“The Role Played by the 12 Disciples of Nelson Mandela in South Africa's Liberation Struggle, 1960-1991”

This lecture is part of the Monday African Studies Center Seminar (MASCS) organized this fall by the graduate students in the Master's program in African Studies (MAAS).

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Duration: 00:46:55

In recent years a lot has been published on the South African liberation struggle since the unbanning of the liberation movements in February 1990. Amongst the literature generated since then regarding the exile history of the struggle, the following has received attention from scholars: the route to exile and the experiences there. Despite this avalanche of written material on the liberation struggle history, no academic study has been generated on the role played by the group of youngsters from Bloemfontein, which was later known as the Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela. It remains to be known as to why they, young as they were, would skip the country into exile; what the sources of influence were; and how their families who were left ill-treated by the apartheid regime, survived. By interweaving some of their narratives with larger studies on the liberation struggle, an attempt is made to evaluate their impact.

Chitja Twala is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the Free State (UFS). Chitja is currently collaborating with Professor Peter Limb at Michigan State University on a book project on the history of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State from 1912 to 2012. As a historian he has conducted extensive archival research and has published widely on the history of the liberation movements with special reference to the ANC. He is the author of six chapters in The Road to Democracy in South Africa: Vol. 4 (1970-1980) and the Road to Democracy in South Africa: Vol. 6 (1990-1996). Chitja has published 62 peer-reviewed articles in local and international journals and collaborated with the leading academics including Professor Leo Barnard (UFS) and Professor Jeremy Seekings at the University of Cape Town. He is an editorial board member of the Journal for Contemporary History and Yesterday and Today.

Published: Monday, November 16, 2015