15 Facts About Ben Martins

Ben Martins 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.

Ben Martins received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Africa, a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Natal and a Master of Law Degree as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Practice from the University of Cape Town.

Ben Martins was utilized for his artistic background after having studied at Bill Ainslie's studio and at the Federated Union of Black Artists with the likes of Johnny Rieberio, Fikile Magadlela and Thamsanqa Mnyele.

Ben Martins 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.

Ben Martins was later arrested under the Terrorism Act and from 1983 to 1991, was jailed at Robben Island and in Johannesburg.

Ben Martins became a Member of Parliament after the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.

Ben Martins was then appointed to become Minister of Energy on July 10,2013.

Ben Martins was unsuccessful in a bid to become a member of the ANC National Executive Committee in 2012.

Ben Martins continues to be a patron of the Congress of South African Writers.

Ben Martins is still a practicing artist, with his artwork forming part of the permanent Art collection of the Killie Campbell Collection of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the Pretoria and Johannesburg Art Galleries, as well as that of numerous private collections.

In November 2017 the suspended head of legal affairs for state company Eskom, Suzanne Daniels, testified before a Parliamentary committee into state capture that Ben Martins had been present at a meeting where Gupta family associate Salim Essa attempted to interfere in Eskom's affairs.

Ben Martins responded the next day that he had never been part of such a "phantom coffee tea party meeting" but would have to consult his diary to say where he had been on the day.

Ben Martins said he had been introduced to the Gupta family by Lucky Montana, then CEO of state company Prasa.

Montana countered that it had been Ben Martins who had introduced him to the Gupta family.