Ronnie Kasrils’ memoir about his wife, Eleanor, Unlikely Secret Agent, won the 2011 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award. His political career has seen him holding a number of different positions from Minister for Intelligence Services (2004 – 2008) to Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry (1999 – 2004). He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC (1987 – 2007) and the Central Committe of the South African Communist Party (1986 – 2007).