Some Observations on Resistance and Revolution in Contemporary Africa

Abstract

This unique essay, in which the author reminisces on and draws from his involvement as an expert witness in one of South Africa’s apartheid era political trials, is testimony that ideas live independently of their creators. Although the author was initially mentioned in the trial by the prosecution, which claimed that his book, Why Men Rebel, provided a four-stage model of revolutionary strategy for cadres of the Black People’s Convention (BPC) and the South African Students’ Organization (SASO), his subsequent testimony was for the defense, and was used to counter the prosecution. Here, the author applies the Why Men Rebel theory to South Africa to assess the issues raised in Kwandiwe Kondlo’s book, In the Twilight of the Revolution (2009), which examines the role played by the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) as well as the resultant multi-racial democratic dispensation in post-apartheid South Africa in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. The essay and the revelations it encompasses are quite deep and relevant for a critical understanding of the trend of politics in post-liberation South Africa, in particular, and post-colonial Africa in general.