South African Communist Party Research Articles

A century of the SACP: national democracy and revolution in the Global South

This paper argues that Tom Lodge’s Red Road to Freedom is a milestone in South African history and a model of historical writing. The author reconstructs the history of an underground revolutionary movement in all its complexity mobilizing a huge array of sources. He details the role the protagonists played, provides a wealth of information, and delves into local politics without ever losing sight of the bigger picture. Lodge demonstrates that the South African Communist Party (SACP) made “national democracy” and the alliance with ANC its cause and rallying cry effectively taking ownership of post-Stalinist Soviet political theory. Thus, he compels historians to delve into the actual materialization of international ideological currents in the global South.

Frederik W. de Klerk: Presidential Years in the International Arena

Abstract In South Africa's history, Frederik W. de Klerk has left numerous bookmarks. During his presidency (1989-1994), notable ones relate to his handling of foreign affairs. When he became president, he was a novice in this field. His reputation at home was initially built on conservative values. When he succeeded Pieter W. Botha in August 1985, South Africa was internationally isolated and internally in disarray. The date 2 February 1990, when he released Nelson Mandela from prison and unbanned the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), will forever be associated with an acclaimed and courageous political quantum leap. Soon afterwards, on 21 March 1990, he transferred South Africa's control and administration of Namibia to its first president. De Klerk dealt with two crucial issues head-on. First, he returned the military to true and proper civilian control. His decision to destroy South Africa's nuclear arsenal led to the signing of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty in July 1991. By engaging in personal diplomacy, he forged remarkable relationships with President George H. W. Bush and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who, together with other world leaders, recognized that De Klerk was determined to repair South Africa's disastrous foreign relations. He evaluated the events in Eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and demise of the Soviet Union in their proper context. In December 1993, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela. Up to now De Klerk legacy in the realm of international relations have not been properly explored.

Tom Lodge, Red Road to Freedom: A History of the South African Communist Party, 1921–2021. Woodbridge and Rochester NY: James Currey (hb £70/US$105 – 978 1 84701 321 7). 2022, 626 pp.

Tom Lodge, Red Road to Freedom: A History of the South African Communist Party, 1921–2021. Woodbridge and Rochester NY: James Currey (hb £70/US$105 – 978 1 84701 321 7). 2022, 626 pp. - Volume 93 Issue 2

Red Road to Freedom: a history of the South African Communist Party 1921-2021 by Tom Lodge, and: Precarious Power: compliance and discontent under Ramaphosa's ANC by Susan Booysen

Reviewed by: Red Road to Freedom: a history of the South African Communist Party 1921-2021 by Tom Lodge, and: Precarious Power: compliance and discontent under Ramaphosa's ANC by Susan Booysen Roger Southall (bio) Tom Lodge. 2020. Red Road to Freedom: a history of the South African Communist Party 1921-2021. Johannesburg: Jacana. Susan Booysen. 2020. Precarious Power: compliance and discontent under Ramaphosa's ANC. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. South Africa unravelled Synonyms for the word 'superlative' include 'excellent', 'magnificent', 'glorious', 'marvellous', 'consummate', 'outstanding', and 'remarkable'. I am happy to settle for any of these to describe these two books, which fit very neatly together for review. Probably no-one else other than Tom Lodge, who is so thoroughly versed in the details as well as the grand trajectory of the popular struggles against colonialism and apartheid in South Africa could have written what will become the gold standard of histories of the South African Communist Party (SACP). I find it difficult to imagine that it can be bettered, even if release or discovery of further documents may nuance its arguments in future. Apart from anything else, it is quite simply a gripping read. Meanwhile, there is no other author who has done more to analyse the internal dynamics of the African National Congress (ANC) since the party moved into power in 1994 than Susan Booysen, with this latest tome being her latest of three volumes on the subject. Students of South Africa are very fortunate indeed to have two such highly knowledgeable and proficient chroniclers of this complicated country's political twists and turns. [End Page 180] Unravelling communism in South Africa There are no surprises in the way that Lodge has organised his account. Separate chapters are provided on the pre-history of the party before its formation in 1921; the early history of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) 1921-26; the turn to the 'Native Republic' strategy 1927-32; and the turbulent period of the 1930s with its 'factions and fronts' 1932-1939. These are succeeded by treatments of the CPSA's 'Patriotic Unity' moment during the 1940s; the party's retreat to underground activity after its banning in 1953; its history and development in exile 1965-1977; and its 'Mayibuye iAfrika' period during 1977-1990 when its activities became increasingly influential within the internal struggle against apartheid. All this is wrapped up with an incisive discussion about the role of the SACP in the post-apartheid and globally 'post-communist' period. Lodge's ability to combine survey of grand direction, debate with other historians, and intimate detail of the party's ups-and-downs, shifts and survival against odds is truly exemplary. Because he provides valuable summaries of the major developments covered in each of these chapters, it is possible to capture the gist of the text in a relatively economical fashion. The communists early days The introductory chapter, headlined 'Just like Russia', spells out what Lodge terms 'the genealogy of South African communism' (64). He highlights four dimensions which have needed greater emphasis than provided in previous accounts of the party's history. These are, first, its debt to anarchist syndicalism, drawn from the ideas of the Russian historian and revolutionary, Peter Kropotkin, as well as other sources imported by successive waves of immigrant workers from the English-speaking world; second, the evolution of a working class politics that, albeit inconsistently, broached issues of race and class-communal solidarity; third, the particular influence of Jewish immigrants, notably those with previously acquired familiarity with revolutionary networks and ideas current in the Russian Pale; and fourth–a crucial theme–is that of how South Africa's embryonic history was shaped by black individuals who re-shaped 'exotic visions' and a 'foreign lexicon' to their own circumstances and experiences of colonial conquest and domination. Once the disparate Marxist groups which sprung up in South Africa came together to form the CPSA in 1921, South African communists were confronted by key questions: What was the role of the white working [End Page 181] class, whose apparent anti-capitalism was combined with a very evident racialism? Furthermore, given that the white working class was mainly black and...

Review – Tom Lodge, Red Road to Freedom, A History of the South African Communist Party 1921–2021, Jacana, Johannesburg

In the year of the South African Communist Party’s centenary, Tom Lodge’s in-depth, scholarly work is a landmark achievement. The account is particularly strong in tracing the ideological currents that shaped the party and the changing and diverse sociology of its membership. The influential role of the party in helping transform the African National Congress into a mass-based campaigning formation from 1945 is a central focus. Lodge also traces the critical role of the party in the re-building, at first largely in exile, of a weakened ANC following the major strategic setback of the liberation movement in the mid-1960s. There is less focus on the reciprocal impact of the ANC upon the party, especially in the context of the practice of “dual membership” in both formations. This neglect is one factor in weakening the analysis of the post-1994 period in which the ANC has been the ruling party.

Another World Is Possible: A Comparative Perspective

Another World Is Possible: A Comparative Perspective

ON THE PITFALLS OF A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE

1. Introduction Economic transformation has always been the cornerstone of the governing party since it assumed power in 1994. The notion of a developmental state has since the early 1990s been used as a catch-all phrase for the African National Congress (ANC) thinking on economic and social policies. There is even a subcommittee within the ANC called the Economic Transformation sub-committee, which is seen as the custodian of the ruling party's vision for socio-economic change, as well as offering broad guidelines for a range of policies that have to do with the economy. Over the years since the ANC came into power in 1994, the idea of building a developmental state has continued to serve as an organising principle to frame the nature of change desired by the government. It is a notion that is conceptually ambiguous and lacking in precision with respect to policy application. According to Pempel (1997: 139), developmental states define their missions primarily in terms of long-term national economic enhancement, and they actively and regularly intervene in economic activities with the goal of improving the international competitiveness of their domestic economies. According to this definition, the imperative for managing structural change domestically, for example, improving the growth profile of the economy, diversifying the production base, and generating employment is pursued alongside strategies to promote the country as an investment destination to foreign capital. In many instances, the emphasis placed by the governing party on the notion of the developmental state stresses a more teleological thrust expressed in a certain state of completeness, and usually in reference to the typology of East Asian countries. Beyond rhetoric, it is worth probing what exactly does 'developmental state' mean in the post1990 South African context, a period characterised by increasing global integration and emergence of 'footloose' capital favouring locations where the state is seen as less interventionist. 2. Conceptual map By the time that South Africa started its transition from apartheid to democracy in the early 1990s, the pendulum of economic thinking had shifted globally and strongly towards neoliberal restructuring as an article of faith for economic policy making. This came in the wake of the oil crisis of the early 1970s and the attendant recession of the 1980s. In much of the developing world the state was in retreat, and giving way to a deregulation and liberalising agenda that would presumably stem the crisis. To prove its credentials as a responsible international citizen, South Africa drew heavily on the major themes of the Washington Consensus, in both its pure (laissez faire) and augmented versions (a blending of regulatory features and free markets). Given the centrality, though, of the trade unions in the struggle for liberation, and their closeness to the new governing party in South Africa, measures such as flexible labour markets were ignored in favour of a much tighter legislative regime that included the Labour Regulation Act of 1995 and a welter of worker-friendly measures that followed, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Employment Equity Act, amongst others. Trade unions, especially through the association of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) with the governing party, were deeply embedded in the post-apartheid economic policy formulation. This was facilitated by the informally structured tripartite alliance summit that also included the South African Communist Party (SACP) as well as through the more formally structured National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) that came into existence in 1995. While the broader macro-economic policy framework was crafted in a way that was sensitive to international capital, the more specific and sectoral policy arrangements were oriented more closely to trade unions as a powerful political constituency of the governing party. …

Stability and Governability the Benign Effects of Party Dominance in South Africa

A tripartite alliance formed by the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions has been ruling the country with wide parliamentarian majorities. The country remains more consensual and politically inclusive than any of the other African countries in the post-independence era. This article examines three performance’s aspects of the party dominance systems: legitimacy, stability and violence. As we are living in a period in which an unprecedented number of countries have completed democratic transitions, it is politically and conceptually important that we understand the specific tasks of crafting democratic consolidation.

China’s Party Training Programs in South Africa: A Quest for Political Alignment

South Africa’s contemporary political relations with China shows a resemblance in political thinking and beliefs that forms the basis for solidarity and draws the two countries closer on ideological grounds. The literature points out that when states shares similar characteristics, certain hypotheses exists that can provide an analytical explanation of alignment formation. The ideological push by China aims to promote the political like-mindedness of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and African National Congress (ANC) and manifests in the launching of party training programs. Socialism with Chinese characteristics forms the core of the training programs, which is used to strengthen party structures, advance solidarity and maintain official party-to-party contact. Communication with an ANC party official provide a first-hand account of the beliefs of the current South African president and also what the stance of the South African Communist party (SACP) is. A major difference is that the ANC leader regards the Chinese way of governance as important, while the SACP focus on solidifying party structures. In light of this, the impact party training programs can have in testing the alignment hypotheses is examined in the paper. The findings reflect on the similar traits both parties share and the significance of the alignment to strengthen the political ideological relationship.

Anarchist/syndicalist and independent Marxist intersections in post-apartheid struggles, South Africa: the WSF/ZACF current in Gauteng, 1990s–2010s

ABSTRACTSouth Africa has a long-established independent left, outside the big traditions of nationalism and Marxism-Leninism. Post-apartheid its fortunes have varied considerably, as space opened up for movements to the left of the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party, but opportunities declined as the state increased its legitimacy, penetration of civil society, and systems of patronage. This paper looks at cooperation, competition and convergence on the independent left, with particular reference to independent Marxists (mainly the well-established Trotskyist tradition) and revolutionary anarchists and syndicalists (a movement that revived in the 1990s). These intersections have taken place in study groups, popular education, student struggles, and post-apartheid social movements and unions, and indicate the vitality and fragility of the independent left, and the ongoing importance of cooperation and overlaps, as well as of long-standing divisions over theory and strategy. Particular attention is paid to Keep Left, the Socialist Group, the Democratic Socialist Movement, and the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front.

The promise and limit of freedom: South Africa and the pursuit of racial justice

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss South Africa’s trajectory of socio-economic development since the advent of democracy a quarter century ago. This is done through a critical discussion and review of major policy interventions that have been implemented to achieve the goal of racial justice. The author argues that while the advent of democracy brought about significant opportunities for social justice, socio-economic development in South Africa has been characterised by increasing wealth and income inequality, which has undermined the cause of racial justice. The key argument the author advances in the paper is that the decline in the power resources of the working class and the poor accounts for the neoliberal turn in economic policy in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe paper relies on primary policy documents of the government and on primary political and policy documents of the African National Congress and its political allies such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party. The author also reviews the extensive literature on the subject of development policymaking in the new South Africa.FindingsThe main finding is that the advent of democracy a quarter century ago and the policy interventions by the government have brought about social progress in some areas. However, the colonial and apartheid domination still shapes access to social-economic opportunities in South Africa. In anything, income and wealth inequality has increased since 1994. The goal of racial justice appears far from being achieved.Research limitations/implicationsThe key implication arising from the research is that strengthening political organisations of the working class and the poor is critical to attaining the goal of social equity. This is particularly true in a context where elite interests in the state and the corporate sector have been ascendant for the past two decades.Originality/valueWhat is original about the paper is that it is one of the first papers that assess the progress that has made in bringing about racial justice 25 years after the advent of democracy in South Africa. Furthermore, the paper uses the power resources theory to explain the dearth of pro-poor social reform in South Africa. This is a departure from the dominant approach, which explains the adoption of neoliberalism in South Africa as either inevitable due to poor economic performance or an outcome of the sell-out by the ANC political elite.

The M-Plan: Mandela’s Struggle to Reorient the African National Congress

This is an account of Mandela’s strategy and actions in 1961 and 1962, organising and reorienting the African National Congress (ANC). Based largely on oral memoirs and interviews, including state witness depositions, the article argues that Mandela's plans were thwarted. After the government declared the ANC illegal, Mandela helped to supervise the programme called the M-Plan, in order to lay the groundwork for mass participation in an anticipated revolutionary transformation, but the effort did not succeed. Members resisted the M-Plan reorganisation on the ground; the state assaulted the ANC and its leaders, and ripped apart communities; and the leadership denied Mandela full access to the ANC in his preparations for the violence he saw ahead of them. He was allowed to form a separate group, relying on the South African Communist Party and port city trade unionists for its organising. That smaller network, Umkhonto, was grafted into the M-Plan hierarchy a year later, problematically and partially, too little, too late.

“Setting the Free Thinker Free”: The Use of an Activist Archive to Analyze a Pivitol Moment in the History of the South African Communist Party (SACP)

This article draws extensively on an activist archive held at the University of Witwatersrand in order to analyze an important historical struggle within the South African Communist Party (SACP). A critical history of the crucial debates taking place within the SACP in the late 1990s is constructed from this archival material in order to explore the expulsion of Dr. Dale T. McKinley from the Party in 2000. The article argues that the expulsion of McKinley was a pivitol moment in the history of the SACP, and helps us understand the post-apartheid trajectory of the Party. Expelling McKinley fulfilled the SACP leadership’s goal of managing dissent at the rank-and-file level, and ensured that the Party’s loyalty to the ANC would remain an integral aspect of its strategy and tactics. Moreover, the use of this activist archive was absolutely essential in (re)constructing this critical story about the Party’s history.

Book review: The South African Communist Party: Adapting to Thrive in a Post-Communist Age

Book review: The South African Communist Party: Adapting to Thrive in a Post-Communist Age

Ten Reasons Why I Oppose Boycotts Against Israeli Academics (And Why You Should Too!)

This is not the first time I have been embroiled in a boycott debate. In the 1980s, I was involved in solidarity work with the fledgling indepen- dent trade unions in South Africa. They were a living expression of non-racial democracy across so-called national lines. Solidarity included establishing direct links between South African and British unions at official and rank–and-file levels. As a result of our solidarity activities, we were pilloried by leading figures in anti-apartheid, the ANC, and the South African Communist Party for breaking the boycott! When we invited a South African academic, a leading advocate of the new unions and anti-apartheid scholar, to speak at our Comparative Labour Studies pro- gram at Warwick University, a demonstration was organized by a couple of SACP stalwarts to prevent him from speaking. When we wrote a trade union solidarity pamphlet, we were told that unions could only be legal in South Africa if they collaborated with the regime and that we were in effect collaborationists. Beneath the argument about boycott what was really going on was a political battle between a progressive socialist politics and quite reactionary nationalist politics. It is a battle that has not stopped and is rising to the surface in contemporary South Africa. I grant there is no direct analogy between the boycott of apartheid South Africa and that of Israeli academic institutions, but I contend that a similar political battle is taking place—a battle for our future political life.

McAdams, A. James Vanguard of the Revolution: The Global Idea of the Communist Party (review)

SEER, 96, 3, JULY 2018 588 never fully monolithic. Was everyone a true believer? His approach also makes the terror seem too automatic and minimizes the personal role of Stalin in the tragedy of the Old Bolsheviks. But such criticism should not trouble Yuri Slezkine, who has written a book for the ages, a Pamir, an instant classic. Department of History Richard G. Robbins University of New Mexico McAdams, A. James. Vanguard of the Revolution: The Global Idea of the Communist Party. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ and Oxford, 2017. xvii + 564 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Suggested readings. Index. $35.00:£27.95. This book is the first attempt to deal, comprehensively, with the Communist Party as a ‘global’ object of study. It is an ambitious attempt, for more than one reason. Firstly, this is a huge topic that spans almost 200 years of global history. Although the majority of this story takes place in the twentieth century, A. James McAdams traces the beginnings of the concept to Marx’s radical forerunners in early nineteenth-century Britain and France. Despite its inauspicious roots, McAdams points out that the idea of the Communist Party had produced at least ninety-five separate iterations by 1985, with 38 per cent of the world’s population living in states governed by Communist parties (p. 3). Secondly, not only has McAdams sought to condense the entire story into less than 600 pages, he has also attempted to render the often arcane ideological vicissitudes of this history of Communist thought accessible to the general reader. On both counts, this book is a commendable effort. To tell this story, McAdams straddles a line between intellectual, social and political history, although as the book moves forward the latter gains in emphasis. He begins with the establishment of the First International, charting the story of its birth amidst heated debates surrounding the issue of party organization and its relationship to activism. His argument here is one that is central to the entire book. Recounting the various shifts in Marx and Engel’s thinking in response to events, McAdams notes that the idea of the Communist Party was an inherently flexible one, with two ‘potentially contradicting agendas. […] One was based upon militant confrontation; the other emphasized organizational adaptation’ (p. 38). This flexibility, McAdams argues,allowedCommunistpartiestotakerootinavarietyofdifferentcontexts across time. He thus shows how the Communist Party in Russia grew out of the Russian populist tradition; how the German Communist Party (KPD) REVIEWS 589 emerged from leftist currents within the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the aftermath of the First World War; the war also provided the key background for the establishment of the interwar Hungarian Communist Party which would establish an ill-fated Soviet Republic in 1919. Although the Communist parties of Western Europe (and briefly, the United States) make frequent appearances throughout, McAdam’s focus is largely upon those parties which succeeded in gaining power and stayed there. He thus devotes much of his attention in the latter half of the book to the debates within the Soviet Communist Party in the interwar period, and the post-war era sees his attention turn to ruling parties in the Eastern Bloc, North Korea, China and Cuba. McAdams takes the inclusion of the word ‘global’ in the subtitle seriously, and thus the book progresses chronologically, analysing the respective fates of each party as an intertwined narrative. Local context is not ignored, however, for a central claim of the book is that it is the fluidity of the Communist Party ideal that allowed it to flourish in so many varying contexts, thus sprouting a ‘multiplicity of forms’ (p. 11). With his focus upon Communist parties in power, McAdams regrettably but understandably forsakes any mention of smaller Communist parties who either didn’t gain power or only did so fleetingly. Africa receives no attention, and we thus miss the story of how parties like the South African Communist Party or the Angolan Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola merged the ideals of Marxism with national liberation struggles. One glaring omission is Ho Chi Minh, a founding member of both the Vietnamese and French Communist parties. Vietnam doesn’t feature at all, despite the huge...

Post-Communism and the South African Communist Party

In what ways does the trajectory of the South African Communist Party correspond with general features of post-communist politics? This paper will show how the party remains far from being reconstituted as a post-communist formation. The party’s leadership remains inspired by Leninist precepts and its own historic strategic perspectives, and draws purpose from its proximity to power. But it struggles to maintain a vanguard function in a political economy in which the industrial working class has weakened and its own mass membership, recruited from unemployed rural youngsters, is motivated by office-seeking rather than solidarity.

South Africa's Prospects Under Cyril Ramaphosa

The African National Congress (ANC) narrowly avoided a damaging split at the recently concluded 54th national conference. South Africa is, however, firmly in a “muddling along” scenario. The result of the elections for the 86 elected members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) led by newly elected ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa reflects an organization that went into the conference sharply divided and it will take time for these divisions to subside. The recall of Jacob Zuma is one of the key decisions now confronting the NEC. The longer Zuma stays in power the better the opposition parties will do during the national and provincial elections in 2019. However, in spite of the narrow victory of Ramaphosa, Zuma and his incoherent, large cabinet may be recalled sooner rather than later to avoid a further downgrade of South Africa’s long-term local currency debt ratings. Since Ramaphosa currently serves as deputy president of South Africa and therefore is a member of cabinet the problems associated with two centers of power (between Luthuli House and the Union Buildings) in the period leading up to national and provincial elections in 2019 are manageable. However, Zuma’s announcement on fee-free education only hours before the start of the 54th Conference clearly demonstrates the potential damage that he could wreak in the months that lie ahead, particularly given his stated intention to press ahead with a hugely expensive and superfluous nuclear energy deal. The question is how rapidly the NEC will unite behind Ramaphosa to recall him. Based on the forecasts presented in Fate of the Nation it seems likely that the ANC will retain its status as governing party during the 2019 elections, with around 53% of the vote, down from 62% in 2014. Such an outcome will avert the need for a coalition at national level. The ANC could however, lose its majority in the critically important Gauteng province. Only a coalition between the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) would be able to put together a governing opposition alliance in Gauteng – a difficult and unlikely partnership given the ideological distance between these two parties. This analysis effectively makes the EFF a potential 2019 kingmaker in Gauteng. The Western Cape, the only province currently governed by an opposition party (the Democratic Alliance), will retain that status and ANC support in rural provinces will remain firm, particularly given the focus on transition of land to rural communities as announced during the conference. The win by Ramaphosa has averted a major crisis for the ANC and it may yet retain Gauteng province (in alliance with others), but it is not going to be an easy ride. The ANC will, however, eventually emerge significantly more united than at present and the outcome may save the Tripartite Alliance that includes the South African Communist Party and labour union COSATU from disbandment. In terms of its foreign relations South Africa has its work cut out to rebuild the respect and trust of others. Generally, values such as democracy, human rights and good governance have found limited expression in foreign policy under Mbeki and Zuma (the Mandela era was an aberration), and it is unlikely that this will change under a Ramaphosa government although there may be some tonal adaptation. In addition, absent structural reform in the military, South Africa’s ability to contribute to peacekeeping will continue its steady decline.

Nelson Mandela and the Genesis of the ANC’s Armed Struggle: Notes on Method

Was Nelson Mandela a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) at the time that he formed Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)? Was he dishonest in not revealing that he established MK at the SACP’s behest? Did the African National Congress (ANC) ever grant Mandela the authority to launch an armed struggle? And, in leading the turn to violence, did Mandela strive to marginalise ANC president-general Albert Luthuli? These are the questions that have made the literature on the origins of the ANC’s armed struggle a field of rich controversy in recent years. If the claims are true, they would require a fundamental reappraisal of the life and legacy of one of the most respected political figures of the 20th century. They would also rehabilitate some of the charges levelled at Mandela and the ANC by their foes during the liberation struggle. For these reasons, interest in the controversy over these questions has spread far beyond academic circles. This article clarifies the terms of the debate. It does so by laying out the arguments of the protagonists on both sides, and discussing the extent to which the archival evidence supports the various interpretations that have been offered. In the process, it revisits the circumstances and conditions under which the revolutionary underground operated in the early 1960s, thereby making a historical as well as a historiographical contribution. The article as a whole is a ground-clearing exercise that outlines the limits imposed by the existing sources on what we are able to say regarding the origins of the armed struggle, while also identifying certain methodological principles emerging from these disputes that will need to be borne in mind by future contributors to the literature.

Rolling up Rivonia: 1962–1963

Liliesleaf was purchased in 1961 by the South African Communist Party and it functioned as a nerve centre for the liberation movements and key leaders of that era. The significance of Liliesleaf is that this was a place where the transition into a new form of struggle, namely armed struggle occurred, making an icon of that struggle for freedom. Liliesleaf marks a seminal shift in South Africa's liberation struggle history. On 11 July 1963 the police raided Liliesleaf. Their rolling up of Rivonia in turn culminated in the Rivonia Trial. For the apartheid government this was a coup. For the liberation movement, it represented a blow. Many theories abound as to how the police identified Liliesleaf. This paper presents new information about these complex and myriad historical events. The paper shows that the raid was the culmination of a much longer term investigation by various state agencies and not only the Security Branch of the South African Police.