Let’s not distort history
Honour our Struggle martyrs with the truth, and don’t exploit their great sacrifices
“WE MUST practise revolutionary democracy in every aspect of our party life. Every responsible member must have the courage of his responsibilities, exacting from others a proper respect for his work and properly respecting the work of others… Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told… Claim no easy victories.” – Amilcar Cabral
We dare not trade on the sacrifices of our martyrs to glorify our egos. Unfortunately, such a gross injustice has transpired with the publication From Marabastad to Mogadishu by Hassen Ebrahim.
The story of one MK cell, the Ahmed Timol Unit (ATU), named after the murdered martyr, in relation to the author’s role in the ANC underground and his connection with the unit, features prominently in the publication.
The ATU, known as one of the most successful units in MK history, comprised Prakash Napier, commander, Yusuf Akhalwaya and myself, political commissar.
Prakash and I trained in Angola and Akhalwaya in the former Soviet Union. Our skills, expertise and experience in urban guerrilla warfare ensured successful execution of 33 acts of sabotage – until the night my comrades were killed.
Napier and Akhalwaya were killed at Joburg’s Park Station on December 11, 1989. A limpet mine strapped to the body of Napier detonated prematurely.
The book’s author, our contact in Botswana, gets many facts wrong: he inflates his role and there are parts that are pure distortion. Worse, he fabricates the events leading to the deaths of my comrades. This, despite his access to TRC records from my submission to it in 1997.
Communications over two years to ensure accurate portrayal and representation of my unit to the writer included our Joburg contact, Neeshan Balton, chief executive of the Kathrada Foundation.
I raised concerns and requested perusal of content pertaining to my unit, but was ignored.
Many reported seeing the content prior to publication. Yet, a living witness who, like my fallen comrades contributed equally to the military accomplishment of the ATU, was denied access to content pertaining to my involvement, activities and my own history.
I was deeply concerned when my last note to Ebrahim in September last year referencing the historical distortion of the ATU by Balton was disregarded.
He submitted a nomination for national awards for the ATU to the Office of the Presidency.
In his motivation, Balton indicated the deaths of Yusuf and Prakash “took place after retrieving a limpet mine to avoid loss of life”. I urged Balton to correct this error.
Balton and Ebrahim propagate a reasoning that is fallacious and serves to undermine the history and integrity of the contributions of the ATU.
In his publication, the author writes “…the intended target was the Hillbrow police barracks. It was a Monday night and after placing their limpet mine, they thought better of it because there was a risk of life being lost. The unit then decided to recover the limpet mine and proceed to the secondary target, which was at Park Station…”
The author lacks investigation into his claim the device didn’t explode prematurely, but was the result of the unit’s decision to relocate a primed limpet from the Hillbrow police barracks to Park Station.
As the sole surviving member of my unit, I would be failing in the memory and legacy of my fallen comrades without setting the record straight.
At no point did we make a decision to retrieve or relocate a primed limpet. This was in contradiction of MK protocol.
That tragic night, as in operations before, our strategy to create anarchy and mayhem for the enemy was simultaneous explosions of two limpets in Joburg. The first was the police barracks. Park Station was chosen to provide impetus to the 1989 Railway Worker Strike, where people were killed and employees sacked.
We first proceeded towards Hillbrow police barracks where I placed the limpet, while Yusuf stood watch.
We advanced to Park Station. Final reconnaissance undertaken, we positioned to carry out our operation. This time, the limpet was strapped on Prakash. A few metres ahead of him was Yusuf, and I was a couple of metres behind Prakash, as rear look out.
My comrades entered the station subway while I was still coming up the subway stairs when the blast occurred. Shortly afterwards, the limpet at the barracks detonated.
There was never any warning from the writer that heat or body temperature could hasten the timing device’s action, which may well have been the cause of the premature explosion.
A few days after the tragedy, I briefed Balton and Ebrahim, pointing to faultiness of the explosive device and not any miscalculation or reckless handling of the device.
The author’s distorted account discredits our experience, diminishes the legacy of the ATU and twists the sacrifice of Yusuf and Prakash to suit an agenda best known only to him.