Book Review

1 As a non-political pacifist I found If We Must Die by Stanley Manong extremely interesting. It draws back the curtain on a time in the history of our country about which many South Africans know very little even to this day 20 years into democracy. The thorough research and meticulous detailing of resources gives Manong s work a stamp of authenticity which cannot be challenged and it is obvious that an enormous amount of time and energy has gone into the telling of his story. His recall and personal knowledge of the many people mentioned, whether colleagues he respected or not, is based not only on memory but is backed up in comprehensive notes at the end of the in an easy style with the occasional touch of idiomatic whimsy and an injection of humour that at times lightens the seriousness of the subject matter, I found the story of Manong s life as an ANC activist, a fascinating was struck in particular by the courage, honesty and integrity he projects as he leads the reader along his journey.

2 After reading his autobiography, I feel I must express my sincerest admiration and gratitude for the part Stanley Manong has played in ensuring our beloved country, with all its complexities, will hopefully in the not too distant future, be a home for all South StreetRetired HeadmasterRichard Street retired as an educationist, after 40 years in the game as Headmaster of Bergvliet Primary in Cape Town. He was previously Headmaster of Pinehurst Primary and Deputy Principal of Sacs Junior where he and his wife also ran the School Hostel. His early years of teaching were spent at CBC Pretoria and St.

3 Agnes Primary in ReviewStanley Manong s book gives a deep insight into the complexities of South African life in exile during Apartheid. A talented student from Victoria West, the author left his home country in 1976 to join the ANC. He soon played a role in organising underground activities of its military wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). To me, an European supporter of the liberation struggle, the book s analysis of ideological controversies and differences between MK and ZAPU (Zimbabwean African Peoples Union) in Zimbabwe on the nature of legitimate political and military targets, is of extreme interest.

4 At the same time, Manong s detailed account of corruption, malfunctioning and elitism within the organisation, let alone conditions in certain camps, is appalling and will, I am sure, give way to controversies. Conditions improved due to the ANC s Kabwe Conference in which Manong participated. Actively supported by President Oliver Tambo, he was able to further his studies in Hungary. But soon another difficult situation emerged as in 1989, socialism in Eastern Europe began to crumble and the new political leaders and media largely renounced anti-imperialist solidarity. To my knowledge, this is the first account of how the system change in Eastern Europe impacted on the local (Southern) African Manong s life story goes beyond an individual biography but touches upon many unresolved topics in the history of South Africa s liberation struggle: the burden of exile, leadership ethics, effectiveness of the armed struggle and the role of international solidarity.

5 There is no doubt regarding the author s ongoing political alignment. His frank approach however, supported by an incredible number of names and facts, will be relieving to some readers and disturbing to others. Hopefully, this process will finally contribute to truth and if possible facilitate reconciliation. Dr Walter Sauer, Former Chairperson of the Austrian Anti-Apartheid Movement;Professor at the University of Vienna; andRetired Head of International Department,Austrian Trade Union ReviewIF WE MUST DIEAn autobiography of a former commanderof uMkhonto we MANONGNKULULEKO PUBLISHERSAll rights reserved.

6 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher or copyright holder. Stanley Manong, 2015IF WE MUST DIEN KU LU LEKO PUBLISHERS 2015 ISBN 978-0-620-62946-1 Front cover design by Mbulelo ManongFront cover photo: A political banner held aloft by mourners at the funeral of Dumisani Mbatha which was held on the 17 October 1976 at the Avalon Cemetery in Soweto, Johannesburg . (AP Photo) # Soweto # ZAFF ilename: AP20140514 API002No part of this image may be reproduced or transmitted in any means electronic or mechanical or by any information storage and retrieval system without permissionEditor-in-chief: Dr Snuki ZikalalaCopy editor: Tess HollandIndexer: Ethn ClarkeDesign and Typset: PE&R Business SolutionsPrinted and bound by PE&R Business / FEBRUARY A guerrilla is one who fights to free his people from bondage and enslavement.

7 The prospect of death does not even arise in his mind as his life will go on in the hearts of a nation that will remember him . Basil February a member of the Luthuli Detachment, one of the most outstanding cadres of uMkhonto we Sizwe, who fell in battle in Rhodesia in Figtree near Bulawayo on the 15 August 1967. (courtesy: SA History archives)BARNEY MOLOKOANE If we must die, then we must die like will not die running away from the police. I will not die from being shot in the back. I will die in battle, and until they shoot me in my forehead the battle will continue. The area where such a battle will occur will be razed by the burnt bushes and grass.

8 Barney Molokoane, a marksman and one of the most daring and celebrated commanders of MK. Man s dearest possession is life. And since it is given to him but once to live, he must live so as to feel no torturing regrets for years to come, dying he must say: all my life and all my strength has been dedicated to the finest cause of the world the fight for the Liberation of Mankind. Nikolai Ostrovsky, How the Steel Was Tempered. I have taken this opportunity to speak the truth and to express my torturing regrets about the wasted years and my shame about a mean and petty past.

9 I regard myself today as a disgrace to my mother, my family, and my relatives, my friends and the families of the Pebco Three and the nation as such. It is with my deepest remorse that I ask for forgiveness. I say it now here today as I could not have done so in the early days for obvious reasons. I thank you. Kimpani Peter Mogoai, giving evidence during one of the TRC amnesty hearings regarding his role as an askari. In all my experience in this hellhole (referring to Vlakplaas), I have never come across a thing that is called clean killing.

10 There is no such thing. It only exist in the minds of those who want to appear here as honest and decent gentlemen, who don t want to subjugate other people into unnecessary pain. There s nothing like that. People are killed brutally! They died worse than animals! And that is a fact. And their ideas is to inflict as much pain as possible. It was a sadistic, well-calculated method of killing people. And they know it. And I was part of Joe Mamasela, a fellow askari, speaking at the same hearings of the of Africa1. ANC Camps in Angola2. ZIPRA Camps in Zambia where MK cadres underwent the survival course3.