Fighting for My Country — an anti-apartheid soldier tells his story

Alfred Willie, author Sandi Sijake and Denis Goldberg at Mamre in the Western Cape in 2009. Photo: Thomas Krehwinkel

20 Nov 2024

In his memoir, Sandi Sijake writes about the beginnings of uMkhonto weSizwe and the ANC’s efforts to train new recruits in locations across Africa. Sijake was caught in 1972 and spent 15 years on Robben Island. In this excerpt, he has just arrived in Mogadishu to prepare to enter South Africa by sea.

The next time the plane landed, the voice over the PA said: “Welcome to Mogadishu Airport. Please do not leave anything behind when you disembark.”

Mogadishu was the capital city of Somalia, a place I had never thought of in the context of military training. We were quickly led to a bus, which drove south from the airport. After an hour’s drive we reached a big property on the outskirts of Marka. It had two main buildings and was well fenced off, with big trees in its yard.

We were welcomed by Major General Samantar on behalf of President Siad Barre. He said we should feel at home in the two houses and wished us a happy stay in Somalia. Comrades Mtawara, Mlenze, Mthembu, Gizenga, Mfeketho, Gatyeni, Mjojo and I shared a room close to the main entrance.

Five men in civilian clothes cooked for us every day. Our breakfasts consisted of porridge, camel milk and different types of bread, but the supper varied between goat or camel meat with rice.

We spent our time resting, taking walks on the property and sharing stories.

A week later General Samantar returned with two Soviet naval officers and comrades Tambo, Slovo and Chris. Comrade Tambo informed us that we would be moving to a new facility for a detailed briefing. Comrade Chris remained with us when the leaders and army officers left. On the ninth day, we left Marka by bus, driving the 400km to Kismaayo military barracks in just over six hours.

Kismaayo was a small barracks accommodating a Somalian platoon. Three officers were assigned to act as a nodal point between us and the military base. Huge trees grew on the barracks, all with flat tops as if trimmed by a botanist. Massive white birds none of us knew and I had never seen before chewed big animal bones in their branches.

A kilometre northwest of the base were some peasant settlements. The Somalian comrades explained that we were on the equatorial line, where the sun was evenly distributed between south and north.

Members of the military observed their Islamic practices and stopped work at 12pm to pray. We were accommodated in five tents, each containing four beds, with bathrooms in a nearby building cleaned by members of the Somalia military. Baboons sometimes harassed us when we opened our tent flaps on hot days.

I shared with comrades Duncan, Mjojo and Chris, giving us unlimited opportunities to reflect on the memorandum we had produced in Lusaka. During those reflections, we agreed that the latest information had proved some of our assertions to be incorrect.

Alfred Willie, author Sandi Sijake and Denis Goldberg at Mamre in the Western Cape in 2009. (Photo: Thomas Krehwinkel)

We had a strict daily routine at Kismaayo. We first drank a mug half-filled with sugar before adding milk or water to minimise the possibility of dehydration during the day. Then we exercised, showered and had breakfast.

If we did not have a political or military briefing to attend, we went swimming in the cool and refreshing Indian Ocean at a spot 3km from our base.

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In our second week there we found a dead shark at our swimming spot. Knowing there were sharks in the area, we stopped swimming and spent most of our time in our tents and drank more water instead.

Our military briefings were conducted by comrades Tambo and Slovo and the two naval officers we had first met at Marka. Unusually, I do not remember them telling us their names. They brought the coastal map of South Africa with them, and it was exciting just to look at the map and the names of South African places. From Alexandra Bay to Saldanha Bay on the west coast, the South African government relied on the diamond mining companies for security and early warning. This was the first time I understood that the mining sector was also an active security component of the government.

The two officers said South Africa used an integrated security system consisting of a radar network, frigates, submarines, aircraft and patrols. Eight radar systems were installed across South Africa to give early warning of sea and air traffic. The layout of the country resulted in adjacent radar systems that did not cover the whole area between them, and on the east coast such blind spots included part of the Indian Ocean coastline between East London and Durban.

The South African government relied on its submarines to monitor the marine blind spots. However, of the three French-made Daphne-class submarines operated by the South African navy in 1972, one was undergoing maintenance and another was out of commission after an accident in the Atlantic Ocean. The remaining submarine could not cover the whole coastline.

The government used the air force to close the gap left by the two submarines. Shackleton military planes conducted regular patrols between Durban and Port Elizabeth, with Buccaneers and spotter planes sometimes also used to support the coastline patrols. There were many commercial vessels and fishing boats off Durban harbour, some of which were used by members of the intelligence services in civilian clothes. At night, traffic in the area was reduced to only a few boats.

The information was good for our survival, pointing to the best times to approach the coastline once in the designated landing area.

I was amazed by the two officers’ intimate knowledge of South Africa’s security set-up. The whole briefing session seemed like a training lesson whose details could mean the difference between life and death.

As the liberation movement did not have any boats, we believed that the Soviet navy would take us back to South Africa. The thoroughness with which the Russian comrades briefed us convinced me that they would be part of our trip.

Comrade Tambo, dealing with the situation on the ground, explained that the ANC had established a network inside South Africa specifically for our safe reception. Our landing was to take place on the coast between Port Shepstone and Port St Johns, using five landing craft from the main ship to ferry personnel and weaponry.

Once on land, the group would form three independent teams. Trucks would transport the first two groups to areas in Transvaal and Natal, and the third group would go to different destinations in the Cape province. I was part of the group that was to remain in the part of the Transkei.

The briefings were an indication that our stay in Somalia would be short, and nothing could have boosted our morale more.

Read more: Freedom fighter Basil February laid to rest in SA at last, more than five decades after his death on foreign soil

We were divided into smaller groups for the briefings that followed. In my group were comrades Mjojo, Mlenze, Guma and Gatyeni. On landing on the coast of the Transkei, we were to link up with Comrade Chris’s father in Lesotho, who would help us identify reliable individuals and routes for future recruits. Any recruits we believed required training abroad would be sent out through Lesotho, Swaziland or Botswana.

We were also to identify safe landing areas for future supplies and cadre movement. The mission covered all the areas we had studied in our MK camps, with Ray and Jack, and abroad.

The ‘Aventura’

One afternoon comrades Chris, Ranka, Gizenga, Mjojo, Mbali, Mlenze, Duncan and I were driven to the Kismaayo Harbour – I had not even known there was a harbour in the area. There were two boats in the harbour, one anchored about a 100m from the platform and the other, bearing the name Aventura, moored at the landing.

On getting off the military truck, Comrade Chris led the way to the Aventura, where comrades Tambo and Slovo and a Soviet naval officer were already on board. We were told that the boat belonged to our liberation movement.

They took us around to two compartments loaded with a variety of Soviet-made weapons and munitions, including AK-47s, light and heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, hand guns and hand grenades.

Comrade Tambo informed us that more war materials would be added, and he emphasised that during the trip no one, not even the crew members, should have access to the two compartments. Comrade Ranka was appointed leader of our security group from then until the moment we prepared for landing. The naval officer told us they had checked the landing boats, which were all in good condition. They had also checked the public space, the deck, the rear area and the library, which was well stocked with books and cushions.

The kitchen area had a three-plate stove for warming our rations. The Aventura was powered by two diesel engines, one on the port side and one on the starboard side.

Comrade Gizenga was appointed commander of the Natal landing group, Comrade Ranka was to command the Transvaal landing group and Comrade Mjojo was commander of the Cape landing group, the latter deputised by Comrade Mbali.

I was charged with navigating a first group of four comrades to be the bridgehead that established our presence in enemy territory. Once the bridgehead had taken position, I would come back to the yacht and help ferry the rest of the comrades and war materials to land.

The receiving party on the coast would give a signal with a half-green-half-yellow light to indicate that all was clear. If the coast was not clear they would give a red light. Looking at the map, we decided to land in Ntafufu in the Lusikisiki district.

Lastly, we were informed that our crew of 15 were members of the Greek Communist Party. I was highly impressed with the choice of crew members, as our training portrayed the communists as fearless and among the most reliable members of society.

On the day of our departure, we were seen off by comrades Tambo and Chris. It was a highly emotional moment as we realised that we were breaking from our past as trainees to play a central part in the leadership of the ANC. Before we set sail, comrades Ranka and Duncan gave an orientation to the rest of the comrades and crew so that they knew the assembly points in case of accidents, as well as the location of the bathrooms, sleeping areas and which parts were out of bounds.

I was in high spirits as the Aventura sailed from Kismaayo. The hour of reckoning between ourselves and the colonial regime was at last approaching.

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As everything was going well, I visited the navigation cabin, where the captain explained that our boat was a yacht, because it was meant for coastal use. Its radar radius was about two miles, with a clear depth of 100m. Comrade Ranka came to remind me to join Comrade Duncan for two hours’ watch duty, and we were relieved by comrades Mlenze and Gizenga. I fell asleep in the library reading the latest copy of African Communist, and it came as a surprise when Comrade Madala woke me up to greet a new day.

Between Kilifi and Malindi, near Mombasa in Kenya, the Greek first mate called Comrade Duncan and me, as we were responsible for communications, and were asked to contact our leadership by radio to inform them that our radar had ceased working. We conveyed the information, and Comrade Tambo told us to return to Kismaayo.

On our way back, we engaged the first and second mates about the problem, and they both said such a thing could happen when a boat was not properly serviced. It sounded like a minor technical hiccup, so we were in high hopes that the Aventura would be quickly repaired and back on course.

At Kismaayo, three members of the Soviet navy attended to the Aventura and claimed that the radar had been deliberately interfered with and was beyond repair, an act of sabotage. Comrade Tambo asked the government of Somalia to help with investigations, while Comrade Joe Slovo left with the damaged radar.

During Comrade Slovo’s absence, we continued listening to Radio South Africa’s broadcast to East Africa, and on more than one occasion we heard the newsreader say they were looking for a missing ship with 19 persons on board – the same number of people as were on the Aventura...

The technicians from the Soviet navy tested the new radar and were satisfied it was properly installed and would last for years. With that assurance we resumed our journey with a new radar and an energetic crew of young people.

About 100km from Kismaayo, in the vicinity of Bajuni, the portside engine stopped working, leaving us with one engine while still far from South Africa. We communicated the mishap to the leadership and turned back to Kismaayo again with a different challenge.

When we docked at Kismaayo, a military truck was waiting for us, and we drove back to our tents in great disappointment; I believed that we had been ready and had everything we might possibly need, all the war materials freedom fighters could yearn for when going to meet the enemy.

Within the liberation movement, the purchase of the Aventura had been known only to comrades Tambo, Slovo and Mabhida, but it is possible that they had confided in someone with links to the colonial intelligence service.

Outside the liberation movement, seconded officials from the Soviet Union had helped with the purchase of the Aventura, while possible connections between the Greek crew of Communist Party members and the security services in Cape Town complicated the matter further. The investigation revealed that the engine failure was caused by foreign particles and iron filings that must have been deliberately poured into the engine.

The yacht had been bought from an individual owner in Canada and been sailed from Canada around the Cape to Kismaayo. The Greek crew members said that on their way to Somalia they had made a stop in Cape Town, where the second mate gave the crew leave to visit the city. Those who had returned to the boat first had found four unknown visitors on board, and Comrade Tambo believed those must be the men who had sabotaged the Aventura, though it still seemed inconceivable that South African security could have known that the Aventura belonged to the liberation movement.

At the beginning of May 1972, Comrade Tambo said they were very disappointed about what had happened with the Aventura. Comrade Tambo kept repeating that it was inexplicable that South African security had known about the Aventura. It was a complex situation that, if handled recklessly, had the potential to destroy the trust and unity of all those involved.

While we were deeply disappointed by the failure of the Aventura trip, we also believed it to be a blessing in disguise. My MK group had used the time we had at Kismaayo to review our Aventura journey, and Comrade Mjojo said that the South Africans who had tampered with the yacht must have had a relationship with some of the crew members.

Comrade Ranka believed that South African security and their Greek moles must have exchanged communications to alert them of our progress in the Indian Ocean.

Comrade Mthembu pointed out that the crew could have stopped anywhere along the South African coast in the dark and directed us into an ambush. Comrade Chris believed that if the Aventura had made the journey, we would not have had a chance to fight back if ambushed.

We all believed that the South African military had been waiting for us, though we did not know their battle plan. I reflected out loud that, as the navigator of the first landing group, I would have delivered the comrades to the enemy. Comrade Duncan thought that the enemy would have tried to intercept us in the water.

With the failure of the Aventura, we shut down the possibility of that alternative route, as we believed we had more prospects of success going overland. I also realised that the tentacles of our colonial government reached far and to where they were least expected. DM

Fighting for My Country: The Testimony of a Freedom Fighter is published by Jacana Media.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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South Africa

The ‘Aventura’