Ismail Ayob facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ismail Mahomed Ayob
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Ayob appearing on British late-night live discussion programme After Dark on 11 June 1988: "South Africa"
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| Born | 1942 (age 82–83) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Ismail Mahomed Ayob (born in 1942 in Mafeking) is a South African lawyer. For most of his career, he worked on cases against apartheid. Apartheid was a system of unfair laws that separated people by race in South Africa. Ayob was also involved in some public disagreements with Nelson Mandela.
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A Career in Law
Ismail Ayob started his first job in law in 1969. His cousin, Ismail Mahomed, who later became a top judge in South Africa, helped him. The law firm he joined worked on cases related to the movement against apartheid.
In 1973, Ayob decided to start his own law firm. He named it Ismail Ayob & Associates.
Fighting Apartheid as a Lawyer
For the first 20 years of his career, Ayob focused on human rights cases. He helped people who were fighting against the apartheid government. He defended many South African political prisoners.
Ayob was one of the few people allowed to visit Nelson Mandela when Mandela was in prison on Robben Island. One of Ayob's most well-known cases was defending Hélène Passtoors. She was a Belgian woman accused of helping the African National Congress, a group that was banned at the time. Ayob also represented Winnie Mandela during a famous trial.
Disagreement with Nelson Mandela
In May 2005, Nelson Mandela asked Ismail Ayob to stop selling certain art prints that Mandela had signed. Mandela also asked Ayob to explain what happened to the money from these sales. This became a very public issue in South Africa.
Ayob said that he never sold any prints himself. He explained that he only acted as a lawyer and agent for Mandela and his family. He stated under oath that he was not involved in selling the prints. Ayob said he received money (royalties) for the Mandela family based on written agreements. He kept this money in Mandela's company accounts, which he managed. Ayob provided a full explanation of how the money was handled.
Ayob denied doing anything wrong. He believed that some of Mandela's advisors, especially lawyer George Bizos, were trying to make him look bad. One of the disagreements was about Mandela's will. Nelson Mandela said that Ayob refused to write a will for him, even after many requests. However, Ayob showed copies of five different wills that Mandela had signed over several years.
After these disagreements, Ismail Ayob and his family faced public criticism. Mandela's new advisors supported the legal action against Ayob. There were news stories, radio shows, and TV reports about the issue. Many groups, including religious bodies, the Law Society, and community associations, were contacted. There were even public meetings where some people spoke against Ayob and his family.
Under the rules of the High Court, Mandela's team was supposed to reply to Ayob's statements within two weeks. However, they did not reply for about 20 months.
Court Action in 2007
Ismail Ayob, George Bizos, and Wim Trengrove were all trustees of the Nelson Mandela Trust. This Trust was set up to manage money donated to Nelson Mandela. Ayob later left the Trust.
In 2006, the two remaining trustees of the Nelson Mandela Trust took legal action against Ayob. They claimed he had paid out money from the Trust without their clear permission. Ayob explained that these payments included money for the South African Revenue Service (taxes), for Mandela's children and grandchildren, for Mandela himself, and for accounting work.
It was also claimed that Ayob had said bad things about Mandela in his legal statements. The court ordered Ayob to apologize for these remarks. However, it was later shown that the claims about Mandela having foreign bank accounts and not paying taxes on them actually came from statements made by Mandela, George Bizos, and Iqbal Meer against Ayob, not from Ayob's own statements.
Personal Life
Ismail Ayob went to the Methodist Coloured School until he was 14. Because of apartheid, schools in his area were closed to him due to his race. So, he was sent to Pretoria to continue his schooling at the Pretoria Indian Boys High School.
After finishing high school in 1959, Ayob, who is of Indian heritage, found he could not attend university in South Africa. He moved to London, England, where he studied law at the London School of Economics. He became a barrister (a type of lawyer) and then returned to South Africa to work as an attorney.
He is married to Zamila Ayob. They have one son, Zayd Ismail Ayob, who also works as a lawyer with his father.
