Rapu Molekane | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Molekane at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, 2024 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office May 1994 – June 1999 | |
| Secretary-General of the African National Congress Youth League | |
| In office 1990–1994 | |
| President | Peter Mokaba |
| Preceded by | Position re-established |
| Succeeded by | Mpho Lekgoro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rapulane Sydney Molekane 7 May 1961 White City, Soweto Transvaal, South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
Rapulane Sydney Molekane (born 7 May 1961) is a South African diplomat, politician, and former anti-apartheid activist. He has been South African Ambassador to Austria since 2019. In that capacity, he also has non-resident accreditation to Slovenia and Slovakia and serves as South Africa's permanent representative to various international organisations in Vienna.
During apartheid, Molekane rose to political prominence as a leading figure in the students' movement in Soweto. A member of the United Democratic Front, he was president of the Soweto Youth Congress from 1984 to 1985 and founding general-secretary of the South African Youth Congress from 1987 to 1990. From 1990 to 1994, he was secretary-general of the newly relaunched African National Congress (ANC) Youth League under league president Peter Mokaba.
Molekane represented the ANC in the National Assembly during the first democratic Parliament from 1994 to 1999. Since becoming a career diplomat in 1999, he has served as Consul-General in Germany, High Commissioner to Ghana, and Ambassador to France.