
Spy
Uncovering Craig Williamson
Jonathan Ancer(Author)
Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 17. March 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-4314-2149-7 (ISBN)
Description
The apartheid agent and killer who got away with it all ...
It was in 1972 when the seemingly ordinary Craig Williamson registered at Wits University and joined the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). Williamson was elected NUSAS's vice president and in January 1977, when his career in student politics came to an abrupt end, he fled the country and from Europe continued his anti-apartheid 'work'. But Williamson was not the activist his friends and comrades thought he was. In January 1980, Captain Williamson was unmasked as a South African spy. Williamson returned to South Africa and during the turbulent 1980s worked for the foreign section of the South African Police's notorious Security Branch and South Africa's 'super-spy' transformed into a parcel-bomb assassin.
Through a series of interviews with the many people Williamson interacted with while he was undercover and after his secret identity was eventually exposed, Jonathan Ancer details Williamson's double life, the stories of a generation ofcourageous activists, and the book eventually culminates with Ancer interviewing South Africa's 'super-spy' face-to-face. It deals with crucial issues of justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, betrayal and the consequences of apartheid that South Africans are still grappling with.
It was in 1972 when the seemingly ordinary Craig Williamson registered at Wits University and joined the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). Williamson was elected NUSAS's vice president and in January 1977, when his career in student politics came to an abrupt end, he fled the country and from Europe continued his anti-apartheid 'work'. But Williamson was not the activist his friends and comrades thought he was. In January 1980, Captain Williamson was unmasked as a South African spy. Williamson returned to South Africa and during the turbulent 1980s worked for the foreign section of the South African Police's notorious Security Branch and South Africa's 'super-spy' transformed into a parcel-bomb assassin.
Through a series of interviews with the many people Williamson interacted with while he was undercover and after his secret identity was eventually exposed, Jonathan Ancer details Williamson's double life, the stories of a generation ofcourageous activists, and the book eventually culminates with Ancer interviewing South Africa's 'super-spy' face-to-face. It deals with crucial issues of justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, betrayal and the consequences of apartheid that South Africans are still grappling with.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Johannesburg
South Africa
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4314-2149-7 (9781431421497)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jonathan Ancer is a journalist who has held various positions on a variety of publications: reporter at The Star, features writer at Directions magazine, editor of Grocott's Mail and crossword columnist for the Cape Times. He has won awards for hard news journalism, feature writing and creative writing.