Rapulane Sydney Molekane was born on 7 May 1961 and is a South African diplomat, politician, and former anti-apartheid activist.
10 Facts About Rapu Molekane
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Rapu Molekane has been South African Ambassador to Austria since 2019.
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Rapu Molekane represented the ANC in the National Assembly during the first democratic Parliament from 1994 to 1999.
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Rapu Molekane was born on 7 May 1961 in White City, a neighbourhood of Jabavu in Soweto.
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Rapu Molekane served as president of the Soweto Youth Congress from 1984 to 1985, and therefore become centrally involved in the Congress of South African Students.
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At SAYCO's founding conference in March 1987 in Cape Town, Rapu Molekane was elected as inaugural general-secretary of SAYCO, serving alongside Mokaba, who was elected as president.
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In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Rapu Molekane was elected to an ANC seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament.
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Rapu Molekane chaired Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security.
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Rapu Molekane left Parliament after the 1999 general election and joined the Department of Foreign Affairs, first as Consul-General to Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany from 1999 to 2003.
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Rapu Molekane later served as High Commissioner to Ghana from 2004 to 2008 and as Ambassador to France from 2014 to 2019, with his ambassadorial terms punctuated by stints at the Department of Foreign Affairs, including on the African Union, Middle East, and Europe desks.