An account of the hope and horror of a decisive decade, Apartheid’s Stalingrad: How the townships of the Eastern Cape defeated the apartheid war machine, set the tone for an examination of a bloody and brutal part of South African history.
The book by Rory Riordan chronicling the defeat of SA’s apartheid system in the ’80s was the subject of a final community dialogue of 2022 hosted by Nelson Mandela University (NMU) and The Herald at the NMU Business School on Thursday evening.
This grand study of a decisive period thrust the spotlight on the former columnist and author as Riordan articulated the birth of a democratic era by bringing history back full circle during his book’s launch.
Through the carefully written documented history, he sought to answer one question.
What happened in the 10 years of the 1980s that caused a massive, unimaginable shift in the political climate in Eastern Cape townships?
“Let me take you briefly through what this book is about,” Riordan said at the launch.
He recounted how, on February 2 1990, the ANC and other prominent organisations achieved political unbanning.
It followed the detention and banning of Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (Pebco) chair Thozamile Botha in January 1980.
For just three months from October 1979, Botha had banded with his executive to start the first mass mobilisation.
In 1985 and 1986, in the-then black townships of Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage, several protagonists fought tooth and nail to defeat a ruthless police force.
Included were Botha, Raymond Mhlaba, Ernest Malgas, Henry Fazzie, Vuyisile Mini, Zinakile Mkaba and Wilson Khayinga and many more.
Also referenced in the compelling story are Wilton Mkwayi, Govan Mbeki and Dr James Njongwe.
Their story first comes alive when, in the 1950s, they recruited Harold Strachen to bomb the enemy amid Port Elizabeth’s arduous resistance campaigns.
Later, in 551 pages of Riordan’s book, they each earned a place in the consciousness of the current generation as their heroics were retold in detail in a capacity-filled lecture hall.
The book covers the period of the 1980s in considerable detail.
“It locates the voices of our people at the centre of SA’s struggle for democracy,” deputy mayor Mkhuseli Jack, attending the event, said.
“Finally, we have someone who put pen to paper and documented an important story for young people, for generations to come, to know.”
Joining the panel, former Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) board chair Phil Goduka appraised the compelling read.
“It’s important to [constructively] look back on the past of what happened,” he said.
Politics Prof Peter Vale, Jack and Goduka were the dialogue respondents, sharing their appraisal of the book.
“It presents a thoughtful engagement with the scholarly and other work of later apartheid years,” Vale said.
“It is a homage to fallen friends and a salute to struggle compatriots.
“What has been extraordinary is hearing names of people who have passed.”
Riordan said he was thrilled by the reception.
“I’ve always believed that in SA, there’s no point in writing fiction.
“Our wonderful country is just so bizarre that the actual facts stand for themselves in terms of how remarkable and unusual we are.”
He said he had striven to record the facts in a time frame that was easy to grasp.
“I wanted to tell the story according to the time frame, with just the facts and how things happened.”
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