later. Backbencher In 2004, Asmal left government but would remain in Parliament until 2008. On 5 October 2007, he severely criticised Robert Mugabe for the situation in Zimbabwe, lamenting that he had not spoken previously, at the launch of a book Through the Darkness – A Life in Zimbabwe, by Judith Todd, daughter of Southern Rhodesia Prime Minister Garfield Todd, an opponent of white minority rule under Ian Smith. Asmal resigned from parliament in 2008 in protest against the ANC's disbanding of the elite Scorpions anti-crime unit. He felt it was a poor decision and that it was improper that politicians who had been investigated and found by the Scorpions to be engaged in corruption then took part in the vote to disband the organisation. Later life Asmal called for the controversial Protection of State Information Bill (also known as the "Secrecy Bill") to be scrapped. He published an autobiography, Politics in my Blood. He died in 2011 after suffering a heart attack. References External links Video of Kader Asmal interviewed by Robert Vassen, Durban, South Africa, December 2004 1934 births 2011 deaths African National Congress politicians Alumni of the London School of Economics Education ministers of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the Order of Luthuli Recipients of the Legion of Honour South African expatriates in Ireland South African people of Indian descent Academic staff of the University of the Western Cape