1989 doesn’t usually resonate in the chronology of significant anti-apartheid activism. Yet, that year saw the rise to power of FW de Klerk in South Africa and progress (albeit halting) towards the release of Nelson Mandela and other activists of the liberation struggle from prison, the unbanning of political organizations, and the negotiated dismantling of the apartheid state.

That trajectory, however, was a contested one with an ongoing state of emergency throughout the country, numerous acts of violence, and Winnie Mandela faced organizational exile from the United Democratic Front over allegations of violence by her supporters. This talk will explore these and other themes.