CHAPTER FIVE: THE LUTHULI DETACHMENT IN POPULAR HISTORY AND MEMORY

In this chapter I examine how, the media influenced public opinion on the Wankie campaign. I have selected clippings from The Cape Argus, The Cape Times, and The Star for August and September 1967. I then analyse the place of the Luthuli Detachment in popular history and memory with specific reference to the Western Cape and the story of James April and Basil February, the first armed Coloured MK soldiers who also took part in the Wankie campaign. What, if any information did South Africans receive through their media? I examined the clippings broadly and mention the main messages, which were communicated to the public.

The Star , August 15, 1967 Tuesday, p.5

SEVEN KILLED IN RHODESIAN GUERRILLA CLASH: Terrorist toll now 23 dead

Five terrorists were killed and two African soldiers lost their lives in what is understood to have been one of the sharpest clashes yet between Rhodesian security forces and guerrillas in the past 20 months. Two White and one African soldier were wounded.

Last week the government announced that small groups of terrorists had infiltrated into Rhodesia from Zambia. Later it was revealed that Rhodesian aircraft dropped leaflets where it was believed the terrorists were.

Since then in the Zambezi Valley, one terrorist gave himself up as a result of the leaflet and on Friday another one was captured in the Wankie area.

A security officer operating against the terrorists said in an interview that the Rhodesian African troops were being used against the terrorists.

Cape Argus , Aug 15, p6

RHODESIANS CLAIM 19 TERRORISTS

Unconfirmed reports say that the Rhodesian security forces have killed 19 terrorists over the past 18 months, two of them in the Wankie area last week.

The Rhodesian Royal Air Force has plastered likely terrorist infiltration areas with pamphlets warning the terrorists to abandon their arms and give themselves up before they are killed.

A Rhodesian security officer revealed that the majority of African terrorists who infiltrated into Rhodesia were trained in Tanzania, Russia, and Communist China and to a lesser degree in Algeria and Cuba. There has been some dissension within the infiltration groups about money.

The Cape Argus , Saturday 19 August, p.1 (noon edition)

SA Police Act to stop entry of terrorists: African group ‘on the way to Transvaal'

All possible measures were being taken by the South African Police to prevent terrorists crossing the border from Rhodesia and entering Northern Transvaal.

Rhodesian security forces had clashed with gang of terrorists making their way to South Africa. Eight terrorists were shot dead.

Brigadier Venter said there was no evidence that any terrorist had crossed the Limpopo into South Africa.

The fighting was concentrated in the Wankie-Delta area. The terrorists were Algerian trained.

Cape Argus , Saturday, 19 August 1967, p.1

First eyewitness account of fighting

Zambezi bush hunt for terrorist fugitives

Aircraft, tracker dogs out

Rhodesian soldiers and police helped by tracker dogs and spotter aircraft are still scouring the thorn bush for the fugitive elements of a gang of 30 terrorists.

The hunt for survivors of two pitched battles with security forces in remote country in the Wankie-Delta area of the Zambezi Valley goes on relentlessly.

This is the first eyewitness account of the two battles in which 22 Algerian trained terrorists have been accounted for, 14 killed and eight captured.

The first clash took place in a heavily wooded valley near Inyatue, 30 miles south east of Wankie where troops of the RAR and police trackers tried to pin down the gang. After a 5 1/2 hour battle the gang slipped away under cover of darkness, leaving five men dead. Two African soldiers were also killed, two European police officers, a European army officer and an African soldier wounded.

There were no casualties among the security forces in the second battle in the same area yesterday, when eight terrorists were killed and six captured.

The rest of the gang, about 10 are believed to be in the area between Victoria Falls railway line and the Botswana border. The gang crossed the Zambezi between the Falls and Kazangula on 31 July.

It was only until 10 August that the first contact was made with security forces. A patrol arrested one man at a mission near Wankie. Last Saturday another man was arrested at Dett, but a third escaped in a stolen car. He was shot dead in a gunfight with police at Figtree, 120 miles from the Transvaal border.

The arrests sparked off intense police activity. Villagers were questioned for miles. Eventually a tracker party picked up the spoor of the terrorists. Captain Hoskins recalls how he was shot through the thigh.

The Cape Argus, 24 August p.1

3 Rhodesians die in clash

Murderous gang hunted in bush

A murderous game of hide and seek is going on in the thick thorn bush country of Matabeleland in western Rhodesia where security forces yesterday killed five more terrorists and captured one. The Rhodesian forces also had casualties: Three men were killed: a European officer, Lt Nicholas John Smith, was the first one White Rhodesian combatant to be killed by the terrorists, an African warrant officer (no name given) and another officer whose identity has not been disclosed.

‘Last week two African soldiers were killed in the first clash with the tough band of Algerian trained South African terrorists who were trying to make their way south to the Transvaal'.

It is apparent that a larger number of infiltrators have crossed the Zambezi than the first reports of a gang of 30. Nineteen terrorists have been killed in the past 11 days, and 18 including nine in Botswana have been captured.

Regular and territorial troops with tracker dogs and Royal Rhodesian Air Force spotter planes are operating in Matabeleland. Security Police officers have been working with them since it became known that the bulk of the latest batch of terrorists is of South African origin. The police were officially described as on a visit to Rhodesia.

Trains heading south from the Victoria Falls are being stopped and searched before they reach Bulawayo.

The press reports appear very brief and factual with little in-depth analysis. The guerrillas are uniformly described as “terrorists”, sometimes even in lurid terms such as “infiltrator” or “murderous gang” and so forth. The spokesmen are always SADF or Rhodesian security personnel.

What profile then, if any, did the Luthuli Detachment have in popular history and memory?

Dr Jordan asserts that as the ANC soldiers were never able to conduct guerrilla warfare within South Africa, the impact of the Wankie campaign on the South African population cannot be considered. Although the MK soldiers fought bravely within the Rhodesian borders, this news hardly reached the ears of the local South African population. 1

Among the difficulties the ANC contended with in exile was to keep the lamp of freedom burning within South Africa's walls. The population suffered severe repression as has already been mentioned. The pass laws ruled African people's lives and simple, normal movement within cities and between cities and rural areas were normally plagued by harassment.

In particular, the South African Security Police kept a close watch on known sympathisers of the liberation movement or associates of political activists. Many a time people's homes were raided and sympathisers and associates were prosecuted for being in possession of ‘banned literature'. 2

The ANC (and others) however found many ingenious ways to smuggle literature into the country. One of the most contested areas of the ideological war that took place between the South African State and the broad liberation movement revolved around historical interpretation. The war to win the hearts and minds of South Africans was an intrinsic part of this aspect of the struggle, although this discussion cannot be expanded upon here. 3

The State countered any ideas, which threatened its ideological premise by inter alia declaring books, posters, films and other materials ‘undesirable' through the enforcement of the Publications and Film Act of 1967. These repressive measures were constantly resisted and some people were charged and convicted of being in possession of ‘undesirable literature'. For the majority of the population, the government's declaring certain publications ‘undesirable' restricted their access to the ideas of the broad liberation movement.

For this reason, the role of oral history became pivotal to the ANC. Stories of heroism was constantly relayed albeit in whispered tones. The names of political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, and Walter Sisulu were kept alive in the minds of people. After the June 1976 student uprising, the names of MK combatants who died in combat with the South African security forces became strong images among the youth.

In the Western Cape in the 1980s, at the height of the student and youth struggles, Basil February and James April became strong symbols of courage and bravery. Although Basil February's name did not appear in any South African school textbook, the majority of African students, at a hostel at the University of the Western Cape, in the early 1990s, voted to name their hostel in honour of him. ‘The aura of martyrdom adds to the mystique of a person', says Dr Jordan. 4 Trevor Oosterwyk, a Coloured youth activist says he first heard of the two Luthuli Detachment members when he became involved in politics. Who were these two young men whose lives had captured the imagination of young people in South Africa and in particular the Western Cape?

James April and Basil February were the first armed Coloured MK soldiers. During the politically turbulent times of the 1960s these two young men made the brave and unusual decision to join the military wing of the ANC. Both these young men had been exposed to the richness of the intellectual debates in Coloured politics, during the 1950s and early 1960s. They were particularly influenced by the Teachers League of South Africa (TLSA) and the Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM) 5, and later the South African Coloured People's Congress (SACPO). Inspired by the ideas of amongst others, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Che Guevarra, these two young men set off on a journey to transform themselves from intellectuals to freedom fighters.

In 1967, eager to fight for the liberation of the people in South Africa, they formed part of the ANC's Luthuli Detachment, on a long march home from Zambia to South Africa. Basil February fell during this Wankie campaign. He was 24 years old. James April first served 18 months in a Botswana prison and later 15 years on Robben Island for his activity as a MK soldier.

Basil February

Basil February 6 was born on 8 August 1943, at St Monica's home in the Bo-Kaap, Cape Town. As his name suggests he was of ‘Cape Coloured' descent.

He was the second of four children. His father, Paul February worked as an administrative clerk and his mother Janet February (neé Petersen) was a midwife.

The February family was originally from Somerset West and lived in Elsies River in the northern suburbs of Cape Town before moving to Stompneus Bay on the West Coast. Terence February, the younger brother to Basil February remembers his older sibling's early interest in the plight of workers and he would always express concern about the poor working conditions of the migrant workers at a nearby food-canning factory.

In the late 1950s February returned to Cape Town to attend Trafalgar High School in District Six. He boarded with a Mrs Van der Heyden in Athlone. The latter was the mother-in-law of February's older sister, Ursula. At high school February was a keen sportsperson and in particular enjoyed playing cricket. 7 At high school his political awareness grew as he came into contact with the intellectual influences of the TLSA and the NEUM.

February matriculated in 1960 with five distinctions. Although he wished to study law at the University of Cape Town (UCT), his application was refused by the then Deputy Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Mr BJ Vorster. He subsequently enrolled at UCT's medical school. Absorbed in politics he dropped out the following year.

A number of young people including Basil participated in the discussions of the Cape Debating Society in which Kenny Jordan played a leading role. February had a close association with the Cape Peninsula Student's Union (CPSU), although he never formally joined the student structure.

The theories on guerrilla warfare and the experiences of Che Guevarra in Cuba and Mao Tse-tung in China were popularly discussed topics amongst young people. In this milieu Pallo Jordan and Basil February exchanged publications. They were both keen debaters and would spend hours discussing intellectual issues like Trotskyism.

In 1962, Basil February and James April became reacquainted at Stanley Abrahamse's house in Woodstock. From then onwards they became firm friends and were inseparable.

In 1963, February followed in the footsteps of his close friend and comrade James April and joined the South African Coloured People's Congress (SACPO). When April first joined the SACPO February scoffed at the idea of joining a ‘Coloured' organisation. This was anathema to the intellectual ideas he held. Later, February, too, was convinced that the Congress Alliance held the political future of oppressed people in its hands.

As public meetings were banned, an alternative method of communication was sought. February and April decided on a slogan-painting spree in Wynberg but were caught red-handed in the act. Their two accomplices were Neville Andrews and John Fischer. Whilst April remained in custody. February, Andrews and Fischer were charged and released on bail, due to their young age. A few weeks later, February and April were redetained.

In 1964, James April and Basil February disappeared without bidding their families and friends good bye. They feared for the safety of the people they would leave behind, and that the knowledge of their whereabouts might put family and friends into more danger with the Security Police. They secretly left Cape Town and made their way to Botswana and the training camps of the ANC in Africa and Czechoslovakia.

What happened to Basil February, the first ‘Coloured' MK guerrilla who fell?

There is no certainty about the circumstances under which Basil February died. His family learnt about his demise in a very cruel way. Spyker Van Wyk , a member of the South African Security Police, almost broke down the family's front door and announced to Mrs February, ‘Ek het net vir jou kom sê jou vark is dood', translated this means, ‘I just came to tell you, your pig is dead'. 8

According to the admittedly disputed evidence of Leonard Nkosi, the ANC-ZAPU group split into three. One was headed for northern Rhodesia and Basil February joined this group. The second group was heading for southern Rhodesia and James April was part of this group. The third group was heading for the Northern Transvaal. Basil February and James April were meant to break away from their respective groups and meet up together at a certain place in Rhodesia. They would move together to the South Western Cape where they would meet and operate their secret mission. 9

Comrade Rodgers gives a detailed account of what happened. Amongst other things he says that for a while Basil February was regarded suspiciously by the ZAPU comrades because of his fair skin. “Gradually even those who thought he was white ended up seeing him as a better white”. 10 It was also claimed in a security Situation Report that: “He [February] was sent ahead as contact to rendezvous with contacts at NH850350”. 11 Comrade Rodgers confirms the idea that February had a special mission and was therefore convinced to leave the Lupane-bound group and continue on his own. 12

Some of the guerrillas accompanied February to a train siding where he boarded the train. He kept his pistol but had relinquished his UZI machine gun to his cadres. The conductor became suspicious of a White man boarding the train at a siding. He phoned the next station to alert the police. February became uncomfortable and decided to disembark at the next station where a White detective of the Security Branch and two Africans met him. The three demanded February's identity card. The latter drew his pistol and shot at the White policeman killing him instantly. He injured both African policemen, the one seriously, as well as the stationmaster. 13

February then stole a car and at a roadblock shot and killed a White policeman and managed to reach Bulawyo where he switched cars. He was intending to travel to Salisbury (now Harare) but took a wrong turn and headed for Plumtree. He died somewhere at a roadblock between Bulawyo and Plumtree. 14

According to Shay and Vermaak, a guerrilla [February] had been trying to get to the Botswana border. He went to a farmhouse where a woman, her six-year old son and a house servant were present. The guerrilla forced the women to fetch him a drink of water but she managed to escape. The woman alerted the police and the guerrilla died in a gun battle on the farmhouse verandah. 15

James April remembers his late friend and comrade Basil February as a gifted writer, who contributed many articles to Dawn, the MK journal. The words of one of his articles are so apt for his own life.

A revolutionary dedicates himself to the cause of a better life…

A revolutionary loves life and he knows that life does not end when he himself dies. 16

James April

James April was born on 20 March 1940 in Bokmakerie, Athlone. His paternal family was from Genadendal, a rural area outside of Cape Town where the first Moravian missionary station was established. Runaway slaves and dispossessed Khoisan people found a place of refuge in Genadendal, which also offered the opportunity of literacy classes. April like February are both originally slave names. James April's maternal family was from Greyton, a place just outside of Genadendal. His maternal great grandfather, Thomas Driver was British and one of the earliest residents of Greyton.

James April's parents, Jacobus April and Wilhelmina Driver married in Cape Town in 1927. They had both moved from Genadendal and Greyton respectively. The April's lived in Bokmakirie from 1934 to 1974. 17 Bokmakire was built in the early 1930s in Athlone and was about 10 kilometers from Cape Town. It was home to a close-knit community of Coloured workers. The April's seven children were Helen, Simon, George, Frank, Monica and James. A close relationship developed between James the youngest child and his father Jacobus April who was a fervent supporter of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) and the first person to stimulate his son's interest in politics.

James April attended Alexander Sinton High School in the 1950s and was influenced by members of the TLSA, as were other Coloured youth of the time. Individuals like Ben Kies, Ali Fataar and E W Erentzen came to espouse radical views on education within the TLSA.

The TLSA became a powerful organisation with branches in remote villages of the Western Cape. At its height, the TLSA embraced more than two-fifths of all Colored teachers. 18

At 16, James April attended lectures of the Cape Flats Educational Fellowship (CFEF) and the New Era Fellowship (NEF), which opened a new intellectual world to him. Topics discussed included the nature of the class struggle in South Africa. It was at CFEF that he met a number of people including Hosea and Beatty Jaffe, Bill Bartman, Cosmo Pietersen and Dr Mureson. April spent a number of years working within the structures of the NEUM namely the Gleemoor Civic Association (GCA) and the Athlone Parent Teacher Association (PTA). At the age of 18 he became the youngest member of the GCA executive.

In 1958 the GCA supported the NEUM's boycott campaign of the separate parliamentary elections. The nationalist party government removed Coloureds from the voters roll. In its place Coloureds were incorporated under the Separate Representation Voters Roll and four Whites represented them in Parliament.

The Congress of Democrats (COD) put forward a candidate in the Western Cape with the support of the SACPO. 19 The NEUM's boycott campaign was a resounding success and as a result the Anti-CAD in the Western Cape reached its zenith and occupied an influential position amongst Coloureds.

April's intellectual development within the NEUM grew and he came to question and criticise the attitudes of the NEUM leadership, particularly in relation to the ANC leadership. After the successful mass campaigns of the 1950s, the ANC had become a mass-based organisation. The reverse was happening to the NEUM, which was becoming more elitist and more removed from the everyday struggles of ordinary people. The tide in the liberation movement was turning in favour of the ANC.

April found the very Marxist/Trotskyist ideas he had embraced through his association with the NEUM, were becoming irreconcilable with the direction of the organisation.

Between 1958 and 1959 April read for a Bachelor of Arts degree at UCT. He focused more on his political work and by 1960 had dropped his studies. In 1959 the NEUM alliance split and the Anti-CAD and the AAC followed separate paths. The split was preceded by controversy centred on point 7 of the 10 Point programme and referred to the redivision of the land. April favoured the Jaffe/Kies faction, which sounded more radical on the debate as opposed to I.B. Tabata's faction.

The 1960 State of Emergency and its repression had a profound effect on everyone in the liberation fold including April. His hometown Bokmakirie was some four kilomteres from Langa where the police shootings had took place on 21 March 1960. Residents of Langa and Nyanga went on strike to protest police brutality. By 2 April 1960, the police, army and navy had cordoned off the two townships and used brutality to break the strike.

The Anti-CAD did not assist the people of Langa and Nyanga. The SACPO did not have a following amongst Coloureds, which the Anti-CAD had. Instead the latter issued a pamphlet calling the PAC's anti-pass law campaign ‘adventurism'. 20 Splinter groups of disenchanted NEUM youth emerged in the post-Sharpeville era.

April joined the SACPO's boycott campaign against the proclamation of a republic on 31 May 1961. SACPO's hard work was rewarded when a large number of Coloured workers joined the three-day strike. In 1963, notwithstanding April's reservation of an exclusively Coloured organisation he eventually joined SACPO convinced that the Congress Alliance held the future of the liberation movement in its hands. He then worked with Alex and Blanche le Guma, Isaiah Steyn, Reggie September, Barney Desai, Achmat Osman and Cardiff Marney.

In 1964, following April and February's charges of sabotage the two decided to leave the country and join the ANC in exile. They travelled to Johannesburg and from there they crossed the Botswana border on foot with the help of a guide and without any travel documents. 21

They travelled via Zambia to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania where they stayed for a month at the ANC's Luthuli training camp. All the inmates were confined to the training camp as South African spies and agents frequented African countries especially those giving sanction and protection to South African liberation movements. 22

In June 1964, April and February went to Czechoslovakia where they attended classes at a military academy until May 1965. The calibre of the military officials at the academy was high and they were well versed in Marxist ideology. Some of the officers were excellent philosophers and political writers. February was twenty-two years old and impressed the Czechoslovakians with his knowledge of Marxist theory. 23

The period April and February spent in Czechoslovakia was a time of debate for that country's people. Everyone was discussing the ways in which socialism could be improved. From the layperson to the hierarchy of the communist party, there was recognition of a need for change. It was acknowledged by all that power had to be decentralised and Czechoslovakian society restructured. It was that era of liberal thinking, which later led to the ‘Prague Spring' of 1968. 24

Soon it was May 1965, and April and February returned to Dar-es-Salaam and went to the ANC camp in Kongwa. They were then transferred to Zambia in February 1966. A year dragged on in the Zambian training camp. The soldiers were getting restless and tired of training with no possibility of combat when the joint ANC-ZAPU operation happened. 25

After the Wankie campaign James April served 18 months in a Botswana prison along with Chris Hani and the other Luthuli Detachment members. In 1970 he returned to South Africa to continue underground work. He was arrested in Durban in 1971 and convicted on three counts of terrorism. In his statement from the dock April said:

Whenever people are in despair, they resort to violence. Violence becomes an act of hope. History shows repeated examples of people struggling and fighting for freedom. Most people in the world today are struggling for freedom, and even in the most stable societies, there are strikes and violence. You must realise that these people will not tolerate Apartheid.

The ANC is a great movement. It is the spirit of the African people. As long as you do not satisfy the aspirations of the African people you will never crush the ANC, in spite of the fascist Security Police.

When I returned to South Africa, I was tired and played out. This led to my capture. I wish to stress that it was this, and not the ingenuity of the Security Police that led to my arrest.

During my interrogation by the Security Police, I was kept in solitary confinement and beaten up. Even though I answered many of their questions, there was nothing to please them. This once again proved to me that there are fascist thugs in the Security Police.

Solutions to South Africa's problems can truly be found but only on a democratic basis, and not on a democracy imposed on a majority by a minority, which has within it a secret Broederbond fascist society.

You whites must realise that eventually you will have to stay in South Africa. You may find that even South Africa will become too small for you. You will have a rough time for the next few years. The prospects for the ANC too are grim, but time is on our side, I guarantee it. Change will take place in our favour: even if there is a world war.

The African people will be victors over the fascist South African Government. Inevitably, we shall overcome.

I did these things because I believed I was right. I am still prepared to face the consequences of my actions. 26

Both April and February received medals for bravery from Nelson Mandela, Supreme Commander of MK at the last rally held by the organisation before its dissolution in December 1993. 27

Notwithstanding the criticism levelled at the Wankie campaign, nor the fact that only one of its combatants made it to their destined South African soil, the names of Basil February and Chris Hani were to inspire generations of future youth.

The Luthuli Detachment has a special place in popular ANC history. Significantly, at the funeral of Graham Morodi, General Andrew Masondo had this to say:

The Luthuli Detachment was the foundation of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

The Luthuli Detachment was the inspiration of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

The Luthuli Detachment was the generator of Umkhonto we Sizwe. 28

Oliver Tambo, contextualised the place of the Luthuli Detachment, on the occasion of the 25 th anniversary of MK.

Let us, on this occasion, salute the Luthuli Detachment whose members lie buried in many countries, whose members languish in prison and whose members even today serve in our front ranks. If the revolution survived those dark days, it survived to a significant extent because of our Luthuli Detachment. 29

Interview with Dr Pallo Jordan, ANC Member of Parliament (Pretoria, January 1996)

Prosecutions took place under the Publications and Film Act of 1967.

For example see the works of Govan Mbeki, South Africa: The peasants revolt (London, IDAF, 1984) Edward Roux, Time longer than rope: a history of the black man's struggle for freedom in South Africa (London, University of Wisconsin Press, 1964) Nosipho Majeke, The role of the missionaries in conquest (Johannesburg, SOYA, 1952) and Mguni, Three Hundred Years (Cape Town, APDUSA, 1952)

Interview with Pallo Jordan, ANC Member of Parliament (Cape Town, January 1996)

The NEUM was launched in 1943 and consisted of the Anti-Coloured Affairs Department (CAD) and the All-African Convention (AAC). Both parties accepted the 10 Point Programme of minimum demands.

In the context of Western Cape history names such as February, September and April indicate an ancestor that was once a slave.

Marcus Solomon was a member of the Yu Chi Chan Club. He served eight years on Robben Island. Interview with Marcus Solomon (Cape Town, December 1995)

N. Van Driel, “ Basil February: the MK soldier who never made it home ” , in Cape Argus , 26 August 1997

The State vs James Edward April , Supreme Court of South Africa, Natal Provincial Division Case No. 84/71 10 –15 May 1971 p.75

See Comrade Rodgers, “Heroes of our revolution', in Dawn , (Lusaka, ANC, Souvenir issue, 1986) p. 20

SITREP s.n.20

See Comrade Rodgers, “Heroes of our revolution', in Dawn , (Lusaka, ANC, Souvenir issue, 1986) p. 20

Ibid.

Ibid.

R. Shay, & C. Vermaak, The silent war (Rhodesia, Galaxie Press, 1971) p.51

Article by Basil February, ‘A revolutionary loves life', in Dawn, (Lusaka, ANC, date unknown)

I used the original spelling. It is now spelt Bokmakierie.

Neville Alexander, ‘Non-collaboration in the Western Cape, 1943-1963', in Wilmot James and Mary Simons (eds), The angry divide (Cape Town, David Philip, 1989) p.184

Some SACPO members supported the call to boycott the elections and opposed the decision to support the COD's participation, N. Van Driel, The journey to Wankie: The story of a ‘Coloured' MK soldier, Unpublished History Honours essay, UWC, Bellville, 1991

The NEUM pamphlet was entitled, The PAC adventurism in retrospect (details unkown)

N Van Driel, 1990, Honours (History), University of the Western Cape, p.23

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Quoted in M. Benson (ed), THE SUN WILL RISE: statements from the dock by Southern African political prisoners (London, IDAF, 1981) pp.57-8. For the complete version of the speech see

The State vs James Edward April , Supreme Court of South Africa, Natal Provincial Division Case No. 84/71 10 –15 May 1971, pp. a-h

See Appendices 11 & 12 for a copy of the posthumous commendation and a poster that was issued in the Western Cape in the 1980s.

Lieutenant-General Masondo speaking at the funeral of Brigadier Alpheus Madiba, a Luthuli Detachment combatant on 16 November 1996 in Pretoria.

‘UMKHONTO WE SIZWE – BORN OF THE PEOPLE', Statement issued by O.R Tambo on behalf of the National Executive Committee of the ANC on the 25 th anniversary of the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe, December 16, 1986.

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