Bøger af Ronnie Kasrils

Winner of South Africa's top literary prize, the Alan Paton Award, The UnlikelySecret Agent tells the thrilling true story of one woman's struggle against theapartheid system. It is 1963. South Africa is in crisis and the white state isunder siege. One August 19th, the dreaded Security Police descendedon Griggs bookstore in downtown Durban and arrest Eleanor, the white daughterof the manager. They threaten to "break her or hang her" if she does not leadthem to her lover, "Red" Ronnie Kasrils, who is wanted on suspicion ofinvolvement in recent acts of sabotage, including the toppling of electricitypylons and explosions at a Security Police office in Durban. But Eleanor has her own secret to conceal: she is, like Ronnie, aclandestine agent for the underground ANC and must protect her handlers andRonnie at all costs. Astutely, she convinces the police that she is on theverge of a nervous breakdown and, still a prisoner, is relocated to a mentalhospital in Pietermaritzburg for assessment. It is here that she plots herescape. This remarkable story of a young woman's courage and daring at a timeof increasing repression in apartheid South Africa is told here for the firsttime with great verve and élan by Eleanor's husband, Ronnie Kasrils, whoeventually became South Africa's Minister of Intelligence Services in 2004.

Originally published: Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2010.

Ronnie Kasrils's memoir reflects on compelling questions as to what turned a white youngster from a modest background into a life-long revolutionary of note. A tiny minority who abandoned a life of privilege were the antithesis of conventionality and toeing the line. What made those such as Kasrils break all the rules and confront white power

This fast-paced, thriller-style memoir outlines the tumultuous years that saw Mbeki's overthrow and replacement by Zuma, Nkandlagate, the growing militarization of the police and the Marikana Massacre, the outrageous appointment of flunkies to high office, the "state capture" report and his relationship with the Guptas.