Ayob practised law in South Africa and for much of his career the bulk of his work was with anti-apartheid cases.

For the first twenty years of his career, Ayob concentrated on human rights cases, acting for opponents of the apartheid regime.

His most high-profile case was that of Hélène Passtoors, a Belgian woman accused of ferrying arms for the then-banned African National Congress.

[1] Ayob responded that he never sold any prints but had acted only in a professional capacity as attorney and agent for Mandela and his family.

[citation needed] In terms of the written contracts, Ayob was to receive royalties due to the Mandela family.

Ayob denied any wrongdoing, and declared that he was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by Mandela's advisors, in particular lawyer George Bizos.

[citation needed] This campaign was driven through the media by page-one headlines and lead stories on radio and television.

At these meetings, the Minister Essop Pahad in the office of the South African President Thabo Mbeki attacked Ayob and his entire family.

[citation needed] There were calls for Ayob and his family to be ostracised by society and to be expelled from mosques and community and charitable organisations, and that there be protest marches and paid newspaper advertisements signed by supporters of Mandela.