Cosmopolitans in Close Quarters: Everyday Life in the Ranks of Umkhonto We Sizwe (1961-Present)
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COSMOPOLITANS IN CLOSE QUARTERS: EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE RANKS OF UMKHONTO WE SIZWE (1961-PRESENT) By STEPHEN DAVIS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 Stephen R. Davis 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements most often begin with some sort of statement about how a dissertation is a collaborative effort. In my experience this is true, but not all acknowledged pull the same load of weight. In terms of fairness and honesty, I am acknowledging people in the rough order of the amount of weight they pulled. My brother preserved my ability to think like a human being. He also encouraged me to keep drawing if things got too tough. I thank him for both his ability to preserve my own innate senses and for his encouragement. I thank Duduzile for reasons only we know. If my ideas carry any weight by themselves, I have Luise White to thank. I once made the mistake of thanking her for training me as a historian. I received the appropriate response for thinking that I had been trained. I now acknowledge Luise for giving me the courage to think laterally about history and life, and to have the wisdom to call out some of the linear thinking within both of these worlds. She also taught me how to accept a complement and to preserve my sense of humor about things that are beyond my control or comprehension. I owe her my sincerest gratitude for these things and more. Zhou Ban, my elder brother from another mother, and Sean, my younger brother from another mother, each gave me their time, compassion and understanding before, during and after my fieldwork. I am a better person for having them around then as now. Vusi wakwaMakhaye kept me from writing any ‘inflammatory shit’ and kept me out of the ‘inflammatory shit’ that others create for themselves. If discretion is the better part of valor, then I have Vusi to thank for being careful when I could not or would not. On this note, Eirin saved me when discretion and valor did not apply. Eirin also taught me think in color again. Eirin du har mad style. I thank all four of my grandparents for working hard, playing by the rules and permitting their children, grandchildren and great- 3 grandchildren to live the lives they wanted. Kevin Grant introduced me to South Africa, its people, and its history and I thank him for it. Ndibonga usisi wam. Kanti ndibonga zonke izisalamane zam. Sue O’Brien, Abdoulaye Kane, Agnes Leslie, Peter Malanchuk, Brenda Chalfin, Leo Villalon, Todd Leedy, and Corinna Greene all make African Studies at UF such a rewarding place to be. Howard Louthan, Peter Bergmann, Andrea Sterk, Nina Caputo, Joe Spillane, Jessica Harland-Jacobs, Erin Smith, and George Esenwein make the History Department at UF such a rewarding place to be. I thank the late Senator William J. Fulbright, the Institute for International Education, the United States Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa for allowing me to do extensive fieldwork. The following initials are people who must be acknowledged but not fully identified. A few of them pulled more weight than some of those listed above. SD, MD, PMH, DH, KR, IM, LS, AM, BC, SH, BM, PJ, MH, LG, SS, PL, CR, JT, RH, AK, MR, AH, RH, L&D, CM, ND, JA, LW, ML, TB, AW, SS, JK, AT, GS, NL, JWB, LV. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ 7 ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 THE GRAND NARRATIVE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY, AND UMKHONTO WE SIZWE IN EXILE ............................................................................. 9 2 “I AM NOT PREPARED TO ANSWER AT THIS STAGE,” HISTORY, EVIDENCE AND THE MAMRE CAMP, DECEMBER 26TH-DECEMBER 30TH 1962 ............................................................................................................................ 56 Command Performances............................................................................................ 65 Jail Diaries; Factography, Reportage, Dramaturgy ................................................... 81 Plaster Busts, the Rules of Conspiracy, and the Action Hero ................................... 93 3 THE SIGHT OF BATTLE: VISUALITY, HISTORY, AND REPRESENTATIONS OF THE WANKIE CAMPAIGN, JULY 31ST-SEPTEMBER 8, 1967 ...................... 100 Topographies ............................................................................................................ 107 The Bush ................................................................................................................... 110 Training and Discipline ............................................................................................. 117 Genealogies of ‘Struggle History’ ............................................................................. 123 The Chinese Kamikazi .............................................................................................. 125 Jailhouse Forensics .................................................................................................. 131 4 LOSING THE PLOT: MYSTERY, NARRATIVITY, AND INVESTIGATION IN NOVO CATENGUE, MAY 1977-MARCH 1979 ....................................................... 139 Reading Investigative Reports ................................................................................. 144 The Police Procedural .............................................................................................. 150 Illuminating the Everyday ......................................................................................... 155 The Red Herring? ..................................................................................................... 161 Spots of Blood........................................................................................................... 164 Comrade Jack ........................................................................................................... 171 5 EVERYDAY LIFE DURING WARTIME: EXPERIENCE, MODES OF WRITING, AND THE UNDERGROUND IN CAPE TOWN DURING THE LONG DECADE OF THE 1980S ......................................................................................................... 186 5 Experience and Modes of Writing ............................................................................ 197 The Forensic Archive: Dimensions of Resistance and Repression in Cape Town 205 Military and Combat Work ........................................................................................ 216 The Habituated Eye .................................................................................................. 232 Three Vignettes......................................................................................................... 238 Legendary Performances .................................................................................. 242 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Cadre ............................................................................. 251 That’s Someone Else’s Can of Worms ............................................................. 258 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 276 6 “IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE”; HOW NATIONALISM, MILITARISM AND MONUMENTALIZATION REPRODUCES THE NATIONAL IDEA OR THE PLACE OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE IN RECENT MEMORY IN SOUTH AFRICA. .................................................................................................................... 282 The Problem of the National Idea ............................................................................ 283 Disinterred Inscriptions ............................................................................................. 288 Freedom Park; The Polynational War Memorial ..................................................... 303 Anonymity, Creativity, History .................................................................................. 320 The Triumvirate, Ghosts, and the Wilderness ......................................................... 331 7 THE RULES OF SECRECY ..................................................................................... 336 LIST OF REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 342 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANC African National Congress APLA African People’s Liberation Army APC Area Politico-Military Committee BCM Black Consciousness Movement CIO Central Intelligence Office (Rhodesia) MCW Military and Combat Work MHQ Military Headquarters MK Umkhonto we Sizwe MKMVA Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association NAT Department of National Security NP National Party NSMS National Security Management System OAU Organization of African Unity PAFMESCA Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and Southern Africa SAAF South African Air Force SACP South African Communist Party SADET South African Democracy Education Trust SANDF South African National Defense Force SDU Self-Defense Units SWAPO South West Africa People’s Organization UNITA Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola ZAPU Zimbabwe African People’s Union ZIPRA Zimbabwean People’s