Ronnie Kasrils

Early LifeBorn November 15

1938 in Yeoville. Johannesburg.

Father was a factory worker and mother

was a sale’s assistant

Matriculated at King Edward VII School and became a film script

writer.

Moved to Durban to take up a position as a

television and film director at Lever

Brother’s Advertising.

Sharpville massacre occurs and an

outraged Kasrils becomes more

politically active.

Works as an undercover agent for

the ANC and after 1994 becomes

Minister of Intelligence

Political Life• Sharpville massacre angers Kasrils and he decides that he has

had enough of the apartheid government. He joins the ANC.• Became secretary of the Congress of Democrats in Natal.• Founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)• Became commander of National Region Command• Underwent military training and was sent to London to work

there.• Appointed as Chief of MK Intelligence• Worked underground for the ANC for operation Vula• Attempted to enter Bisho with unarmed marchers and 28

people were killed by the Ciskei Defence Force• Became Deputy Minister of Defence• Minister of Water Affairs and Foresty• Minister of Intelligence Services• After the forced resignation of former president Mbeki, Kasrils

handed in his resignation.

WritingHis most noted works are his two books, Armed and Dangerous and The Unlikely Secret Agent which won the Alan Paton award for creative non-fiction in 2011.

He has also written poetry and noted pieces on water development and preservation and the Palestine/Israeli conflict.

He started off as a script writer before becoming a politician. He says that the life he lead was far more interested than any script he could have thought of.

Armed and Dangerous.

• First book is an autobiographical account of his life as an ANC activist and his involvement in the banned military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

• Due to high demand, the book has been published three times. Eight chapters were added in 2004 detailing his role in a democratic South Africa.

• The history of Umkhonto we Sizwe is in Kasril’s life and Armed and Dangerous takes the reader into the underground workings of the military wing.

• It starts with in early 1990 when Karils boards an International flight to Johannesburg after living in exile for 27 years.

Armed and Dangerous

“At the end of 1989, I boarded an international flight, at a busy Mediaterranean airport-

destination Johannesburg. After 27 years in exile, over half my life, I was homeward bound”

Armed and Dangerous“I had seen barefoot street kids begging outside on the cold winter evenings

dispersed with sjamboks by laughing policemen. White people, standing in the queues would look the other way…they sometimes hurled beer cans at their black counterparts.”

“On one occasion, while I was still a Yeoville boykie, I had watched impotently as a group of white thugs beat a black man senselessly in the city centre while other whites hurried by.”

“In the days following the Sharpville massacre my mood turned impatient. One intense argument followed another: with family, friends and colleagues. Outside my immediate circle, few whites showed any sensitivity- the general view being ‘we should machine gun the lot of them.’ ”

The Unlikely Secret Agent

About his wife, Eleanor who was also part of the ANC during the 60s.It details her capture by the Special Branch who question her about her then boyfriend Kasrils not knowing that she played a central role in many sabotage operations.She pretends to be mad and is admitted to an asylum where she plans her escape.

The Unlikely Secret Agent

• He originally planned to write the book with Eleanor but she passed away suddenly in 2009.

• He wrote the book based on what he remembered about the stories she told him and the letters she sent.

• Kasrils takes the reader on the same journey that Eleanor ran through; from the safety of the bookshop at which she works to the fear of prison, craziness of the mental institution and racy lifestyle of a “terrorist” on the run.

The Unlikely Secret Agent“He grabbed her hair and banged her head on the table. Eleanor screamed for help. The sweat was streaming down his face, which had turned scarlet again. It was all he could do to stop himself from beating her with fists as he shook her by the neck until she blacked out” (pg.13)

“She had been living with Ronnie in a small, single bedroom cottage on the Florida Road, which ran up to the Berea parents’ elegant home where her daughter, Brigid, was safe for the time.” (pg.31)

“The door suddenly opened a little. Her heart leapt for joy as she recognised Ronnie. He was startled however, at the sight of a frail looking boy, with dark hair wearing grey trousers and a school jacket. They hugged and embraced and laughed for sheer joy. ‘Oh my dear’, he cried, ‘You’re free and safe’.” (pg.122)

“It was clear that he had been tortured to death-one of a growing number of such victims, who the Special Branch explained had died because they had ‘slipped on soap’, ‘jumped to their deaths’ or ‘hanged themselves in their cells.’” (pg.163-164)

Writing The Unlikely Secret Agent

Armed and Dangerous

Voice Subtle but praises Eleanor and her skill.

Very strong, journalistic voice comes through.

Time Shifts from time in prison to thoughts about sabotage operations and time spent with Ronnie.

Starts off at the end of his journey before going back to the beginning. He tells the story of his life almost as if it’s in “real time”.

Place The place is vast and shows the extent and effect of apartheid.

Moves from a Mediterranean airport in 1990 to his primary school in Yeoville, his time in Durban, Dar Es Lam and the USSR.

Style Very simple. Easy to read words, short sentences and meaningful dialogue.

Racy and fast-paced. Exciting and interesting but still easy to read.

Characters The main character is Eleanor and various characters affect her journey.

The main character is Kasrils himself.

Presence of “I” Omnipresent. The story is focused on Eleanor and Ronnia only features in memories and after her escape.

Very focused on “I” and “We”. Tells the story in the first person.

Starting Point Starts with Eleanor’s arrest Starts with his return to South Africa.

2012He married Amina Frense, the managing editor of SABC news in February of this year.

He is still vocal about various topics from the Israeli-Palestine conflict to water development and preservation.

He is also still an avid writer although he has retired from politics.