Yunus Carrim became politically active while in high school in 1971. He has served in the executives of various political, community and other organisations, including the Natal Indian Congress, SACP and Natal Midlands ANC. He has been an SACP Central Committee and Politburo member since 1995. He was an ANC MP from 1994 to 2024 and chaired several parliamentary committees. He served as Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs between 2009 and 2013 and Minister of Communications in 2013?14. He is a former senior lecturer in sociology and a freelance journalist.