Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Ingwavuma Unit Suffers Arrests – Part 3

Accordingly, on 10 November 1984, Robert Dumisa noted in his diary that his Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Ingwavuma Unit Commissar told him that the apartheid South African Defence Force (SADF) troops were seen patrolling the river and the road in the vicinity of their base, while another contingent of soldiers were observing the area from Salamfene, and yet more were seen making their way down the mountain. Dumisa further noted that given this portentous turn of events, they had to conduct reconnaissance to determine the location of the apartheid security forces so as to avoid confrontation or detection. His immediate solution was that they had to depend on the people for information and at the same time keep the enemy speculating about their whereabouts. Despite these observations, the situation continued to deteriorate, when on 13 November 1984, Dumisa noted that two days before, Jameson Mngomezulu’s young daughter, Busisiwe, came back alone from Swaziland to report the arrest of her father. According to Dumisa, such an action to come and report without being told to do so was a reflection of matured thinking. When the ten-year-old girl was asked by the soldiers where the guerrillas were, she informed them that there was only one man who lived with her father and she did not know where he was. She completely denied knowledge or the presence of the Unit. However the writing was on the wall, as Dumisa noted, “This arrest is going to give us serious problems”. Acco