the ANC). He was made the chief coordinator of the visual art committee in South Africa for assisting artists to attend the Culture and Resistance Conference and Festival in Gaborone. From 1977 up to the time of his arrest he worked and ran art workshops while setting up one of the earliest silk screen and poster making collectives at the Old Mill building in Pietermaritzburg.
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