The Unlikely Secret Agent by Ronnie Kasrils
Winner of South Africa's top literary prize, the Alan Paton Award, The Unlikely Secret Agent tells the thrilling true story of one woman's struggle against the apartheid system. It is 1963. South Africa is in crisis and the white state is under siege. One August 19th, the dreaded Security Police descended on Griggs bookstore in downtown Durban and arrest Eleanor, the white daughter of the manager. They threaten to break her or hang her if she does not lead them to her lover, Red Ronnie Kasrils, who is wanted on suspicion of involvement in recent acts of sabotage, including the toppling of electricity pylons and explosions at a Security Police office in Durban. But Eleanor has her own secret to conceal: she is, like Ronnie, a clandestine agent for the underground ANC and must protect her handlers and Ronnie at all costs. Astutely, she convinces the police that she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and, still a prisoner, is relocated to a mental hospital in Pietermaritzburg for assessment. It is here that she plots her escape. This remarkable story of a young woman's courage and daring at a time of increasing repression in apartheid South Africa is told here for the first time with great verve and 'lan by Eleanor's husband, Ronnie Kasrils, who eventually became South Africa's Minister of Intelligence Services in 2004.
Ronnie Kasrils was prompted by the Sharpville Massacre to join the ANC in 1960, and was the secretary of the Congress of Democrats in Natal until it was banned in 1962. He became a member of Umkhonto weSizwe at its inception in 1961 and participated in many sabotage operations. After the first democratic elections in South Africa, Kasrils was appointed Deputy Minister of Defence from 1994-1999. He then became Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry from 1999-2004 and was appointed Minister of Intelligence Services until he submitted his resignation in 2008 following former President Thabo Mbeki's resignation.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781583672778 |
| ISBN 10 | 158367277X |
| Title | The Unlikely Secret Agent |
| Author | Ronnie Kasrils |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Monthly Review Press,U.S. |
| Year published | 2012-06-01 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |