SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICAL EXILE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM Al50by Mark Israel

INTERNATIONAL VICTIMOLOGY (co-editor) South African Political Exile in the United Kingdom

Mark Israel SeniorLecturer School of Law TheFlinders University ofSouth Australia First published in Great Britain 1999 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-14925-4 ISBN 978-1-349-14923-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14923-0

First published in the United States of Ameri ca 1999 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division. 175 Fifth Avenue. New York. N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-22025-9 Library of Congre ss Cataloging-in-Publication Data Israel. Mark. 1965- South African political exile in the United Kingdom / Mark Israel. p. cm. Include s bibliographical references and index . ISBN 978-0-312-22025-9 (cloth) I. Political refugees-Great Britain-History-20th century. 2. Great Britain-Exiles-History-20th century. 3. South Africans­ -Great Britain-History-20th century. I. Title . HV640.5.S6I87 1999 362.87'0941-dc21 98-32038 CIP © Mark Israel 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover Ist edition 1999 All rights reserved . No reprodu ction. copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publicat ion may be reproduced. copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provision s of the Copyright. Design s and Patents Act 1988. or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency . 90 Tottenham Court Road. London W1P OLP.

Any person who does any unauth orised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright . Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 Contents

List ofTables and Figures VI

Preface and Acknowledgements VB

List ofAbbreviations IX

1 The Invisible Migrants 1

2 State, Opposition and Exit 18

3 Accounts of Exit 55

4 South African Migration to Britain 86

5 Exile Networks 110

6 Exile and Identity 136

7 The Opposition in Exile 158

8 Conflict with the South African State 184

9 The End of Exile 202

10 Conclusion 235

Notes and References 242

Bibliography 256

Index 272

V List ofTables and Figures

Table 2.1 Periods in post-war South Africa 21

Figures 4.1 South African-born English and Welsh residents, 1911-91 88 4.2 Residence ofSouth African-born United Kingdom residents in 1991 88 4.3 Occupation ofSouth African-born residents of Great Britain, 1991 89 4.4 Emigration from South Africa to the United Kingdom, 1924-94 91 4.5 Immigration from South Africa to the United Kingdom, 1964-92 92

VI Preface and Acknowledgements

Many people have given me help over the last nine years in preparing this work. These include Gavin Williams, Liz Frazer and Terence Ranger at Oxford, Ade Peace at the University of Adelaide, Robert Miles of Glasgow University and Nicholas Van Hear of Oxford University. As for the money and time for writing my thesis, I am indebted to the Economic and Social Science Research Council in the United Kingdom, the Cathie Fund in Australia, Balliol College, Oxford, the Flinders University of South Australia and the Oppenheimer Institute at the University of Cape Town. I greatly value the help of two people, Hilda Bernstein and Imruh Bakari , who were generous enough to allow me to use the unedited transcripts of interviews that they had under­ taken with South African exiles. The transcripts that Hilda Bernstein created for her book, The Rift, are now housed in the library ofthe University ofthe Western Cape. They constitute a remarkable collection and deserve more attention than I have been able to give them. Imruh Bakari of Ceddo Productions kindly offered me transcripts of both his film, Blue Notes and Exiled lfJia s, and interviews done in conjunction with the film. Again, AntheaJosias very kindly provided me with access to the unedited transcripts of interviews done by Wolfie Kodesh for the Mayibuye Centre at the University of the Western Cape.I would like to thank the British Home Office, the South African Central Statistics Office, David Owen at Warwick University, and the librarians at every library that helped me (in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and South Africa). Of course, the research would have been of little merit without the help and time of many South Africans who agreed to talk to me and relate their stories. I hope that they felt that their effort was worthwhile and that I have repre­ sented their accounts fairly. Thanks to the following people: Ros Ainslie; Julius and Tamara Baker; Clarice Been; Barbara, Terry and Brendan Bell; Hilda Bernstein; Babette Brown; Gavin Cawthra; Theo Chaplin; Indira Cuthbertson; Winnie

VII Vlll Preface and Acknowledgements

and Roshan Dadoo; Vuyisile Dlova; J onty and Dax Driver; Betty du Toit; Sadie Forman; Gessie Gathercole; Stephen and Tozie Gawe; Hazel Goldreich; Blanche La Guma; Michael and Margaret Hathorn; Sir Raymond Hoffenberg; Daso, Sally and Vijan Iyer; Eileen and Roy Jaffe; Adelaide, Paul, Zoya, Tania and Nadia Joseph; Fritz and Jenny Joubert; Freda Katz; Ethel de Keyser; Gerald Kraak; Francois Krige; Martin Legassick; Colin, Margaret, Kate, Liz and J 0 Legum; Khosi Mabena; John Matshikiza; Jean Middleton; Krishna, Navi and Maya Moodley; Greg Murray; Karen and Sandra Naidoo; M.D. Naidoo; A.B. and Lauretta Ngcobo; Donald Nicholson; Tembi Nobadulla; Maria Nobrega; Miriam and YoussefOmar; Gerald O'Sullivan; Ken Parker; Pauline Podbrey; Matthew Temple; Anna-Zohra, Ruweida and Adam Tikly; Stephen Tobias; and Brian and Gavin Williams. Thanks also to Deborah Hersh and those who asked me not to reveal their names. I have made every effort to trace all interviewees so that they might check the information contained in the completed manuscript. I apologize to those people that I was unable to contact and hope that what I have written does not cause them any embarrassment. My initial interest in the sociology of migration was stimu­ lated by my parents. They too have moved enough times in their lives to have a rich appreciation ofthe pleasures and pains of migration. Their unflagging enthusiasm for and genuine interest in what I was writing was an important part of keeping me going. I hope that, at the very least, I now understand a lit­ tle more about what they and their generation went through.

Adelaide, Australia MARK ISRAEL

The author and publishers are grateful to Carfax Publishing Limited (PO Box 25, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OXI43UE, United Kingdom) and Kluwer Academic Publishers (PO Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Netherlands) for permission to reproduce material from, respectively, Israel, M. (1996) 'The "Strangest of Minorities": The Shifting Visibility of South African Post-War Migration to Britain', New Community, vol. 22, pp. 479-93; and Israel, M. (1998) 'Crimes of the State: Victimisation of South African Political Exiles in the United Kingdom', Crime, Law and Social Change, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 1-29. List ofAbbreviations

AAM Anti-Apartheid Movement ANC African National Congress ARM African Resistance Movement AZAPO Azanian People's Organisation BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BCM Black Consciousness Movement BDAF British Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa BOSS Bureau for State Security BRC British Refugee Council CCB Civil Cooperation Bureau CLAAG City of London Anti-Apartheid Group COD Congress of Democrats CODESA Convention for a Democratic South Africa COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions COSAWR Committee on South African War Resistance CPSA Communist Party of South Africa DMI Directorate of Military Intelligence ECC End Conscription Campaign FOSATU Federation of South African Trade Unions FSAW Federation of South African Women GWU Garment Workers' Union IDAF International Defence and Aid Fund 10M International Organisation for Migration MDM Mass Democratic Movement MK Umkhonto We Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) NCCR National Co-ordinating Committee for the Repatriation of South African Exiles NCL National Committee for Liberation NEUM Non-European Unity Movement NF National Forum NIC Natal Indian Congress NP National Party NUM National Union of Mineworkers NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa OAU Organisation for African Unity

IX x List ofAbbreviations

OPCS Office of Population Censuses and Surveys PAC Pan-Africanist Congress SACP South African Communist Party SACPO South African Coloured People's Organisation SACTU South African Congress ofTrade Unions SADF South African Defence Force SAlC South African Indian Congress SAlRR South African Institute of Race Relations SANROC South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee SAP South African Police SAUF South African United Front SCA Suppression of Communism Act SOMAFCO Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College, Tanzania STST Stop the Seventy Tour SWANU South-West Africa National Union SWAPO South-West African People's Organisation TIC Transvaal Indian Congress UDF United Democratic Front UKIAS United Kingdom Immigrants' Advisory Service UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees