The ANC's War Against Apartheid : Umkhonto We Sizwe and the Liberation of South Africa

For nearly three decades, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), waged a violent revolutionary struggle against the apartheid state in South Africa. Stephen Davis works with extensive oral testimonies and the heroic myths that were constructed after 1994 to offer a new history of this armed movement. Davis deftly addresses the histories that reinforce the legitimacy of the ANC as a ruling party, its longstanding entanglement with the South African Communist Party, and efforts to consolidate a single narrative of struggle and renewal in concrete museums and memorials. Davis shows that the history of MK is more complicated and ambiguous than previous laudatory accounts would have us believe, and in doing so he discloses the contradictions of the liberation struggle as well as its political manifestations. This study of the armed wing of the African National Congress also “contributes significantly to scholarship on liberation movements more broadly.”—Gary Baines, author of South Africa's Border War For nearly three decades, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), known as Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), waged a violent revolutionary struggle against the apartheid state in South Africa. Stephen Davis works with extensive oral testimonies and the heroic myths that were constructed after 1994 to offer a new history of this movement. Davis deftly addresses the histories that reinforce the legitimacy of the ANC as a ruling party, its longstanding entanglement with the South African Communist Party, and efforts to consolidate a single narrative of struggle and renewal in concrete museums and memorials. Davis shows that the history of MK is more complicated and ambiguous than previous laudatory accounts would have us believe, and in doing so he discloses the contradictions of the liberation struggle as well as its political manifestations. Cover 1 The ANC’s War against Apartheid 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 CONTENTS 6 Acknowledgments 8 List of Abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 1 A Brief History of Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Armed Struggle 48 2 “I Am Not Prepared to Answer at This Stage”: History, Evidence, and the Mamre Camp, December 26–30, 1962 73 3 The Sight of Battle: Visuality, History, and Representations of the Wankie Campaign, July 31–September 8, 1967 105 4 Losing the Plot: Mystery, Narrativity, and Investigation in Novo Catengue, May 1977–March 1979 132 5 Everyday Life during Wartime: Experience, Modes of Writing, and the Underground in Cape Town during the Long Decade of the 1980s 174 Conclusion: Making the Struggle Concrete; Nationalist Historiography at Freedom Park 244 Appendix A: Lists of ANC Members Killed in the Matola Raid 276 Appendix B: ANC/MK Deaths in Angola by Category 277 Appendix C: ANC/MK Combat Deaths by Country 278 Appendix D: ANC/MK Combat Deaths by Country 279 Bibliography 280 Index 308 Introduction -- A Brief History Of Umkhonto We Sizwe And The Armed Struggle -- I Am Not Prepared To Answer At This Stage : History, Evidence, And The Mamre Camp, December 26-30, 1962 -- The Sight Of Battle : Visuality, History, And Representations Of The Wankie Campaign, July 31-september 8, 1967 -- Losing The Plot : Mystery, Narrativity, And Investigation In Novo Catengue, May 1977-march 1979 -- Everyday Life During Wartime : Experience, Modes Of Writing, And The Underground In Cape Town During The Long Decade Of The 1980s -- Conclusion: Making The Struggle Concrete: Nationalist Historiography At Freedom Park. Stephen R. Davis. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.