in 1996, and two days after opening it, received over $100,000 into the account from Schabir Shaik. Six months later, in March 1997, the same Swiss account received a further $100,000 from Schabir Shaik. On 6 July 2011 he was appointed by President Jacob Zuma as his Spokesperson with immediate effect. In November 2011 the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian attempted to publish further allegations about both Mac and Zarina Maharaj, in relation to their interviews by prosecutors in 2003, but did not do so after Mac Maharaj laid criminal charges against the newspaper for allegedly infringing the laws protecting the secrecy of the 2003 prosecutor interviews. Maharaj has never been charged by South African prosecutors supposedly because it would have been difficult to prove that Maharaj had corrupt intentions when he and his wife received money from Schabir Shaik. Academic affiliations In 2005, he joined the faculty of Bennington College in Vermont, USA. Quotes "You don't have to carry a gun to be a freedom fighter." "Revenge should not be our motivation." References Further reading Shades of Difference: Mac Maharaj and the Struggle for South Africa (2007) (foreword by Nelson Mandela) 1936 births Living people Anti-apartheid activists South African people of Indian descent Bennington College faculty Members of the South African Communist Party South African politicians of Indian descent South African prisoners and detainees Inmates of Robben Island African National Congress politicians South African Communist Party politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Government ministers of South Africa Members of the Order of Luthuli UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel