A discussion about Joe Modise (1929-2001), the commander in exile of Umkhonto we Sizwe and first Minister of Defence under the new Constitution, has taken place online between two people with a former connection with Umkhonto we Sizwe: Bill Anderson, who was an intelligence analyst in Umkhonto for 15 years in exile (1975-1990), and Paul Trewhela, who was involved in journalistic work for Umkhonto in Johannesburg in the Sixties under the direction of Ruth First, and was subsequently editor of Freedom Fighter, the underground journal of Umkhonto during the Rivonia Trial (1963-64).

Modise's life is discussed in a new book by RW Johnson, South Africa's Brave New World: The Beloved Country since the End of Apartheid (Allen Lane/Penguin, 2009), which was reviewed on Politicsweb in an appreciation by Trewhela (5 April, here). In this book, Johnson approaches the life and role of Modise as if it were a cancer in the heart of the new democracy. As Trewhela noted, "Chapter 2 of Johnson's book is headed ‘Godfathers and Assassins', meaning ‘godfather' as in Corleone. A chilling chapter sub-heading reads: ‘Joe Modise - Father of the New South Africa'."

 By contrast, in a statement issued on 27 March referring to reports about Johnson's book, the ANC responded that allegations such as these were "designed to create doubt on the illustrious role played by Modise in the struggle to defeat apartheid and poison the good memory that the majority of South Africans have of him. ...The ANC remains unshaken in its belief that Modise was a gallant and a tireless fighter for our freedom who played a pivotal role in the negotiated settlement and integration of the armed forces during his role as the Minister of Defence". (See here).

These are diametrically opposed interpretations of the history and role of one of the principal architects of the "new South Africa".

The engagement between Anderson and Trewhela relates to the same issue. It began as a Comment by Anderson , attached to a response by Trewhela on Politicsweb on 8 March to a criticism by the ANC's head of Media & Communications in the greater Johannesburg region, Musa Xulu. The discussion is available in its original form here

In an autobiographical passage on his blog, "African Security", Anderson states: "My name is Bill Anderson, a South African currently living in London. I was a conscript in the South African Army in its first invasion of Angola in 1975. I deserted and joined Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the African National Congress, serving as an intelligence analyst for fifteen years.

"I am the director of African Development Information Services and am involved personally in ongoing research projects covering foreign policy towards Africa, PMCs and a study of MK between 1985 and 1990".

The discussion concerning Modise follows below, beginning with a criticism by Anderson of a comment by Trewhela concerning the ANC security department in exile, iMbokodo:

Anderson (9 April 2009 ):

Ever heard of placing things in historical context?

"Many people were subjected to brutal and degrading behaviour by iMbokodo merely because they expressed a disagreement with some bully" ????

The most efficient arm of the apartheid state was the Security Police. They relentlessly and systematically infiltrated MK. They were good at it, sending low-grade fodder to bog ANC security down and overlook their real operatives. They were far more dangerous than "some bully". Infiltration had to be stopped, or at least controlled. No doubt you have a better idea of how this might have been achieved.

Desperate times sometimes lead to desperate measures. Do I condone torture in a democratic society? Of course I don't. Do I understand the actions that took place in Angola and defend the integrity of most of those involved? Most definitely I do.

Did the ANC systematically brutalise, torture and murder people? No it didn't. The Security Police did.

Trewhela (11 April):

@ Bill Anderson

Mr Anderson, try as you might, you cannot re-write the findings of three ANC commissions of inquiry [Stuart (1984), Skweyiya (1992) and Motsuenyane (1993)], as well as of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Amnesty International - that the ANC  used its Gulags such as Quatro to suppress genuine expression of democratic opinion, as in the mutiny in Angola in 1984. I challenge you to disprove one single fact in the article I published nearly 20 years ago.

No more KGB methods in Africa , please.

This was followed by a further series of Comments by Trewhela (11 April):

Questions for Bill Anderson

As a former operative in Military Intelligence in Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), would Mr Anderson care to give an explanation of what he knows, concerning the following:

1. The failure of Oliver Tambo, then acting president of the ANC in exile, to investigate Joe Modise, the commander of MK, after young members of the ANC Security Department at ANC headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia, had expressed to Tambo their concerns about Modise in 1980, in relation to their perception of very high level penetration of MK by the South African state security services.

2. The relation of Modise to corruption in the ANC in exile as early as 1980, in particular to a criminal network within the ANC Security Department engaged in smuggling gems and Mandrax south into South Africa , and the smuggling north of cars stolen in   South Africa .

3. The circumstances of Modise's detention - as MK commander - in custody in Botswana in 1981 (together with Cassius Make, later assassinated by South African apartheid state forces), without Modise having been the target for either kidnapping or assassination by the South African state security forces. Was there not a perception within ANC counter-intelligence that Modise's detention in Botswana might have been a secure forum for secret first-hand consultations between Modise and SA state security forces?

4. The reasoning between Oliver Tambo, Joe Slovo and others that led to the exclusion of Modise, as MK commander, from any knowledge of Operation Vula in the late 1980s.

5. The conflict between Modise and Chris Hani, as ranking military commanders, and ANC intelligence under Jacob Zuma focused mainly on KwaZulu-Natal , concerning the detention, interrogation and death of the MK commander Thami Zulu in Lusaka in November 1989.

Anderson replied as follows (12 April):

"Would Mr Anderson care to give an explanation of what he knows...?"

Yes. To an objective historian....

Trewhela's response (also 12 April):

@ Bill Anderson

Write it yourself.

A starting point is the statement by Ketelo, Maxongo, Tshona, Massango and Mbengo (writing in 1990) that Modise was "looked down upon by the majority of combatants as a man responsible for the failures of our army... as someone who engaged himself in corrupt money-making ventures, abusing his position in the army".

Or was the ANC being honest last month when it lauded the "illustrious role" of the "gallant and tireless fighter for our freedom", Joe Modise? (See here).

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