’Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert An Obituary published in The Times on 18 May 2010′ (From: Zapiro – ‘Jiving with Madiba’ ) This morning I found a letter from Helen Zille about the DA campaign and it brought back a flood of memories of the late Dr. Van Zyl Slabbert. – http://www.da.org.za/campaigns.htm?action=view-page&category=10066
’Through Braam and Jurgen Kogl’s efforts, Constand Viljoen met Mandela, Mbeki, Zuma and others at Jurgen’s home. (Jurgen is a friend and former business colleague, and he did invaluable work in trying to contain a right-wing revolt.) ‘Ja, man,’ Meiring said to me, ‘I know all about Constand and his 30 000, but it would not have worked and Constand knew it. We talked about the coup option and Constand said to me: “You know, George, if you and I wanted to, we can take over this country tomorrow.” “Yes,” I said, “it is true. But you and I also know that if we did, what do we do the next day?’ I pointed out to General Meiring that one of the most extraordinary aspects of our transition was the complete collapse of the National Security Management System (NSMS). One of the first acts of FW de Klerk when he became president was to dismantle the NSMS as well as downgrade the significance of the National Security Council (NSC)’ An extract from The Other Side of History: An Anecdotal Reflection on Political Transition in South Africa [Paperback]
Frederik van Zyl Slabbert – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-Side-History-Reflection-Transition/dp/186842250X
‘For example, in early 2000, I was sitting next to General George Meiring at a discussion workshop in a hotel near Hermanus. He was the last head of the SADF under President de Klerk and the first under President Mandela. The theme of the workshop, which was attended by young Israeli and Palestinian intellectuals, students and journalists, was to find out if some of the ‘magic’ of our transition could rub off on their situation. Heribert Adam, a close friend and former academic colleague from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, had made it depressingly clear that there was very little joy to be had for Israel and Palestine from our transition. (He and his wife, Prof. Kogila Moodley, have subsequently written a book about this, so I will not repeat their compelling arguments: H Adam and K Moodley, Seeking Mandela.)’ – “Seeking Mandela” by Heribert Adam and Kogila Moodley – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seeking-Mandela-Peacemaking-Palestinians-ebook/dp/B001M0MP0U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323957010&sr=8-2
’In the few months prior to the onset of negotiations, I had some discussions with General Constand Viljoen and he made no secret that, on behalf of the military, he felt a deep sense of betrayal and anger.
He and other generals were urged from various quarters to stage a coup. (Read Days of the Generals by Hilton Hamann, for a fascinating account of this period.) ‘I have 30 000 men under arms who will rise at a moment’s notice,’ he told me a number of times in those first few months. Viljoen, who is an expert on revolutionary warfare, was well aware of the folly of a coup option, but he was also very frustrated and angry at the political marginalisation of, what he saw as, the interests of the Afrikaner minority through the unfolding process of negotiations. And for this, he put the blame squarely on De Klerk’s shoulders. I was so concerned about Viljoen’s anger and his intended abandonment of the whole process of negotiations that I managed to raise some foreign funds (West Germany) to employ his identical twin brother Braam to help with involving Constand in the process.’ – “Days Of The Generals: The Untold Story of South Africas Apartheid-era Military Generals” [Paperback] by Hilton Hamann –> http://www.amazon.com/Days-Generals-Africas-Apartheid-era-Military/dp/1868723402
