Till death row us apart!
By Luzuko Buku
I am yet to read a book about conviction and loyalty to the struggle against
apartheid oppression so powerful and moving such asIn a Different Time (2008)
by Peter Harris. This book is a clear and perfect recollection of the history
of the liberation struggle in South Africa, viewed through the lens of a young
anti-apartheid lawyer.
It is about a six men highly trained and experienced assassination unit of
Umkonto Wesizwe (MK), the armed wing of the then banned African National
Congress(ANC). This unit entered South African in the mid 1980s and managed to
pull many missions for about two years, before it was arrested.
This was one of the few missions which reported directly to Chris Hani, Chief
of Staff of MK. One of these men commits suicide very early, another one is
arrested, then brutally tortured to death and blown into pieces whilst the
remaining four are captured by the apartheid police and then face a trial that
leads to them being on Death Row. This book is written by Peter Harris, a well
known human rights lawyer, who also represented these soldiers when they were
caught by the apartheid police. .
Facing Death Row is comrade Jabu Masina, Ting Ting Masango, Neo Potsane and
Joseph Makhura. The author takes you through the story of sacrifice, loyalty
and dedication to the struggle by outlining the manner in which the cadres
responded to their trial in an apartheid court.
The book is indeed a very good read, exciting, fascinating and educating at the
same time. Your mood changes as you turn the 320 pages, leaving you with a
shock of your life in the last page, but you only need to read the whole book
to get this shock.
The author made me, as a young South African, picture myself in the dying days
of the apartheid era. No wonder it won the Jenny & Co Best Non-fiction Book of
the Year 2008 and the Jenny & Co Best Book of the Year 2008.
In representing these soldiers Peter Harris goes in and out of Lusaka, trying
to consult with the ANC leadership, especially Chris Hani. After meeting with
Hani for the first time, he writes:
“I have often wondered to what extent a person’s status, in terms of power or
wealth, influences our perception of them. If we stripped away the trappings
and met them afresh, would we regard them as we had when we knew their status?
While we are all susceptible to the influence of high office, it is always
sickening to watch normally rational people become sycophants before powerful
politicians or the very rich. This degrades both parties. With Hani, I realize
that the power comes from the man and not the office.”
Luzuko Buku is SASCO Western Regional Chairperson( EC)
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