South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid

Interview Segment

Ben Turok interviewed by David Wiley
May 12, 2006 Cape Town, South Africa.


"We were inspired by the 'detonator theory' - that if you put a bomb somewhere it would create such a degree of tension in the society ... and you would have a revolution." [5:00]

Ben Turok, who was a leader in the African National Congress underground in 1961, explains how amateurish the sabotage campaign was and how there were no neighboring countries where the ANC could establish bases to get back into the country.

Ben Turok came to South Africa as a young child in 1934 with his parents, escaping the repression against Jews in Latvia. Turok became a full-time organizer for the Congress of Democrats and helped to plan the Congress of the People in 1955. He participated in underground activities with the African National Congress, and was found guilty of violating the Explosives Act and spent three years in jail. Placed under house arrest, Turok escaped from the country and lived in exile in London. He is now a member of Parliament and director of the Institute for African Alternatives.

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