From the book: Freedom In Our Life Time by Anton Muziwakhe Lembede
We first met each other in 1984 at A. P. Mda's law office in Mafeteng, Lesotho, and we began a running conversation on South African society that continues to this day. We found that we shared an interest in Anton Lembede, so we decided to pool our resources and work on this collection. It has taken us many years to complete our task, but it has been an invaluable experience for both of us. And we have been assisted by and shared fellowship with many people along the way.
A number of people who knew Lembede have talked to us about their recollections. We wish to thank B. M. Khaketla, Victor Khomari, P. M. Gqobose, P. K. Leballo, Peter Borman, Joe Matthews, T. T. Letlaka, H. Moshoeshoe, Walter Sisulu, Albertina Sisulu, Ellen Kuzwayo, Edna Bam, Peter Raboroko, Mda Mda, Wycliffe Tsotsi, A. P. Mda, Rose Mda, Owen Mda, David Bopape, Victor Sifora, Nathaniel Masemola, and Godfrey Pitje.
We thank Colin Bundy, Tom Karis, Charles van Onselen, Karin Shapiro, Baruch Hirson, Michael West, Christopher Saunders, Peter Randall, Phil Bontier, and Patrick Furlong for commenting on our introduction to this volume. We are especially indebted to Gail Gerhart who not only commented on our introduction, but who repeatedly directed us to documents and shared transcripts from her own extensive collection of interviews. We have also benefitted from comments received at seminar presentations at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University; the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town; and the Institute for Advanced Social Research at Witwatersrand University.
We also were assisted by various people and libraries who helped us locate information and people. These were Archbishop Denis Hurley; J. B. Brain; Rica Hodgson; Albert Grundlingh; A. H. Marais; Michele Pickering and Anna Cunningham of the C.P.S.A. Archive at Witwatersrand University; the South African Institute of Race Relations; the State Library, Pretoria; the British Museum Newspaper Library.
the South African Library, Cape Town; the Durban Daily News; andthe Killie Campbell Library at the University of Natal, Durban.
We thank the Lembede family for sharing their family's historywith us. We were overwhelmed by the hospitality they showed us when we visited the Lembede homestead in 1992.. Mrs. Z. V. Cele and Patricia Lembede were particularly helpful in organizing our visit. We also want to express our thanks to Lembede's primary school teacher,Sister Bernadette Sibeko. We treasure the time we spent with her at Assist Convent near Port Shepstone; and we are most grateful to her for sharing her photograph of Lembede's class that she kept for 65years. We dedicate this book to A. P. Mda. He dictated his foreword to this volume in 1991., a year before he died. He was an inspirational friend and mentor to both of us over the years. We also wish to express our thanks to Walter Sisulu for contribut-ing the other foreword. He reminds us of the vital role that youthplay in renewing and challenging the old order, but his own example has taught us much about the virtues of experience, age, and wisdom.Finally, we wish to thank the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Howard University for financial assistance for a research trip in 1992.
Luyanda ka Msumza
Robert Edgar