US Foreign Policy and the End of the Cold War In Africa: A Bridge Between Global Conflict and the New World Order, 1988–1994

Abstract

because it seemed that Sedibe ‘had bought into the regime’. For Ebrahim, Sedibe’s actions were ‘betrayal, on a profound and destructive level’ (217). Perhaps it is Ebrahim’s experience with betrayal that makes him reluctant to comment on problems afflicting the ANC today. In the conclusion to Beyond Fear, he recalls how on Robben Island ANC leaders discussed being ‘servants of the people [that] were steadfastly against corruption, factionalism and ill-discipline’ (284). Though Ebrahim concedes ‘these values have become eroded’, his memoir gives no sense of how this erosion occurred (285). His views on the ANC’s degeneration would be valuable, especially because of his closeness to Jacob Zuma. But as Kasrils recalls, Ebrahim ‘didn’t like to raise his voice publicly [...] but rather within the movement and to comrades. It was that kind of loyalty’. This loyalty permeates the book and, with it, the impressive emotional and physical fortitude Ebrahim possessed that enabled him to endure banning, exile, imprisonment, and torture. But this loyalty also limits the book’s utility for scholars. While it affords valuable insight into the lived experiences of a South African freedom fighter, Beyond Fear does not take us far beyond the existing frontiers of South Africa’s political history. It might have.