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Know thy enemy
Peter Hain knew well apartheid's vulnerabilities and used this knowledge to seriously undermine the regime’s international reputation
Hitting where it hurts
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A Pretoria Boy - The Story of South Africa’s “Public Enemy Number One”
by Peter Hain
Icon Books £20
MY relationship with Peter began in our shared struggle against apartheid. It continues in Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), the successor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement of which he is Honorary Vice-President.
Hain’s latest biography begins with his childhood introduction to the methods of the Apartheid Special Branch as they pursued his activist parents. He describes his emotions at their imprisonment; among the first detainees without trial under the 12-day detention laws.
Peter’s parents were members of the Liberal Party and a friend, John Harris, joined the “Liberal” Armed Resistance Movement which bombed Johannesburg Central Station. Harris was sentenced to death and shortly after his execution in 1964 the Hains left South Africa for the UK.
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