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The sacrifice to end South African apartheid - for what?

By Bruce Haigh - posted Friday, 21 September 2007


This contact and funding was done against a background of hostility by the Australian Ambassador towards Black South Africans and indifference on the part of other political officers at the embassy with the exception of my predecessor, Di Johnstone.

Steve Biko’s funeral was held in King Williams Town on September 25. The Biko family and Donald and Wendy Woods insisted that I should be with them during the service.

It was held at a local sports stadium with over 20,000 mourners and hundreds of armed police. Black anger was palpable. Representatives from all the major embassies attended. Their new focus on Black affairs dates from the funeral. The world was outraged all the more so when the Minister for Police, James Kruger, told a ruling National Party meeting that Biko’s death left him cold.

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On October 19 the South African Government banned 18 organisations: 17 were Black Consciousness organisations and the last was the Christian Institute, which because of its humanitarian activities on behalf of Blacks was regarded by the SA Government as a communist organisation.

In October Donald Woods received an invitation to attend a conference of the Africa - America Institute in the USA. During discussion about this trip Donald agreed that it would be a good idea to fly to the USA via Australia where he could outline what was happening in South Africa. Through my contacts and with the help of Di, speaking engagements were arranged in Australia.

I met Donald as he passed through Johannesburg on his way to Australia. I took him to the Australian Trade Office to get a visa and then took him back to the airport. As soon as I left him he was picked up by the police and driven back to East London, a journey of some 1,000km.

Donald was banned: he could only meet with one person at a time which meant that he could no longer work as a newspaper editor.

Two weeks later I drove to East London to see how he was fairing and to float the idea of my helping him and his family leave South Africa. Donald said that he had already thought about this and had discussed the pros and cons with Wendy. Donald said he was writing a book on Biko and issues surrounding publication would determine if and when he would leave.

An inquest into the death of Steve Biko was set for the November 14, 1977 in Pretoria. Because of his banning order Donald could not attend but Wendy could and she stayed at my house in Pretoria for the two-week inquest. It gave her the opportunity to further discuss plans to leave the country.

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As we expected the inquest found that Biko’s injuries were the result of a scuffle and that, “the death cannot be attributed to any act or omission amounting to a criminal offence on the part of any person”.

In the event I helped Donald leave South Africa at the end of 1977. This was set out in Donald’s later book Asking For Trouble. As I was still employed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Donald gave me the pseudonym of Robin Walker. A film was also made of these events by Richard Attenborough called Cry Freedom in which I was portrayed by John Hargreaves as a journalist for the same reason listed above.

For the next two years that I was in South Africa the police state went into lockdown and Black opposition politics became even more difficult and fraught with danger.

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About the Author

Bruce Haigh is a political commentator and retired diplomat who served in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1972-73 and 1986-88, and in South Africa from 1976-1979

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