WHEN people ask Ambassador Mashabane what he used to do before he became South African envoy to Jakarta, he replies: I was a political creature. Indeed, Mashabane, who hails from South Africas northern region, has been active in politics since the age of 18, most of the time fighting against apartheid. Between 1980 and 1994, he served in the youth movement, trade unions and political underground structures of the rebellious African National Congr