Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 ‘A man in an ordinary cloth cap’
- 2 ‘Brown Sons of Africa’
- 3 ‘The honey of a satirical philosophy’
- 4 ‘This is the time for practical politics’
- 5 ‘Maybe he thought it was a disgrace too’
- 6 ‘The clouds pregnant with moisture’
- 7 ‘Well, I'll just start again, won't I’
- 8 ‘You had to be contented with history’
- 9 ‘Y eso, lo tenemos aquí en Cuba!’
- 10 Coming Home
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - ‘Well, I'll just start again, won't I’
The Stone Country, house arrest & departure
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 ‘A man in an ordinary cloth cap’
- 2 ‘Brown Sons of Africa’
- 3 ‘The honey of a satirical philosophy’
- 4 ‘This is the time for practical politics’
- 5 ‘Maybe he thought it was a disgrace too’
- 6 ‘The clouds pregnant with moisture’
- 7 ‘Well, I'll just start again, won't I’
- 8 ‘You had to be contented with history’
- 9 ‘Y eso, lo tenemos aquí en Cuba!’
- 10 Coming Home
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Politically and intellectually active, house arrest, detentions without trial and raids affected La Guma badly during his last six years in South Africa. During this period, the National Party extended legislation to permit partial (12 hours per day) or total (24 hours) house arrest, and to detain suspects in solitary confinement for 12 days without charge or trial. Between 1963 and 1965 this was increased to 180 days. In 1966, indefinite detention subject to judicial authorisation became possible, and the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act enabled the Attorney General to hold witnesses for up to 180 days. Much of this legislation was used against Alex and Blanche la Guma. The liberation movement also suffered setbacks. In December 1961, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) began its sabotage campaign, but in August the following year Mandela was captured. In July 1963, the MK leadership was captured at Rivonia, charged with sabotage and given life sentences. The African Resistance Movement, an organisation made up primarily of former members of the Liberal Party, had some early success but it too was soon destroyed. While these two organisations concentrated on sabotage, Poqo, an insurrectionary movement associated with the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), had an explicit policy of killing people. Lodge describes it as ‘probably the largest active clandestine organisation of the 1960s’.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Alex la GumaA Literary and Political Biography, pp. 144 - 163Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2010