DOCSLIB.ORG

In the Supreme Court of South Africa. (Transvaal Provincial Division.)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In the Supreme Court of South Africa. (Transvaal Provincial Division.) IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA. (TRANSVAAL PROVINCIAL DIVISION.) In the matter of: THE STATE against 1. NELSON MANDELA, ) being members of an associa- WALTER SISULU, ) tion of persons, within DENNIS GOLDBERG, ) the purview of Section 381(7) GOVAN MBEKI, ) of Act No. 56 of 1955, as AHMED MOHAMED KATHRADA, ) amended, known as The LIONEL BERNSTEIN, and ) NATIONAL HIGH COMMAND, RAYMOND MAHLABA, ) The NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT, The NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE of The NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT and the UMKONTO WE SIZWE (The Spear of the Nation). 2. NELSON MANDELA, 3. WALTER SISULU, 4. DENNIS GOLDBERG, 5. GOVAN MBEKI, 6. AHMED MOHAMED KATHRADA, 7. LIONEL BERNSTEIN, 8. RAYMOND MAHLABA, 9. JAMES KANTOR, who in partner- ) an association of persons ship with HAROLD WOLPE, con- ) within the purview of Section ducted his profession under the ) 381 (7) of Act No. 56 of 1955, style of JAMES KANTOR AND ) as amended. PARTNERS, ) 10. JAMES KANTOR, 11. ELIAS MATSOALEDI, 12. ANDREW MLANGENI and 13. BOB ALEXANDER HEPPLE, hereinafter called the accused, are guilty of: - 2 - 1. SABOTAGE in contravention of Section 21 of Act. No. 76 of 1962, as amended, 2. Contravention of Section 11(a), read with Sections 1 and 12, of Act No. 44 of 1950, as amended, and 3. Contravention of Section 3(1)(b), read with Section 2, of Act No. 8 of 1953, as amended. In that: COUNT 1. SABOTAGE in contravention of Section 21 of Act No. 76 of 1962, as amended. During or about the period the 27th June, 1962, to the 11th July, 1963, and at Rivonia and Mountain View in the District of Johannesburg, and at Travallyn in the District of Krugersdorp, as well as at other centres within the Republic of South Africa, the accused, acting in concert and conspiring and making common purpose with VIVIAN EZRA, ARTHUR JOSEPH GOLDREICH, MICHAEL HARMEL, PERCY HODGSON, JOE SLOVO, HAROLD STRACHAN, HAROLD WOLPE, MOSES KOTANE, TENNYSON MAKIWANE, JOHN JOSEPH MARKS, JOHANNES MODISE, PHILLEMON DUMA NOKWE, JAMES JOBE RADEBE, ROBERT RESHA, OLIVER TAMBO, The COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA and The AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, engaged in a course of conduct during which they wrongfully and unlawfully (i) committed wrongful and wilful acts, some of which are detailed in Annexure A, attached hereto, and which were planned and envisaged in terms of their conspiracy, whereby they injured, damaged, destroyed, rendered useless or unserviceable, put out of action, obstructed, tampered with, polluted, contaminated or endangered - 3 - (a) the health or safety of the public; (b) the maintenance of law and order; (d) the supply or distribution at any place of light, power, fuel, foodstuffs or water, or of sanitary, medical or fire extinguishing services; (e) any postal, telephone or telegraph services or installations, or radio transmitting, broadcasting or receiving services or installations; (f) the free movement of any traffic on land; (g) any property, whether movable or immovable, of any other person or of the State, (ii) conspired with other persons to aid or procure the commission of or to commit, or incited, instigated, commanded, aided, advised, encouraged or procured other persons to commit the aforementioned wrongful and wilful acts of sabotage, preparatory to, and in facilitation of, guerrilla warfare in the Republic of South Africa, coupled with an armed invasion of, and a violent revolution in the said Republic, all of which, terms of their conspiracy, were actively planned and envisaged on a military basis and with hostile intent, in order to disturb, impair or endanger the independence and safety of the Republic of South Africa, (iii) possessed explosives, fire-arms and weapons in contravention of Act No. 28 of 1937, Act No. 26 of 1956 and Section 10 of Act No. 54 of 1949, respectively. - 4 - COUNT 2. Contravention of Section 11(a), read with Sections 1 and 12, of Act No. 44 of 1950, as amended. During or about the period the 1st July, 1961, to the 11th July, 1963, and at the place mentioned in Count 1 above, the accused acting in concert and conspiring and making common purpose with the persons and bodies mentioned in Count 1 above, engaged in a course of conduct during which they wrongfully and unlawfully performed acts, some of which are detailed in Annexure A, attached hereto, which were planned and envisaged in terms of their conspiracy and which were calculated to further the achievement of one or more or all of the objects of Communism, as defined in Section 1 of Act No. 44 of 1950, as amended. COUNT 3. Contravention of Section 3(1)(b), read with Section 2, of Act No. 8 of 1953, as amended. During or about the period the 1st July, 1961, to the 11th July, 1963, and at the place mentioned in Count 1 above, the accused, acting in concert and conspiring and making common purpose with the persons and bodies named in Count 1 above, engaged in a course of conduct during which they wrongfully and unlawfully solicited, accepted and received money from various persons or bodies of persons, both within and outside the Republic of South Africa, and gave money to various persons or bodies of persons, for the purpose of enabling or assisting the commission of offences, such as are detailed in Counts 1 and 2 above, in support of a campaign against some of the laws of the Republic of South Africa or in support of a campaign for the repeal or modification of such laws or variation or - 5 - limitation of the application or administration of such laws, such campaign being that planned and envisaged in terms of the conspiracy referred to in Counts 1 and 2 above. COLLECTION NAME: Rivonia Trial Collection COLLECTION NUMBER: AD1844 ITEM NUMBER: A1.2 Indictment in the matter of: The State against "The National High DOCUMENT: Command" LEGAL NOTICES This document is part of a private collection, the Rivonia Trial Collection, donated to Historical Papers at The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Copyright Notice: All materials on the Historical Papers website are protected by South African copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published in any format, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Disclaimer and Terms of Use: Provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein, you may download material (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal and/or educational non-commercial use only. Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, the University is not responsible for any errors or omissions and excludes any and all liability for any errors in or omissions from the information on the website or any related information on third party websites accessible from this website. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download This Report
    Military bases and camps of the liberation movement, 1961- 1990 Report Gregory F. Houston Democracy, Governance, and Service Delivery (DGSD) Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) 1 August 2013 Military bases and camps of the liberation movements, 1961-1990 PREPARED FOR AMATHOLE DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY: FUNDED BY: NATIONAL HERITAGE COUNCI Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1: Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Literature review ........................................................................................................4 Chapter 3: ANC and PAC internal camps/bases, 1960-1963 ........................................................7 Chapter 4: Freedom routes during the 1960s.............................................................................. 12 Chapter 5: ANC and PAC camps and training abroad in the 1960s ............................................ 21 Chapter 6: Freedom routes during the 1970s and 1980s ............................................................. 45 Chapter 7: ANC and PAC camps and training abroad in the 1970s and 1980s ........................... 57 Chapter 8: The ANC’s prison camps ........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Umkhonto Wesizwe)
    Spear of the Nation (Umkhonto weSizwe) SOUTH AFRICA’S LIBERATION ARMY, 1960s–1990s Janet Cherry OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS ATHENS Contents Preface ....................................7 1. Introduction ............................9 2. The turn to armed struggle, 1960–3 ........13 3. The Wankie and Sipolilo campaigns, 1967–8 ................................35 4. Struggling to get home, 1969–84...........47 5. Reaping the whirlwind, 1984–9 ............85 6. The end of armed struggle...............113 7. A sober assessment of MK ...............133 Sources and further reading ................145 Index ...................................153 1 Introduction Hailed as heroes by many South Africans, demonised as evil terrorists by others, Umkhonto weSizwe, the Spear of the Nation, is now part of history. Though the organisation no longer exists, its former members are represented by the MK Military Veterans’ Association, which still carries some political clout within the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The story of MK, as Umkhonto is widely and colloquially known in South Africa, is one of paradox and contradiction, successes and failures. A people’s army fighting a people’s war of national liberation, they never got to march triumphant into Pretoria. A small group of dedicated revolutionaries trained by the Soviet Union and its allies, they were committed to the seizure of state power, but instead found their principals engaged in negotiated settlement with the enemy as the winds of global politics shifted in 9 the late 1980s. A guerrilla army of a few thousand soldiers in exile, disciplined and well trained, many of them were never deployed in battle, and most could not ‘get home’ to engage the enemy. Though MK soldiers set off limpet mines in public places in South Africa, killing a number of innocent civilians, they refrained from laying the anti-personnel mines that killed and maimed hundreds of thousands in other late-twentieth-century wars.
    [Show full text]
  • Detention Without Trial Saturday 19 March 1 Ruth and Louis Goldman
    Detention without Trial Chapter 15 Page 1 Saturday 19 March 1 Ruth and Louis Goldman arrived today from Maritzburg to stay with us for a few days at 2 Ridsdale Avenue. After supper we started discussing the political situation, and we mentioned the rumours of another round of police raids to be made on members of the Congress movement as a result of the Anti Pass Campaign. Ruth and Louise became more and more uncomfortable as they realised that our house might be raided as well. Eventually we asked them whether they would rather stay with other friends in Durban to avoid the possibility of their being found in our house during a raid? After some discussion, they decided they would not stay with us after all; they left at about 11 p.m. in the pouring rain. Monday 21 March We heard on the radio today of the frightful massacre at Sharpeville in the Transvaal when the police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration outside the police station, protesting about the Pass Laws. There were many dead and a large number of wounded.2 1 I am starting off the beginning of this account as a daily diary 2 In Dr Sam Kleinot's obituary in October 2000, it is written that he was the surgeon in charge of Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto at the time, and that he was horrified to find that most of the dead and wounded had been shot in the back by the police. Detention without Trial Chapter 15 Page 2 Previous page: People fleeing from the police 3 Above: some of the dead 4 Right: police and a dead man 5 On several evenings during the next few days, I went to Harold Strachan's house on the Berea where several of us were busy duplicating thousands of leaflets for the Anti-Pass campaign.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Supreme Court of South Africa
    IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA. (TRANSVAAL PROVINCIAL DIVISION). RUDOLF WERNER REIN, Attorney-General for the Province of the Transvaal, who prosecutes for and on behalf of the STATE, presents and gives the court to be informed that:- 1. NELSON MANDELA, 2. WALTER SISULU, 3. DENNIS GOLDBERG, 4. GOVAN MBEKI, 5. AHMED MOHAMED KATHRADA, 6. LIONEL BERNSTEIN, 7. RAYMOND MAHLABA, 8. JAMES KANTOR, 9. ELIAS MOTSOALEDI and 10. ANDREW MLANGENI, hereinafter called the accused, are guilty of the offences of: SABOTAGE, in contravention of Section 21(1) of Act No.76 of 1962, (two counts), contravening Section 11(a), read with Sections 1 and 12, of Act No.44 of 1950, as amended, and contravening Section 3(1)(b), read with Section 2, of Act No.8 of 1953, as amended. COUNT 1. SABOTAGE in contravention of Section 21(1) of Act No.76 of 1962. In that, during the period 27th June, 1962, to 11th July, 1963, and at Rivonia, Travallyn and Mountain 2. View in the Province of the Transvaal, as well as at other places within the Republic of South Africa, the accused Nos.1 to 7 personally and by virtue of their being members of an association of persons, within the purview of section 381(7) of Act No.56 of 1955, as amended, known as the NATIONAL HIGH COMMAND, the accused No.8 personally and by virtue of his being a member of an association of persons within the purview of section 381(7) of Act No.56 of 1955, as amended, styled JAMES KANTOR AND PARTNERS under which name he conducted his profession in partnership with HAROLD WOLPE, and the accused Nos.9 and 10,
    [Show full text]
  • Boycotts and Sanctions Against South Africa: an International History, 1946-1970
    Boycotts and Sanctions against South Africa: An International History, 1946-1970 Simon Stevens Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2016 © 2016 Simon Stevens All rights reserved ABSTRACT Boycotts and Sanctions against South Africa: An International History, 1946-1970 Simon Stevens This dissertation analyzes the role of various kinds of boycotts and sanctions in the strategies and tactics of those active in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. What was unprecedented about the efforts of members of the global anti-apartheid movement was that they experimented with so many ways of severing so many forms of interaction with South Africa, and that boycotts ultimately came to be seen as such a central element of their struggle. But it was not inevitable that international boycotts would become indelibly associated with the struggle against apartheid. Calling for boycotts and sanctions was a political choice. In the years before 1959, most leading opponents of apartheid both inside and outside South Africa showed little interest in the idea of international boycotts of South Africa. This dissertation identifies the conjuncture of circumstances that caused this to change, and explains the subsequent shifts in the kinds of boycotts that opponents of apartheid prioritized. It shows that the various advocates of boycotts and sanctions expected them to contribute to ending apartheid by a range of different mechanisms, from bringing about an evolutionary change in white attitudes through promoting the desegregation of sport, to weakening the state’s ability to resist the efforts of the liberation movements to seize power through guerrilla warfare.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of the Botswana Defence Force, C. 1977-2007
    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2021-01-11 Thebe ya Sechaba: A History of the Botswana Defence Force, c. 1977-2007 Mocheregwa, Bafumiki Mocheregwa, B. (2021). Thebe ya Sechaba: A History of the Botswana Defence Force, c. 1977-2007 (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112986 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Thebe ya Sechaba: A History of the Botswana Defence Force, c. 1977 – 2007 by Bafumiki Mocheregwa A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY, 2021 © Bafumiki Mocheregwa 2021 Abstract The protracted liberation struggles of Southern Africa that began in the 1960s, particularly in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe today) eventually prompted the Botswana government to establish its own defence force in 1977. Due to budgetary constraints and relative internal political stability, Botswana had relied on a small paramilitary force called the Police Mobile Unit (PMU) since the early 1960s for all defence – related issues. By the late 1970s, the sharp escalation of the struggle for Zimbabwe resulted in cross – border incursions by Rhodesian security forces who were pursuing armed freedom fighters.
    [Show full text]
  • State Vs. Nelson Mandela Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page Ii Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page Iii
    Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page i The State vs. Nelson Mandela Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page ii Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page iii The State vs. Nelson Mandela The Trial that Changed South Africa Joel Joffe Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page iv THE STATE VS. NELSON MANDELA A Oneworld Book Published by Oneworld Publications 2007 Copyright © Joel Joffe 2007 All rights reserved Copyright under Berne Convention A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN-13: 978–1–85168–500–4 Typeset by Jayvee, Trivandrum Cover design by D. R. Ink Printed and bound by T. J. International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall Oneworld Publications 185 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7AR England www.oneworld-publications.com Learn more about Oneworld. Join our mailing list to find out about our latest titles and special offers at: www.oneworld-publications.com Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page v Dedication To Bram Fischer Q.C. who saved the lives of Nelson Mandela and his co-accused, but sacrificed his own life in the fight for freedom. All royalties after expenses will go to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Prelims.096 17/04/2007 1:37 PM Page vi Pretoria Prison Republic of South Africa 11th May 1964 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN When our trial started in October 1963, none of us had ever met Joel Joffe before. All we knew of him at the time was that he had cancelled plans to leave South Africa in order to take up our defence.
    [Show full text]
  • Missionary Nurse Dorothy Davis Cook, 1940-1972: “Mother of Swazi Nurses”
    MISSIONARY NURSE DOROTHY DAVIS COOK, 1940-1972: “MOTHER OF SWAZI NURSES” by Susan Elaine Elliott A dissertation presented to the FACULTY OF THE HAHN SCHOOL OF NURSING AND HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO A partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING April 14,2000 Dissertation Committee Patricia Roth, EdD, RN, Chair Mary Jo Clark, PhD, RN Mary Samecky, DNSc, RN Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL PAGE, DISSERTATION UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO Hahn School of Nursing and Health Sciences DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO CANDIDATE’S NAME: Susan Elaine Elliott TITLE OF DISSERTATION: Missionary Nurse Dorothy Davis Cook, 1940-1972 “Mother of Swazi Nurses” DISSERTATION COMMITTEE: Patricia Roth, EdD, RN, Chair Mary Jo Clark, PhD, RN Mary Samecky, DNSc, RN Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MISSIONARY NURSE DOROTHY DAVIS COOK, 1940-1972: “MOTHER OF SWAZI NURSES” Dramatically absent from nursing’s historical knowledge and professional recognition are the lives, roles, contributions, and legacies of Christian faith-based nurses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ministry and service of Sister Tutor Dorothy Davis Cook, Church of the Nazarene missionary nurse in the African country of Swaziland 1940 to 1972. The multi-dimensional, multi-task expanded roles manifested in her integration of Christian missionary and nurse were explored and her legacy identified. The most significant primary source for this study was Mrs. Cook herself. She was interviewed on three occasions and has provided personal documents, journals, and photographs.
    [Show full text]
  • Peter Mckenzie Brown
    102 Obituaries SB’s military career included a spell in the Natal Field Artillery, Durban North Commando (holding the rank of commandant – now lieutenant colonel) and he became second-in-command of Group 10. SB was a founder member of the South African Military History Society and helped to establish the Durban (now the KwaZulu-Natal) branch, serving as chairman for many years. Under his guidance, it grew from an informal discussion group of a handful of members to a highly regarded and internationally respected organisation. He was also a member of the South African National Society, the Gunners’ Association, the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Foundation and many other cultural bodies. When asked for advice on military history matters, the Department of Foreign Affairs referred the inquirer to SB. One of these was the late Donald R Morris, whose epic book, The Washing of the Spears, was the first comprehensive history on the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. Morris wrote, in his foreword: ‘Several debts are even greater. Mr Sighart Bourquin, Director of Bantu Administration in Durban, is an outstanding authority on Zulu history. Time and again he was able to track down information for me or to correct a point. His collection of photographic material on Zulu history is unparalleled.’ Fortunately for KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa, this material has been lodged with the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Campbell Collections for the benefit of future generations. Similar acknowledgements, often repeated in dozens of definitive works on the his- tory of KwaZulu-Natal, will be a lasting memorial to this great historian.
    [Show full text]
  • One Particular Aspect of Umkhonto We Sizwe About Which Little Has Been
    THE ORGANISATION, LEADERSHIP MID FINANCING OF UKlCHONTO lIE SIZE One partIcular aspect of Umkhonto we Sizwe about which little has been written since the beginning of the armed struggle in 1961, has been the organisation's structure, the nature of its leadership and its funding. This is not surprisIng, since revelations about how the organisation operated, who its leaders were, and who financed it, could be harmful if not destructive to its security. This is particularly true of the period between 1961 and the middle of the 1960's When the armed struggle was being conducted from within South Africa. During these early years no information was ever officially released by the ANC on any of its underground structures; their interrelations and functions or who was responsIble for what in the organisation. What is known about the organisation and leadership of Umkhonto and the underground during these early years, is largely based. on information revealed during the numerous court cases that involved the members or alleged members of the underground. ANC and the SACP and the research that has been undertaken by various scholars on the SUbject. Edward Felt was the first scholar to make extensive use of the abovementioned court material for research into the hIstory of the ANC, the SACP and Umkhonto between 1960 and 196!., As a result of the work done by him and the information contained in other sources such as Bruno Mtolo's book on Umkhonto a reasonably clear picture can be formed of the organisatlonal structure of Umkhonto and its leadership during this period.
    [Show full text]
  • S O U T H a F R I C a Bulletin No
    S O U T H A F R I C A BULLETIN NO. 5 PUBLISHER: AMERICAN COMMITTFF ON Al;R/C\ . .211 FAST 43 ST., NEW YORK /0017 EDITOR: MARY-LOU/SF HOOl'ER MARCIi 1'>6(, "BRAAM" FISCHER ON TRIAL ment, -richly earned through years of uncompromising struggle for justice, is about to get its reward. His Probably the most famous South African anti­ name has been struck from the roll of advocates, by apartheid lawyer, Abram Louis Fischer, is presently order of the Supreme Court. And for the "sabotage" in Pretoria jail awaiting trial, having eluded a police charge against him, death could be the penalty. manhunt for ten months. Braam Fischer 1s an Afrikaner of distinguished family, son of a Judge President of the Orange Free State. Former chair­ man of the Bar Council, he has devoted his life to the fight for equality and freedom for all, joining the South African Communist Party in the 1930s as the only non-racial party then in existence. -T-J;re count­ less political cases defended by Braam f ischer - THE FACE OF often with little or no fee - include the marathon POVERTY Treason Trial; he led the brilliant but unsuccessful (John Goldblatt) defense of Nelson Mandela and his colleagues in the 1964 Rivonia Trial. Now he himself is accused of "sabotage", allegedly having conspired with them, and charged with "Communism" and "fraud" - grow­ ing out of his months in disguise, while reportedly leading the "freedom underground". LIBERAL GROUPS SMEARED The Fischer trial, it seems, will not stop at punishing one of South Africa's most devoted sons, APARTHEID RUNS AMOK but will also attempt to smear and discredit three of its fin est organizations - scholarly, charitable, reli­ "The sound of children crying with hunger is a gious.
    [Show full text]
  • Make a Skyf Man by Harold Strachan
    Make a Skyf Man! By Harold Strachan (Jacana) 22 January 2005 A nation that locks up some of its finest minds is at least assured of an impressive body of prison literature. To this body Make a Skyf, Man , Harold Strachan’s second book, makes a distinguished contribution, worthy of a place with Bosman’s Cold Stone Jug , Hugh Lewin’s Bandiet and Breyten Beytenbach’s True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist . Make a Skyf is described by its publisher as a sequel to Strachan’s first book, Way Up, Way Out . This is true in so far as that book dealt with the protagonist’s youth and early manhood and this one covers his later manhood and political career, including four years in prison; but this book is a somewhat more pungent thing altogether than the genial, affectionate earlier one. That certainly had its acerbities; but here they are more central, more deeply felt. This book is also potentially more controversial than the first. Strachan was a member of the Communist party and of Umkhonto we Sizwe, but he has very little patience with the Marxist “Theorists” like Jack Hodgson who spout Theory at the drop of a Molotov Cocktail. Based in Durban, Strachan clearly resented Hodgson’s role as emissary of what Strachan enjoys calling the Vatican, i.e. ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, with Joe Slovo, or Yoshke, as the Pope. If this had purported to be an objective, dispassionate account of the struggle one would have been moved to cry foul; but Strachan does not promise objectivity and certainly does not deliver it.
    [Show full text]