Conversations with Myself (36 page)

Map of Africa,
c.
1962

Map showing the route taken by Nelson Mandela during his trip to Africa and London, UK, in 1962. He visited twelve African states, during which time he met with political leaders in an effort to elicit political and economic support for MK and underwent military training in Morocco and Ethiopia. He also spent two weeks in London with Oliver Tambo.

Abdurahman, Abdullah

(1872–1940). Medical doctor, politician and anti-apartheid activist. Father of Cissie Gool. First black person to be elected to the Cape Town City Council and the Cape Provincial Council. President of the African Political Organisation (APO). Posthumously awarded the Order for Meritorious Service: Class 1 (Gold) by Mandela in 1999, for his work against racial oppression.

African National Congress (ANC)

Established as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) in 1912. Renamed African National Congress (ANC) in 1923. Following the Sharpeville Massacre in March 1960, the ANC was banned by the South African government and went underground until the ban was lifted in 1990. Its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), was established in 1961, with Mandela as commander-in-chief. The ANC became South Africa’s governing party after the nation’s first democratic elections on 27 April 1994.

African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL)

Established in 1948. Actively involved in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the anti-pass campaigns.

African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL)

Founded in 1944 by Nelson Mandela, Anton Lembede, Walter Sisulu, A P Mda and Oliver Tambo as a reaction to the ANC’s more conservative outlook. Its activities included civil disobedience and strikes in protest against the apartheid system. Many members left and formed the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in 1959. Banned between 1960 and 1990.

African People’s Democratic Union of Southern Africa (APDUSA)

Formed in 1961 to champion the rights of the oppressed rural peasant classes and urban working classes and to politically educate them. Affiliated to the Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM) and the All-African Convention (AAC). Led by Tabata Isaac Bangani.

Alexander, Dr Neville

(1936–). Academic, political and anti-apartheid activist. Founder of the National Liberation Front (NLF) against the apartheid government. Convicted of sabotage in 1962 and imprisoned on Robben Island for ten years. Awarded the Lingua Pax Prize for his contribution to the promotion of multilingualism in post-apartheid South Africa, 2008.

Asvat, Dr Zainab

(1923–). Anti-apartheid activist. Imprisoned for her participation in the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign. One of the first women to be elected to the executive of the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) in 1946. She was banned for five years in 1963, and when it expired she went to London on an exit permit. Her father, Ebrahim Asvat, participated in Gandhi’s passive resistance campaigns. He was elected chairperson of the Transvaal British Indian Association in 1918.

Autshumao (spelt by Mandela as Autshumayo)

(d. 1663). Khoikhoi leader. Learnt English and Dutch and worked as an interpreter during the Dutch settlement of the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. He and two of his followers were banished by Jan van Riebeeck to Robben Island in 1658 after waging war with the Dutch settlers. He was one of the first people to be imprisoned on Robben Island and the only person to ever successfully escape.

Barnard, Dr Lukas (Niël)

(1949–). Academic. Professor of political studies at the University of the Orange Free State, 1978. Head of South Africa’s Intelligence Service, 1980–92. Held clandestine meetings with Mandela in prison in preparation for his subsequent release and rise to political power. This included facilitating meetings between Mandela and Presidents P W Botha and, later, F W de Klerk. Director-general Western Cape Provincial Administration, 1996–2001.

Bernstein (née Schwarz), Hilda

(1915–2006). Author, artist and anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist. City Councillor in Johannesburg from 1943 to 1946. The only communist to be elected to public office, on a ‘whites only’ vote. Married Lionel (Rusty) Bernstein. Founding member of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW), the first nonracial women’s organisation in South Africa, in 1956, and the South African Peace Council. Member of the ANC’s Women’s League. Following the Rivonia Trial in 1964, she escaped on foot to Botswana, before relocating to London, UK. Awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver in 2004 for her contribution to the attainment of gender equality and a free and democratic society in South Africa.

Bernstein, Lionel (Rusty)

(1920–2002). Architect and anti-apartheid activist. Leading member of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). Founding member and leader of the Congress of Democrats (COD), one of the participating organisations in the 1955 Congress of the People at which the Freedom Charter was adopted. Defendant in the 1956 Treason Trial. After being acquitted in the Rivonia Trial he and his wife, Hilda, went into exile (they crossed into neighbouring Botswana on foot). He remained a leading member of the ANC, whilst practising as an architect.

Bizos, George

(1928–). Greek-born human rights lawyer. Member and co-founder of the National Council of Lawyers for Human Rights. Committee member of the ANC’s Legal and Constitutional Committee. Legal advisor for Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA). Defence lawyer in the Rivonia Trial. Also acted for high-profile anti-apartheid activists, including the families of Steve Biko, Chris Hani and the Cradock Four in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Appointed by Mandela to South Africa’s Judicial Services Commission.

Black Consciousness Movement

Anti-apartheid movement targeting black youth and workers. Promoted pride in black identity. It emerged in the mid 1960s as a reaction to the political vacuum created by the continued banning and imprisonment of members of the ANC and the PAC. Had its origins in the South African Students Organisation (SASO) led by Steve Biko, who founded the movement.

Botha, Pieter Willem (P W)

(1916–2006). Prime minister of South Africa, 1978–84. First executive state president, 1984–89. Leader of South Africa’s National Party. Advocate of the apartheid system. In 1985, Mandela rejected Botha’s offer to release him on the condition that he rejected violence. Botha refused to testify at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1998 about apartheid crimes.

Brutus, Dennis

(1924–2009). Educator and anti-apartheid and human rights activist. Co-founder and president of the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC), which persuaded Olympic committees from other countries to suspend South Africa from the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games, and to subsequently expel the country from the Olympic movement in 1970. He was sentenced to eighteen months’ hard labour in 1963 for breaking his banning order. Part of his sentence was spent on Robben Island. He fled South Africa in 1966.

Buthelezi, Mangosuthu

(1928–). South African politician and Zulu prince. Member of the ANC until the relationship deteriorated in 1979. Founder and president of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in 1975. Chief Minister of KwaZulu. Appointed South African Minister of Home Affairs, 1994–2004, and acted as president several times during Mandela’s presidency.

Cachalia (née Asvat), Amina

(1930–). Anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist. Member of the ANC and TIC. Co-founder and treasurer of FEDSAW. Founder of Women’s Progressive Union. Married

Yusuf Cachalia. Banning orders from 1963 to 1978 prevented her from attending social gatherings or political meetings, entering any place of education or publishing house and leaving the magisterial district of Johannesburg.

Cachalia, Ismail Ahmad (Maulvi)

(1908–2003). Anti-apartheid activist. Leading member of the SAIC, TIC and ANC. Key participant in the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign. Deputy volunteer-in-chief to Mandela in the 1952 Defiance Campaign, and amongst the twenty accused in the Defiance Campaign Trial. Went to the Bandung Conference in 1955 with Moses Kotane. Fled to Botswana in 1964 and set up ANC offices in New Delhi. His father Ahmad Mohamed Cachalia was a close associate of Gandhi’s and was chairperson of the Transvaal British Indian Association, 1908–18.

Cachalia, Yusuf

(1915–95). Political activist. Secretary of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC). Brother of Maulvi Cachalia. Husband of Amina Cachalia. Served a nine-month suspended sentence following his involvement in the 1952 Defiance Campaign. Banned continuously from 1953.

Chiba, Isu (Laloo)

(1930–). Anti-apartheid activist. Member of the SACP and TIC. Platoon commander of MK. Tortured by the South African security police causing him to lose the hearing in one of his ears. Member of MK’s Second National High Command, for which he was sentenced to eighteen years’ imprisonment, which he served on Robben Island. Assisted in transcribing Mandela’s autobiographical manuscript in prison. Released in 1982. Member of the United Democratic Front (UDF). MP, 1994–2004. Received the Order of Luthuli in Silver in 2004 for his lifetime contribution to the struggle for a nonracial, non-sexist, just and democratic South Africa.

Coetsee, Hendrik (Kobie)

(1931–2000). South African politician, lawyer, administrator and negotiator. Deputy Minister for Defence and National Intelligence, 1978. Minister of Justice, 1980. Held meetings with Mandela from 1985 about creating the conditions for talks between the National Party and the ANC. Elected President of the Senate following South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.

Communist Party South Africa (CPSA)

(
See
South African Communist Party.)

Congress Alliance

Established in the 1950s and made up of the ANC, SAIC, COD and the South African Coloured People’s Organisation (later the CPC). When SACTU was established in 1955, it became the fifth member of the Alliance. It was instrumental in organising the Congress of the People and mobilising clauses for inclusion in the Freedom Charter.

Congress of the People

The Congress of the People was the culmination of a year-long campaign where members of the Congress Alliance visited homes across the length and breadth of South Africa recording people’s demands for a free South Africa, which were included in the Freedom Charter. Held 25–26 June 1955 in Kliptown, Johannesburg, it was attended by 3,000 delegates. The Freedom Charter was adopted on the second day of the Congress.

Cooper, Sathasivan (Saths)

(1950–). Psychologist and anti-apartheid activist. Proponent of Black Consciousness. Secretary of the Black People’s Convention, 1972. Banned and restricted to the Durban magisterial district for five years in 1973. Convicted for assaulting a policeman during a strike in 1973. Sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment in 1974 for helping to organise rallies that celebrated the victory of the Mozambican Liberation Movement. He was released on 20 December 1982. Elected vice-president of the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO) in 1983.

Dadoo, Dr Yusuf

(1909–83). Medical doctor, anti-apartheid activist and orator. President of SAIC. Deputy to Oliver Tambo on the Revolutionary Council of MK. Chairman of the SACP, 1972–1983. Leading member of the ANC. First jailed in 1940 for anti-war activities, and then for six months during the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign. Was among the twenty accused in the 1952 Defiance Campaign Trial. He went underground during the 1960 State of Emergency, and into exile to escape arrest. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1955 at the Congress of the People.

Dalindyebo, Chief Jongintaba

(d. 1942). Chief and regent of the Thembu people. Became Mandela’s guardian following his father’s death. Mandela went to live with him at The Great Place at Mqhekezweni when he was nine years old.

Dalindyebo, King Sabata Jonguhlanga

(1928–1986). Paramount chief of the Transkei, 1954–80. Leader of the Democratic Progressive Party. Nephew of Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. Fled to Zambia in 1980 after being convicted of violating the dignity of President Matanzima of the Transkei.

Daniels, Edward (Eddie; Mandela calls him ‘Danie’)

(1928–). Political activist. Member of the Liberal Party of South Africa. Member of the African Resistance Movement which sabotaged non-human targets as a statement against the government. Served a fifteen-year sentence in Robben Island Prison where he was held in B section with Mandela. He was banned immediately after his release in 1979. Received the Order of Luthuli in Silver from the South African government in 2005.

de Klerk, Frederik Willem (F W)

(1936–). Lawyer. President of South Africa, 1989–94. Leader of the National Party, 1989–97. In February 1990 he unbanned the ANC and other organisations and released Mandela from prison. Deputy president with Thabo Mbeki under Mandela from 1994 to 1996. Leader of New National Party, 1997. Awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in 1992 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with Nelson Mandela, for his role in the peaceful end to apartheid.

Defiance Campaign Against Unjust Laws

Initiated by the ANC in December 1951, and launched with the SAIC on 26 June 1952, against six apartheid laws. The Campaign involved individuals breaking racist laws such as entering premises reserved for ‘whites only’, breaking curfews and courting arrest. Mandela was appointed national volunteer-in-chief and Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. Over 8,500 volunteers were imprisoned for their participation in the Defiance Campaign.

Dube, John Langalibalele

(1871–1946). Educator, publisher, editor, writer and political activist. First president general of the SANNC (renamed as the ANC in 1923) established in 1912. Established the Zulu Christian Industrial School at Ohlange. Established the first Zulu/English newspaper
Ilanga lase Natal
(
Sun of Natal
) in 1904. Opponent of the 1913 Land Act. Member of the executive of the AAC, 1935. Mandela voted at the Ohlange school in 1994 for the first time in his life, and then visited Dube’s grave to report that South Africa was now free.