Imtiaz Sooliman on running for office in 1994 polls: 'I didn't ever want to be involved'

Source: EWN Traffic
Author: Lauren Isaacs

CAPE TOWN - He contested South Africa's very first democratic election as a member of the Africa Muslim Party, but Gift of the Givers founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, admitted he had no political ambition.

In the 1994 elections, Sooliman ran for political office as the head of the party, which failed to win any seats in the National Assembly.

At the time, he had already started his humanitarian aid group, Gift of the Givers, and played a role in bringing healthcare and relief to people in Rwanda and Bosnia.

As South Africa marks 30 years of democracy, Sooliman on Friday morning spoke about his brief political stint.

"Actually, let me tell you a secret about that - I didn't even know that I was involved in the party. I was out of the country, I come back to South Africa [and] the religious people and, you know, the community tells me: 'You know are the leader of a party''. I told them, 'What do I know about politics?'. But they said: 'No, we already gave your name in'.

"I wasn't part of the formation - I wasn't part of the planning and I secretly prayed, to be honest, that we don't get any seats and it was the greatest joy that we didn't get any seats because I didn't ever want to be involved in politics. It's bureaucracy, it's red tape, you can't get anything done."