Untold stories of political activists executed during apartheid

DEATH IN PRETORIA: UNTOLD STORIES OF POLITICAL ACTIVISTS EXECUTED DURING APARTHEID AUTHOR: Peter Auf der Heyde

- STAFF REPORTER

BETWEEN 1960 and 1989, over 130 individuals were executed in South Africa for politically motivated crimes. In Death in Pretoria, Peter Auf der Heyde brings their stories to light through interviews with fellow activists, families, legal professionals, prison warders, and others connected to the condemned. This work shifts focus from prominent leaders to the unsung foot soldiers of the Struggle, offering a vital contribution to South African history.

Peter Auf der Heyde is an award-winning South African writer and journalist. He teaches journalism and creative non-fiction writing at Southampton Solent University and is a senior research associate at the Centre for Sociological Research and Practice at the University of Johannesburg. He has researched judicial injustices during apartheid for over twenty years.

Here is an extract from the book.

IN MID-1984 the MK regional chief of security was driving two trained MK cadres from the Swazi capital, Mbabane, to the South African border. The two, Sipho Xulu and Lucky Payi, had earlier been given their instructions: they were to set up communication channels between ANC operatives already in South Africa; they were to recruit and train more people; and they were to take action against people causing harm to the ANC.

During the journey the regional chief, who was known by his MK pseudonym Raymond, added another instruction, ordering the two to kill Ben Langa, an ANC member who lived in Pietermaritzburg, and who was, according to Raymond, an agent of the apartheid state. Xulu, who had attained the rank of commander, questioned the instruction, despite having taken an oath to obey orders from his MK superiors. He had in fact been recruited into the ANC by Langa, who had also arranged for him to leave South Africa and join the ANC in Swaziland in early 1983. Xulu knew Langa well, and considered him a comrade; he did not want to believe that he had turned on the ANC.