I FELT somehow that this was a book that was going to bore me to sleep by recounting the military exploits of author Welile Bottoman, otherwise known by his military name Webster Gcaleka.
Title: The Making of an MK Cadre
Author: Wonga Welile Bottoman
Publisher: LiNc Publishers
I was wrong to reach such a hasty conclusion when I got the book on my desk.
It is more than the story of one man's experience and role in the liberation struggle as part of the ANC's military wing Umkonto we Sizwe (MK) in the 1980s.
Yes, it takes a personal story of how this comrade was recruited in Diepkloof, Soweto, in 1980, having been active in the student uprisings of 1976, and ended up in safe houses in Swaziland and Mozambique and receiving military training in Angola.
But the book could easily represent a collective take of more than just one person's perspective and experience of the struggle for liberation.
It could also represent the collective black experience during apartheid, the experience of other MK fighters and, quite interestingly, even those of the current crop of ANC leaders who took part in the struggle.
The author gives you a blow-by-blow account of township life during the troubled 1970s in Diepkloof, where he grew up, often defined by territorial gang battles and harassment by police, driving him to skip the country and take up arms to fight for freedom.
It also gives details of incidents in MK camps involving those who were recruited to fight the apartheid regime.
Told in clear simple English, the book also digs deep into the philosophical underpinnings that defined why and how the struggle was waged.
Some incidents involving this cadre in camps in Mozambique, Swaziland and Angola need to be revisited since they tell a story about the struggle and what was going on there.
For example, the author describes a near mutiny at the ANC safe house in Matola, Mozambique, and how the commanders did not take kindly to the petition.
He also speaks of how the apartheid army gained access to the house and attacked the recruits.
They came disguised as Frelimo soldiers, having darkened their faces.
The whole group of recruits could have been wiped out completely had it not been for the vigilance of one curious trained cadre, who disturbed this mission by shooting at the soldiers just before they fooled the recruits into believing they were the friendly Frelimo.
More than just a tale of liberation struggle
I FELT somehow that this was a book that was going to bore me to sleep by recounting the military exploits of author Welile Bottoman, otherwise known by his military name Webster Gcaleka.
Title: The Making of an MK Cadre
Author: Wonga Welile Bottoman
Publisher: LiNc Publishers
I was wrong to reach such a hasty conclusion when I got the book on my desk.
It is more than the story of one man's experience and role in the liberation struggle as part of the ANC's military wing Umkonto we Sizwe (MK) in the 1980s.
Yes, it takes a personal story of how this comrade was recruited in Diepkloof, Soweto, in 1980, having been active in the student uprisings of 1976, and ended up in safe houses in Swaziland and Mozambique and receiving military training in Angola.
But the book could easily represent a collective take of more than just one person's perspective and experience of the struggle for liberation.
It could also represent the collective black experience during apartheid, the experience of other MK fighters and, quite interestingly, even those of the current crop of ANC leaders who took part in the struggle.
The author gives you a blow-by-blow account of township life during the troubled 1970s in Diepkloof, where he grew up, often defined by territorial gang battles and harassment by police, driving him to skip the country and take up arms to fight for freedom.
It also gives details of incidents in MK camps involving those who were recruited to fight the apartheid regime.
Told in clear simple English, the book also digs deep into the philosophical underpinnings that defined why and how the struggle was waged.
Some incidents involving this cadre in camps in Mozambique, Swaziland and Angola need to be revisited since they tell a story about the struggle and what was going on there.
For example, the author describes a near mutiny at the ANC safe house in Matola, Mozambique, and how the commanders did not take kindly to the petition.
He also speaks of how the apartheid army gained access to the house and attacked the recruits.
They came disguised as Frelimo soldiers, having darkened their faces.
The whole group of recruits could have been wiped out completely had it not been for the vigilance of one curious trained cadre, who disturbed this mission by shooting at the soldiers just before they fooled the recruits into believing they were the friendly Frelimo.
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