Former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils said being called a counter-revolutionary is an extremely damaging accusation.

“It carries with it a grave threat to one’s security‚” Kasrils said at the start of the defamation trial against Deputy Defence Minister Kebby Maphatsoe.

Kasrils is suing Maphatsoe‚ who is also national chairman of the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association‚ for R1-million for statements he made two years ago.

Maphatsoe accused Kasrils of being an enemy of the people and of giving instructions to “Khwezi”‚ the woman who accused President Jacob Zuma of rape in 2005.

Kasrils testified before the High Court in Pretoria about joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960 and about serving in various roles in its armed wing‚ Umkhonto we Sizwe‚ in a number countries until the 1990s.

Kasrils said to be called a counter-revolutionary was the deepest form of insult one could make.

When asked by his counsel‚ Dali Mpofu SC‚ what would happen in the past to people who were being referred to as an enemy of the people‚ Kasrils recalled the necklacing of people in the 1980s who were suspected of being enemy agents or informers.

“It was immediate lynching. It is possible some of the people were informers … but we do know there were innocent people‚” Kasrils said.

Kasrils said there were people who believed he was a sell-out.

He said‚ as someone who used to visit rural areas and township on his own‚ he now needed to think twice before making those visits.

“I have to be very careful.”

Kasrils said there were signs that he was under surveillance.

“I now have to behave in the way I did pre-democracy.”

Kasrils said that‚ after the allegations were made by Maphatsoe‚ there were questions from his close friends‚ and home and abroad‚ about the veracity of the allegation that he was an enemy of the people.

“As someone who is proud of my reputation‚ this attack has been very hurtful‚” Kasrils said.

Maphatsoe made what Kasrils regarded as defamatory comments when he condemned Kasrils’ “Vote No” campaign in 2014.

Maphatsoe said: “When he was minister of intelligence … he dismissed most of the cadres of Umkhonto we Sizwe because he wanted to sell our intelligence to the imperialists during our reconstruction.

“It is clear‚ from the beginning‚ uncle Ronnie has never been with us; he has been the enemy of our revolution‚” Maphatsoe said.

The trial continues.

TMG Digital

Book details

• The Kasrils Affair: Jews and minority politics in the new South Africa by JB Pollack
  EAN: 9781919895079
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UCT Press presents Domains of Freedom: Justice, Citizenship and Social Change in South Africa edited by Thembela Kepe, Bettina von Lieres and Melissa Levin:

After 20 years of freedom in South Africa we have to ask ourselves difficult questions: are we willing to perpetuate a lie, search for facts or think wishfully? Freedom has been enabled by apartheid’s end, but at the same time some of apartheid’s key institutions and social relations are reproduced under the guise of “democracy”.

This collection acknowledges the enormous expectations placed on the shoulders of the South African revolution to produce an alternative political regime in response to apartheid and global neo-liberalism. It does not lament the inability of South Africa’s democracy to provide deeper freedoms, or suggest that since it hasn’t this is some form of betrayal. Freedom is made possible and/or limited by local political choices, contemporary global conditions and the complexities of social change. This book explores the multiplicity of spaces within which the dynamics of social change unfold, and the complex ways in which power is produced and reproduced. In this way, it seeks to understand the often non-linear practices through which alternative possibilities emerge, the lengthy and often indirect ways in which new communities are imagined and new solidarities are built. In this sense, this book is not a collection of hope or despair. Nor is it a book that seeks to situate itself between these two poles. Instead it aims to read the present historically, critically and politically, and to offer insights into the ongoing, iterative and often messy struggles for freedom.

About the editors

Thembela Kepe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, and the Centre for Critical Development Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is also a Visiting Professor in the Geography Department, Rhodes University, South Africa.

Melissa Levin is a PhD student in Political Science and an instructor in African Studies at the University of Toronto. She has taught the politics of regional integration at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and African Literature at Khanya College. She was a trade union educator for the National Union of Mineworkers and a research and strategy director at the ANC where she edited Umrabulo for a number of years.

Bettina von Lieres is a Lecturer in the Centre for Critical Development Studies at the University of Toronto, and she is Extraordinary Senior Researcher in the Political Studies Department at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

Book details

• Domains of Freedom: Justice, Citizenship and Social Change in South Africa edited by Thembela Kepe, Bettina von Lieres and Melissa Levin
  EAN: 9781775822042
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The Kalk Bay Books launch of The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales was a well-attended event, with local history buffs enjoying listening to and engaging with the author.

Eales is South African, and visited from Australia to launch this inspiring and comprehensive account on a country-wide tour.

On his retirement in 2005 from a career in business, Eales pursued his passion for research, writing about the Anglo-Boer War. He focused on the Free State, surrounding the city of Bloemfontein, where he went to school and from where his own ancestors hailed. Eales’s presentation to the Australian Boer War Study Group’s 20th Anniversary Conference in Melbourne in 2013 led to the publication of this book.

Eales was joined by the historian Elizabeth van Heyningen, with whom he had been in correspondence for many years. Her research and book The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War had richly informed Eales’s own, though he asserted his was a popular writing of the narrative and not an academic one.

Eales and Van Heyningen met for the first time, face to face, and enjoyed a fascinating conversation about the life of Emily Hobhouse. Van Heyningen reflected on the humanitarian and political role Hobhouse had played. She asked Eales what personal dynamics had driven Hobhouse to get involved in consciousness raising and protest against Roberts, Kitchener, Brodrick and Milner.

At the age of 39, Hobhouse’s father had passed away and she was free to reinvent herself. She had lived a sheltered life as the daughter of an Anglican priest but, without hesitation, she took up the cause of the Boer women and children who were suffering atrocious conditions in the camps.

Van Heyningen praised the accessible and readable text of the The Compassionate Englishwoman, expressing the hope that this powerful narrative will be rediscovered. For Eales, the significance of telling this story beyond the borders of South Africa remains utterly relevant when the global humanitarian crisis of refugees faces us. “It behoves us as a species to hold powerful individuals accountable for human suffering,” he said.

Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) tweeted live from the event:

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• The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales
  EAN: 9781775822141
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Seven UCT Press titles have been longlisted for the inaugural Academy of Science in South Africa (ASSAF) Humanities Book Award.

The longlist was announced by the ASSAF Humanities Standing Committee.

The award seeks to identify writers of scholarly, well-written works of non-fiction, published up to three years (2013, 2014 and 2015) prior to their nomination.

The winning book should be noteworthy in its contribution to developing new understanding and insight of a topic in the humanities, and will be awarded R30,000.

Winners will be announced in September. Congratulations to the longlisted authors!

Book details

• Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender, and Sexuality by Sa’diyya Shaikh
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781775820123
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• From Man to Man, or Perhaps Only by Olive Schreiner, edited by Dorothy Driver
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781775820703
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• Growing the Next Generation of Researchers: A Handbook for Emerging Researchers and Their Mentors edited by Lyn Holness
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781775820857
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• Hostels, Homes, Museum: Memorialising migrant labour pasts in Lwandle, South Africa by Noëleen Murray and Leslie Witz
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  EAN: 9781775820772
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• Myth and Meaning: San-Bushman Folklore in Global Context by JD Lewis-Williams
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  EAN: 9781775822059
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• The Victoria Mxenge Housing Project: Women building communities through social activism and informal learning by Salma Ismail
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  EAN: 9781919895529
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• Community of Insecurity: SADC’s Struggle for Peace and Security in Southern Africa by Laurie Nathan
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  EAN: 9781775820758
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UCT Press and Protea Bookshop invite you to the launch of The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales.

The event will take place on Tuesday, 24 May at the Archive for Contemporary Affairs Reading Room at the University of the Free State.

Don’t miss it!
 
 

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, 24 May 2016
• Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
• Venue: Archive for Contemporary Affairs Reading Room
  Stef Coetzee Building
  University of the Free State | Map
• RSVP: Protea Bookshop, bviljoen@proteabooks.com

Book Details

• The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales
  EAN: 9781775822141
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UCT Press and Grey College invite you to the launch of The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales.

The event will take place on Tuesday, 24 May at 10 AM.

Don’t miss it!
 
 
Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, 24 May 2016
• Time: 10:00 AM
• Venue: Grey College
  Jock Meiring Street
  Bloemfontein | Map
• RSVP: Hamida Bapoo, UCT Press, uctpress@juta.co.za

Book Details

• The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales
  EAN: 9781775822141
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New UCT Press publication Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa by Dee Smythe was launched recently at the Kramer Law Building at the University of Cape Town.

• More about the book

Debates around South Africa’s rape culture and violence against women are building momentum. This year alone has seen anti-rape protests at Rhodes University, the #NakedProtest and #RUReferenceList marches, which saw all campus activity suspended, and a rape awareness initiative that spread to Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town, where a Sexual Offence Response Team has been established.

But rape takes place off-campus, too. More than 1,000 women are raped in South Africa every day. Around 150 of those women will report the crime to the police. Fewer than 30 of the cases will be prosecuted and no more than 10 will result in a conviction – that’s 4 percent.

In Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa, Smythe, who is Director of the Centre for Law and Society at UCT, is concerned with the question of police discretion and how it shapes the criminal justice response to rape in South Africa.

Through a detailed, qualitative review of rape dockets and victim statements, as well as interviews with detectives, prosecutors, magistrates and rape counsellors, the author provides key insights into police responses to rape.

Smythe was in conversation with Dr Kelley Moult about the book.

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• Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa by Dee Smythe
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781919895895
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UCT Press, the Kaplan Centre, the South African Jewish Museum and the Gitlin Library invite you to the launch of The Reb and the Rebel: Jewish Narratives in South Africa 1892-1913, edited by Carmel Schrire and Gwynne Schrire.

The Reb and the Rebel contains three previously unpublished autobiographical works mainly covering the period 1892-1913: a diary, a poem and a memoir. The first two were written by Yehuda Leib Schrire (1851-1912), and are set in a number of countries including Lithuania, Holland, England and South Africa. The third is by his son, Harry Nathan (1895-1980).

Few of the early immigrants to South Africa were writers, let alone poets, and the social history provided in these documents embellishes and enlivens the picture of South African Jewish communities at the turn of the 20th century.

• More about the book

The launch will take place at the South African Jewish Museum on Wednesday, 25 May.

See you there!

Event Details

• Date: Wednesday, 25 May 2016
• Time: 6:00 PM for 6:30 PM
• Venue: Nelson Mandela Auditorium
  South African Jewish Museum
  88 Hatfield Street
  Gardens
  Cape Town | Map
• Facebook event
• RSVP: Hamida Bapoo, UCT Press, uctpress@juta.co.za

Book Details

• The Reb and the Rebel: Jewish Narratives in South Africa 1892-1913 edited by Carmel Schrire and Gwynne Schrire
  Book Homepage
  EAN: 9780799224931
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UCT Press invites you to the launch of Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa by Dee Smythe.

More than 1 000 women are raped in South Africa every day. Around 150 of those women will report the crime to the police. Fewer than 30 of the cases will be prosecuted and no more than 10 will result in a conviction. This translates into an overall conviction rate of 4-8 percent of reported cases. So what happens to all the other cases?

Rape Unresolved is concerned with the question of police discretion and how its exercise shapes the criminal justice response to rape in South Africa.

The launch will take place on Thursday, 12 May at the Faculty Common Room on the 4th floor of Kramer Law Building at the University of Cape Town.

Not to be missed.

Event Details

• Date: Thursday, 12 May 2016
• Time: 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
• Venue: Faculty Common Room
  4th Floor Kramer Law Building
  UCT | Map
• RSVP: abigail.calata@uct.ac.za

 
Related stories:

• Myths and Stereotypes, Skills Deficits and Disengagement: Dee Smythe Explores Police Failure in Rape Unresolved
• Rape in South Africa: Why the system is failing women

Book Details

• Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa by Dee Smythe
  Book Homepage
  EAN: 9781919895895
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Clarke’s Bookshop and UCT Press invite you to the launch of The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales.

The launch will take place on Thursday, 12 May at 5:30 PM at Clarke’s Bookshop on Long Street in Cape Town.

See you there!

The Compassionate Englishwoman is an arresting work of historical scholarship that combines a shocking argument concerning British atrocities in the Boer War and a mesmerising account of Emily Hobhouse’s determination to end the cruelty and deaths associated with the notorious British concentration camps.

- Marilyn Lake, Professor in History at the University of Melbourne and Past-President of the Australian Historical Association

• More about the book

Event Details

• Date: Thursday, 12 May 2016
• Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
• Venue: Clarke’s Bookshop
  199 Long Street
  Cape Town | Map
• RSVP: books@clarkesbooks.co.za or hbapoo@juta.co.za

Book Details

• The Compassionate Englishwoman: Emily Hobhouse in the Boer War by Robert Eales
  EAN: 9781775822141
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!