It is the early 1990s and South Africa is on a knife-edge. Nelson Mandela is free at last, but a peaceful political transition looks virtually impossible. Both sides of the political divide, the left and the right, are poised to take up arms. In the midst of this threat of violence, with the future of the country at stake, the largely unprepared and rudderless NP government faced the ANC at the negotiation table at Codesa. As head of National Intelligence (NI), Niël Barnard was central to this turbulent process, which was almost derailed several times. Barnard was there the day the ever-calm Nelson Mandela lost his temper and tore into FW de Klerk with a verbal attack. He experienced first-hand how the moral high ground slipped through the NP's fingers and the ANC gained the ascendancy. In this book, Niël Barnard provides a penetrating look at what happened behind the scenes at Codesa. He also reveals intriguing details of top-secret meetings between the ANC and the NI in hotel rooms in Europe, and writes about his surreal encounters with the Russian KGB in Moscow.
Оглавление
Нил Барнард. Peaceful Revolution
List of abbreviations
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Photo section
Acknowledgements
Additional reading
Summary
About the author
Praise for Peaceful Revolution
Other publications by Niël Barnard with Tobie Wiese
Other titles by Niël Barnard with Tobie Wiese, available in e-book format
Отрывок из книги
Niël Barnard
with Tobie Wiese
.....
That evening, we enjoyed a delicious meal together in the hotel’s restaurant. And, even later, in the early hours, I ordered a bottle of Chivas Royal Salute – a fitting 21 years old – to be sent to the hotel room. Both sides held their enthusiasm carefully under wraps, but secretly we knew that our peaceful revolution had come of age.
We were delighted with the progress made on the previous day. In a rare moment of light extravagance, and in the spirit of what my mother used to say, I thought: The auditor general be damned! I trusted that he would be patriotic enough to excuse us this transgression in the light of what we were busy doing in the interest of the country and all its people. He did.
