Mandela Provides Feedback on His Trip Abroad
On 28 July 1962, Joe Slovo informed his wife, Ruth First, that a convergence of people working in the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC) was about to take place and they had to attend. The couple then travelled to Liliesleaf Farm, in Rivonia, in the morning, where they found Nelson Mandela and other members of the Congress Alliance, including Moses Kotane, Michael Harmel, Duma Nokwe, Rusty Bernstein, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Mark Shope, Dan Tloome, J.B. Marks, Ahmed Kathrada and two other African members from Durban. Mandela was there to brief them about his overseas trip, especially a general overview of his travels.
Mandela began by itemising the monies received and the offers of training that were extended, as well as the reservations that were expressed about the ANC’s cooperation with whites, Indians and especially communists. During a meeting with the Zambian leaders, they informed Mandela that while they knew that the ANC was stronger and more popular than the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), they understood the PAC’s pure African nationalism but were bewildered by the ANC’s non-racialism and cooperation with communists.
Mandela then went on to explain that himself and Oliver Tambo, the Head of the External Mission, felt that the ANC had to appear more independent in order to reassure the organisation’s new allies, since they would ultimately be the ones providing t
