The British volunteers who fought apartheid

by Theo Russell

A major new documentary has just been released and is now showing at community cinemas around the country. But The London Recruits is unlike any other documentary I've seen. In fact it is more nail biting than any thriller film I've seen, and extremely powerful and moving. It tells the story of the British volunteers who were recruited to travel to South Africa to distribute propaganda for the African National Congress (ANC), and to deliver funds.
The operation was mounted at an extremely difficult time for the struggle against the Western backed and armed Apartheid regime, when the ANC had been driven completely underground.
The regime's police were extremely brutal and anyone arrested was likely to face beatings, torture, and possible "accidental" death or execution for any involvement with the ANC. Its spies were everywhere, even in the black townships - and by the way even London was crawling with them at the time.
The ANC realised that the most urgent task was to tell the black masses that they and the struggle were still alive.
Under the leadership of Oliver Tambo, the ANC's leader in exile, and Ronnie Kasrils, a founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, they developed the technique of "bucket bombs" which scattered hundreds of ANC leaflets in areas where black South Africans congregated. Eventually they were able to set off multiple bombs on the same day in the main South African cities on the same day, creating an upsurge in the struggle and panic among the authorities. Some of the 'recruits' fell into the hands of the regime and faced torture and prison sentences.
The film expertly combines interviews, archive footage and re-enactments, but it needs to be pointed out that while Chris Hani – the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe (the ANC's armed wing) who was assassinated by a fascist Polish immigrant in 1993 – was played by an actor.
There is an excellent website for the film - londonrecruits.com/ - which also has a map of local screenings in England and Wales, and if you click on ‘GET INVOLVED’ you can receive updates on screenings and future releases. Catch this film if you can – it’s the best I’ve seen for several years.