In the recent months Gillian Scott-Berning visited the APC to conduct some research on Nelson Mandela. Harriet Hedley and Gillian Scott-Berning have established an independent South African fine and decorative arts consultancy known as Gilfillan Scott-Berning. Gillian is interested in establishing Nelson Mandela’s links with people and places in KwaZulu-Natal at the time he worked underground from March 1961 until his arrest on 5 August 1962 with a special focus on his last few days (23 July – 5 August) of freedom in South Africa following his Africa trip. The detail of his activities, meetings and movements are not entirely known and huge gaps remain in our knowledge of this period.
While this is not surprising given the secretive nature of his work, it would be wonderful to fill in some of the details. For example, it is known that Mandela spent two weeks in and around Tongaat on the Hurbans’ farm in July 1961. Towards the end of the month he was present at two very important meetings; one with the ANC National Executive Council and the following evening he attended a meeting of the Congress of the People (including the Natal Indian Congress, the Congress of the People and SACTU). However, there is very little information about the 10 days prior to these meetings apart from the fact that he was disguised as a worker or petrol bowser on the Tongaat farm. Similarly for the period at the end of July and the beginning of August 1962, it is known that he was in contact with various people in Durban and Stanger prior to his fateful return trip to Johannesburg. However, apart from a few meetings that has been confirmed by a number of participants, the details of this time are sketchy or are not known. It is for this reason that I am checking original documents and oral interviews in the hope of completing the puzzle and would be extremely grateful for any information any of your readers or researchers may be able to provide. The research is being undertaken for the Mandela Capture Site Museum which is under construction outside Howick.