Former comrade of Nelson Mandela for Derry event

Ronnie Kasrils will be in the city for the local launch of ‘International Brigade Against Apartheid: Secrets of the People’s War that Liberated South Africa’.

The book, which Mr Kasrils edited, features accounts by people from other countries who helped the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid regime.

These supporters often worked in secret, acting as couriers, providing safe houses, and smuggling weapons and combatants across the border.

As a young man, Mr Kasrils was radicalised by the Sharpeville Massacre (1960) in which police shot dead almost 70 unarmed protestors and injured almost 200 others during a peaceful demonstration against South Africa’s notorious Pass Laws.

A Marxist revolutionary, Kasrils was one of the co-founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe along with Nelson Mandela. The press nicknamed Kasrils ‘The Red Pimpernel’ for his ability to slip into and out of South Africa on clandestine missions. He sat on the ANC’s National Executive Committee for 20 years and, after the ending of apartheid, served as South Africa’s Minister for Intelligence, from 2004 to 2008.

The local launch of ‘International Brigade Against Apartheid: Secrets of the People’s War that Liberated South Africa’ will take place at the Museum of Free Derry on Tuesday, June 14, at 8pm. The book launch will be followed by a Q&A event with Mr Kasrils, chaired by the former Speaker of the Assembly at Stormont, Mitchel McLaughlin. Mr McLaughlin is a former Sinn Féin General Secretary and MLA.

The venue’s size means that only a small number of tickets are available for this event. People are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Tickets are free and can be booked using this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bloody-sunday-50-book-launch-international-brigade-against-apartheid-tickets-361092927667

Tuesday’s book launch and Q&A are part of ‘BloodySunday50’, a year-long programme of events organised by the Bloody Sunday Trust to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The Trust has chosen ‘One World, One Struggle’ as the theme for the series.