Minister of Intelligence Services Ronnie Kasrils recently addressed students on the to crisis in the Middle East. He was the guest of the UCT Young Communist League (YCL).

"As the YCL we felt he was an obvious choice for the discussion, not only because of his public involvement in debates on the issue in the South African media, but because he is a wonderfully charismatic figure who provides the ideal basis for discussion and debate among a student body, one that often simply doesn't seem to care," said Ben Cronin, the secretary of YCL.

Kasrils has a long history as a senior leader of the YCL's parent body, the South African Communist Party.

The key objective of the meeting was to provide some background to the crisis in Palestine and the Middle East, highly topical in the wake of the military invasion of Lebanon. Beyond informing students and staff, the talk also was intended to spark debate on the issue - and will go some way to addressing student apathy.

The talk was well attended and Kasrils spoke for 50 minutes, followed by a further 45 minutes of questions.

"We wish to set alight political involvement, debate and general awareness about the world we live in, and, importantly about some critical issues at UCT, such as transformation," Cronin said.