Young Mandela
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“Mandela began taking her to Sunday lunch at the home of Michael (Mick) Harmel…” Author interview with Barbara Harmel, 2008.
“Ruth was at the wedding in Bizana…” Author interview with Ruth Mompati, 2008.
“‘I have married trouble,’” “Mandela told his advocate friend George… ” Author interview with George Bizos, 2008.
“Your birth was a great relief to us…” Nelson Mandela letter to his daughter Zenani, March 1, 1970. Held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“Even before her father was freed, she was refereeing arguments…” Author interview with Zindzi Mandela, 2008.
“The Sisulu children knew that things changed after Evelyn and Mandela divorced…” Author interviews with Lungi Sisulu and Beryl Simelane, 2008.
“In 1958 Thembi was home from school…” Makghatho Mandela quoted in Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope, ibid.
“According to Ndileka, her father, Thembi…” Author interview with Ndileka Mandela, 2008.
“Now Mandela wrote to Evelyn, a letter composed in formal terms, in stark contrast to the letter he wrote on the same day to Winnie…” Nelson Mandela letters to Evelyn Mandela and Winnie Mandela, July 16, 1969. Held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“Ndileka’s mother, Thoko, never recovered…” Author interview with Ndileka Mandela, 2008.
“If Makgatho had, as he said, sided with his father in childhood, that did not last through the years…” Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope, ibid.
TEN
“You just can’t tear Nelson from the people…” Winnie Mandela, Part of My Soul Went with Him.
“He was mad about her, Rica remembered…” Author interview with Rica Hodgson, 2008.
“There were 144 arrests on the first day, among them Mandela himself…” Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope; Sampson, Mandela; Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom.
Mosie Moolla relates that Oliver Tambo, who was also a renowned singer…” Author interview with Mosie Moolla, 2008.
“Joe Slovo, who was among the white accused…” Joe Slovo, Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography.
“Like all children, the children of the white middle class communists did not want to stand out from their peers…” Author interviews with Toni Strasburg and Barbara Harmel, 2008.
“AnnMarie Wolpe says that, even though ‘crossing the color line’ was difficult…” Author interview with AnnMarie Wolpe, 2008.
“Ilse Fischer, the daughter of Bram and Molly Fischer, could not remember…” Author interview with Ilse Fisher, 2008.
“Paul Joseph, an Indian communist who was as alert as anyone to the casual racism of the times…” Author interview with Paul Joseph, 2008.
“Latent resentments sometimes spilled over during drink-fueled moments…” Author interview with Mac Maharaj, 2008.
“Esme said that Mandela was not then the world celebrity he later became…” Author interview with Esme Matshikiza, 2008.
“The Africanists had chosen the Transvaal ANC…” Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom skirts around the tensions with the Africanists. The story emerges with more clarity from Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope; Pogrund, How Can Man Die Better: The Life of Robert Sobukwe; Karis, Carter, and Gerhart, From Protest to Challenge, Volume 3.
The reporting of Sharpeville came from Drum journalist Humphrey Tyler…” Contact, April 2, 1960 cited in Pogrund, How Can Man Die Better: The Life of Robert Sobukwe.
“Slovo recalled that he and Mandela waited alone together for the others to arrive…” Joe Slovo, Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography.
“He had known what was coming from a tip-off the previous day…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“Most of the other key figures were among the 2,000 arrested, everyone, that is, except Wilton Mkwayi…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“Mandela wrote about that night in a letter to Amina Cachalia…” Nelson Mandela letter to Amina Cachalia, April 8, 1969, held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation
“Amina had retained a vivid picture of the end of the trial…” Author interview with Amina Cachalia, 2008.
ELEVEN
It has been written elsewhere that Mandela made some financial provision…” Mary Benson, Nelson Mandela.
“Winnie says there was no such provision…” Author interview with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 2009.
A verbatim account of Harold Macmillan’s Wind of Change speech appeared in The Times, London, February 4, 1960.
Among those at the committee meeting was Mandela’s closest colleague, Walter Sisulu, who said later…” Anthony Sampson, Mandela.
“‘This would be a hazardous life…’” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom.
“As Drum magazine reported…” cited in Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope.
“Fatima Meer remembered Mandela arriving at her home…” Author interview with Fatima Meer, 2008.
“Kathrada got lost on the way…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“Amina Cachalia remembered Mandela being with her husband…” Author interview with Amina Cachalia, 2008.
“Bob Hepple, the young white advocate…” Author interview with Bob Hepple, 2008.
“The journalist Mary Benson…” Mary Benson, A Far Cry.
TWELVE
“Like most of the young white Jewish people…” Oral history interviews with Wolfie Kodesh conducted by John Pampallis, 1989. Held at the Mayibuye archive, University of the Western Cape.
“As he told Richard Stengel…” Nelson Mandela interview with Richard Stengel. Held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“As Mandela’s reading tastes broadened…” Author interview with Mac Maharaj, 2008.
“They were, in fact, Adelaide and Paul Joseph…” Author interviews with Adelaide and Paul Joseph, 2008.
“One driver was Rica Hodgson…” Author interview with Rica Hodgson.
“Sometimes Winnie would bring their daughters…” Nelson Mandela letter to Zeni Mandela, March 1, 1970.
“Sometimes Wolfie tried to come up with diversions for Mandela…” Author interview with Amy Thornton, 2008.
“Mary Benson describes meeting Mandela…” Mary Benson, A Far Cry.
THIRTEEN
The story of the ANC’s decision to move to armed struggle is one of those episodes in history that continues to elude the most meticulous historian. At the time, secrecy was so paramount that almost no one involved can have known the full picture. The confusion became part of the story itself. There were no minutes of meetings to fall back on and most of the participants had their own perspectives and agendas and their own reasons for not disclosing everything they knew. Even now, there are those who say that the ANC President, Chief Albert Luthuli—who ignores these events completely in his memoir—was bitterly opposed to armed struggle. I do not think that was the case but the full facts will surely never be known. I have done my best to piece together a reliable account, from the following sources: Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom; Anthony Sampson, Mandela; Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope; Elinor Sisulu, Walter and Albertina: In Our Lifetime; Ismail Meer, A Fortunate Man; Joe Slovo, Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography; interviews with Wolfie Kodesh conducted by John Pampallis, 1989, held at the Mayibuye Archive, University of the Western Cape; Joe Matthews’ oral history interview 2001, archived at SADET (South African Democracy Education Trust; author interviews with Mac Maharaj, Ahmed Kathrada, Sonny Singh, Paul Joseph, Fatima Meer, Hazel Goldreich, Bob Hepple, Laloo Chiba, Mosie Moolla, Rica Hodgson, Spencer Hodgson and Winnie Mandela.
FOURTEEN
“Though Wolfie Kodesh had lived in the slums of Cape Town…” Oral history interviews with Wolfie Kodesh conducted by John Pampallis, 1989. Held at the Mayibuye Archive, University of the Western Cape.
“According to Mandela in his memoir…” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom.
“… but Wolfie says that it was in fact…” Oral history interviews with Wolfie Kodesh, ibid. Also accounts given in AN
C pamphlets, held in the personal papers of Wolfie Kodesh, held at Mayibuye Archive, University of the Western Cape.
“The party was keen to find an isolated safe house…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“Fyffe had been at the farm since 1954…” D. R. Fyffe’s letter is among the papers of Percy Yutar, prosecutor at the Rivonia Trial. When I saw them, they were held at Oppenheimer’s private Brenthurst Library but they have since been handed over to The National Archives of South Africa.
“Valeloo Percival Jelliman, then in his sixties…” Police statement of Jelliman among the papers of Percy Yutar, ibid.
“Nearly fifty years later, Ahmed Kathrada could still become agitated…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“‘Arthur was a womanizer and Hazel knew and tolerated it…’” Author interview with Denis Goldberg, 2008.
“Ironically, perhaps, when Hazel first met Arthur in the early 1950s…” Author interview with Hazel Goldreich, 2008.
“‘Arthur has gone over and joined the Israeli army…’” Author interview with Mac Maharaj, 2008.
“‘… this big, flashy, gorgeous guy…’” Author interview with Hazel Rochman, 2009.
“AnnMarie Wolpe said he was like Mandela…” Author interview with AnnMarie Wolpe, 2008.
“In 1957, Joe Slovo had visited Goldreich….” Arthur Goldreich, oral history interview, 2004. Held at Liliesleaf Farm.
“In his book Rivonia’s Children…” Glenn Frankel, Rivonia’s Children.
“‘I was greatly relieved, I must say, when it all eventually emerged…’” Arthur Goldreich, oral history interview, ibid.
“Hazel told the police she never knew…” Hazel Goldreich’s police statement among the papers of Percy Yutar, ibid.
“The Goldreichs’ domestic, Enith Kgopane…” Enith Kgopane’s police statement among the papers of Percy Yutar, ibid.
“Mandela not only cooked for Jelliman…” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“A schoolboy, George Mellis, who lived nearby…” George Mellis’ police statement is among the papers of Percy Yutar, ibid.
“Among them were what appeared to be the beginnings of a book…” Nelson Mandela’s papers found at Liliesleaf are among the papers of Percy Yutar, ibid.
“Is Liliesleaf clean? Is it clean? Mandela had…” Author interviews, Ahmed Kathrada and Bob Hepple, 2008.
“Mandela tried to explain away the document during his famous—famously long speech—at the Rivonia Trial…” An original typescript of this speech is held at the Historical Papers Library, Wits University.
“‘It was exactly like a cell…’” Arthur Goldreich, oral history interview, ibid.
“All the Goldreichs started horse-riding…” Author interview with Hazel Goldreich, 2008.
“Len Lazarus, who lived nearby…” Author interview with Len Lazarus, 2008.
“‘We knew Tata was in hiding…’” Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope.
“Arthur Goldreich gives a different account…” Arthur Goldreich, oral history interview, ibid.
FIFTEEN
“Mandela remembers sitting in the kitchen at Liliesleaf…” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom.
“Luthuli had in fact asked Rusty Bernstein to draft the speech…” Rusty Bernstein, Memory Against Forgetting.
“Karis, Carter and Gerhart quote an unnamed African academic…” Karis, Carter, Gail Gerhart, From Protest to Challenge, Volume 3.
“Many were proud of Luthuli’s prize…” Author interview with Sonny Singh, 2008.
“Wolfie Kodesh was in the thick of things, of course,…” Oral history interviews with Wolfie Kodesh conducted by John Pampallis, 1989. Held at the Mayibuye Archive, University of the Western Cape.
“Chiba, who had become politically active in the late 1950s…” Author interview with Laloo Chiba, 2008.
“Other than Joseph’s instruction from Wolfie…” Author interview with Paul Joseph, 2008.
“Jack Hodgson had been in a car once with his son Spencer…” Author interview with Spencer Hodgson.
“Jack Hodgson had been present when Ahmed Kathrada’s cell…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“AnnMarie Wolpe remembered standing on the balcony of an apartment…” Author interview with AnnMarie Wolpe, 2008.
“Joe Slovo, the MK chief of staff, Mandela’s number two…” Joe Slovo, Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography.
“Bernstein believed that the leafleting campaign…” Rusty Bernstein, Memory Against Forgetting.
“Mandela told Ahmed Kathrada, in 1990,…” Ahmed Kathrada interview with Nelson Mandela. Held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“The young woman who had typed for him at Wolfie’s flat…” Author interview with Amy Thornton, 2008.
“Sisulu was forced to defend the independence of MK…” Sisulu, Walter and Albertina: In Our Lifetime.
“Kodesh came to Chiba and told him that they were breaking up their cell unit…” Author interview with Laloo Chiba, 2008.
“Paul Joseph recalls that Reggie Vandayar was suspended…” Author interview with Paul Joseph, 2008.
SIXTEEN
“Not everyone appreciated Frene Ginwala’s role…” Author interview with Frene Ginwala, 2008.
“On the eve of his departure, Mandela had been to see Chief Luthuli…” Nelson Mandela’s original 1962 diary held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“In truth, Luthuli complained to Mandela that he had not been consulted…” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom.
The bare detail of Mandela’s African tour is contained in his 1962 diary. There are accounts in Meer’s Higher than Hope and in Long Walk to Freedom. I have been able to extract some additional detail from the original interviews, now held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which Mandela gave to his ghost-writer, Richard Stengel. Mac Maharaj was also able to provide some fresh detail and perspective. Esme Matshikiza gave me a vivid account of the “visionary” who appeared late one night in her London flat.
SEVENTEEN
“Like many others, Williams was leading a double life…” Porter and Weeks, eds., Between the Acts: Lives of Homosexual Men 1885–1967.
“Mandela and Winnie had been to dinner at Williams’ flat…” John Calderwood interview for the drama documentary The Man Who Drove with Mandela, archived at GALA, Gay And Lesbian Archive, Wits University.
“He had written a report on his trip and the impact of the PAC…” The report is among the papers of Percy Yutar, prosecutor at the Rivonia Trial, previously held at Oppenheimer’s private Brenthurst Library but now at The National Archives of South Africa
“Kathrada recalled how critical Mandela had been of the PAC…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“According to Anthony Sampson and evidence presented from the Rivonia Trial…” Sampson, Anthony, Mandela.
“Wolfie Kodesh likely was not part of the driving committee…” Interviews with Wolfie Kodesh conducted by John Pampallis, 1989. Held at the Mayibuye Archive, University of the Western Cape.
“Winnie told a reporter on June 24…” Sunday Times, South Africa, June 24, 1962, cited in Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope.
“Mandela had briefed Winnie on the politics of his trip…” Author interview with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 2008.
“He later described the meeting in a letter to Zindzi and Zenani…” Nelson Mandela letter to Zindzi and Zenani Mandela, June 23, 1969, held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“Mandela told Fatima Meer that Winnie’s eyes brimmed with tears…” Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope.
“The Goldreichs were still living at Liliesleaf in July 1962…” Author interview with Hazel Goldreich, 2008
“She said he was very aware that he was a sacrificial lamb…” Author interview with Fatima Meer, 2008.
“Alongside Mtolo at the meeting were Billy Nair…” Author interview with Sonny Singh, 2008.
“Fatima Meer recalled how they hugged…” Auth
or interview with Fatima Meer, 2008.
EIGHTEEN
“By his own admission, the culprit was Arthur Goldreich…” Arthur Goldreich oral history interview, 2004. Held at Liliesleaf Farm.
“The blame is probably not entirely theirs,…” Karis, Carter, and Gerhart, From Protest to Challenge, Volume 3.
“Ruth could be talking about the frailty of any number of her colleagues,…” Author interview with Bob Hepple, 2008.
“Along came Denis Goldberg…” Author interview with Denis Goldberg, 2008.
“Slovo attended endless meetings at Liliesleaf…” Joe Slovo, Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography.
“Kathrada had nearly left the country,…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“One day, Hepple went out to Rivonia…” Author interview with Bob Hepple, 2008.
“He was a hothead,…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
“According to Mac Maharaj, the armed struggle was only ever a means to an end for Mandela,…” Author interview with Mac Maharaj, 2008.
“Being junior and carrying little weight himself,…” Author interview with Bob Hepple, 2008; Bob Hepple, “Rivonia: The Story of Accused No. 11,” Social Dynamics, Volume 30, Issue 1, Summer 2004, pages 193–217.
“They did not dare broadcast from Liliesleaf…” Author interview with Denis Goldberg, 2008.
“He would always say he had his last drink on July 10, 1963…” Author interview with Ahmed Kathrada, 2008.
Description of the Rivonia arrests and aftermath from Author interviews with Ahmed Kathrada, Bob Hepple, Denis Goldberg and Hazel Goldreich; Arthur Goldreich, oral history interview, 2004, held at Liliesleaf Farm; Bernstein, Memory Against Forgetting; Sisulu, Walter and Albertina: In Our Lifetime; Hepple, “Rivonia: The Story of Accused No. 11,” ibid.
Description of the trial preparations from Author interviews with Denis Goldberg, Bob Hepple, Joel Joffe and George Bizos; Joffe, The State vs Nelson Mandela (Oneworld, 2007); Clingman, Bram Fischer (David Philip, 1998); Bizos, Odyssey to Freedom; Bob Hepple, “Rivonia: The Story of Accused No. 11,” ibid.