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Acknowledgements

Books generate debts, and I owe many people far more than I will ever be able to repay. A few, however, deserve special mention.

This book began life as a doctoral thesis in the dark and gloomy days of the 1980s, and I owe my supervisor, the inimitable Stanley Trapido, far more than I knew when we worked together or even fully grasp now. His is one of the many voices in my head.

Secondly, to all the remarkable people who populate the pages of this book, many of whom I had the privilege of meeting, all of whom were unfailingly generous with their time, their private papers, their memories, their gossip and all of whom – from conservative liberal to radical Trotskyist – shared an indefatigable belief in the ultimate triumph of non-racialism over apartheid. Their generosity of spirit and commitment to the ideal of a democratic South Africa taught me more than they will ever know, and all I can offer is deeply sincere thanks and this book.

The original thesis was typed in the days when floppy discs were consider ed the height of technological sophistication. When I came to re-work the thesis into a book, floppy discs could reduce computers to hysterical laughter – but no more than that. So my thanks to Phindi Hlatswayo who painstakingly re-typed the entire thesis (onto a stiffy disc, as useful nowadays as a floppy disc…).

Raymond Suttner pushed me to publish, and I would never have done so without his prompting. He, Rupert Taylor and Gerry Mare all offered good advice on how to improve the manuscript, for which I am enormously grateful. I even took some of that advice!

And finally, family and friends, the people who have to look politely interested in lengthy mealtime perorations about obscure yet (surely) fascinating moments in the past – my thanks to you one and all. But don’t imagine you’re getting a free copy in return for listening….