Gregory Rockman

Rockman was born on 29 January 1959. He was the son of an automotive machinist and was classified as coloured under apartheid-era racial classification laws. He joined the South African Police in 1977, at the age of the 18, in his account because he "wanted to serve my community as a protector". By 1989, he was a lieutenant in the crime prevention division at the police station in the coloured neighbourhood of Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. Rockman said that he was not prepared to act as an "oppressor" to his community. Also in March 1990, POPCRU organised South Africa's first police strike since 1917. == Parliament: 1994–2000 ==

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Rockman was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, and he was re-elected to his seat in 1999. However, in March 2000, he announced that he had asked President Thabo Mbeki for permission to resign from Parliament in order to become chief executive of POPCRU's R10-million investment wing, established in 1999. His resignation took effect on 1 May 2000 and his seat in Parliament was filled by Henry Fazzie. == Personal life ==

In 1989 Rockman was married and had two young children. == References ==