Apartheid's Friends: The Rise and Fall of South Africa's Secret Service

by James Sanders

Very little has been written about the South African secret intelligence, but revelations to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the new culture of confessions now make that possible. James Sanders has gathered classified documents and interviewed ex-operatives since 1997 and has pieced together an extraordinary, unsavoury picture of the Intelligence Service, both inside South Africa and overseas.He reveals evidence of state-sponsored murder not only to intimidate the ANC but also to allow hard men within the police and the armed forces to let off steam. He reveals that Republican political candidates in the US were assisted in elections against anti-Apartheid Democrats. He shows that South Africa supplied Argentina with weapons during the Falklands War and that Harold Wilson's surprising outbursts, when he claimed that South African intelligence agents were trying to bring down his government, were based on hard evidence. At operational level, South African Intelligence had in

Genres: Africa, History, South Africa

560 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2006

About the author

James Sanders is an architect, author and filmmaker, based in New York City. With Ric Burns, Mr. Sanders co-wrote the 17 1/2-hour, eight-part PBS series, New York: A Documentary Film, and co-authored New York: An Illustrated History (Knopf, 1999). In 2000, the series received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series, an Emmy Award for Editing, and an Alfred I. DuPont/Columbia University Silver Baton Award. The series’ eighth episode, a history of the World Trade Center entitled, “The Center of the World,” was broadcast nationally in September 2003, and Mr. Sanders and Mr. Burns have recently completed a 75-minute film portrait of Columbia University for its 250th-year celebration in 2004.

Mr. Sanders is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and Architectural Record, and co-produced major exhibitions on the history of New York housing and the urban heritage of 42nd Street, held at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Since 1995 he has been co-host of the New York Conference on ECHO, an online community. He is the head of the Center for Urban Experience, a research and design institute, based in New York, dedicated to exploring innovative new ways of understanding and experiencing the urban environment.

Mr. Sanders maintains a design practice in Manhattan. His public work includes projects for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Pershing Square Management Association (Los Angeles), the Parks Council, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. His private commissions include the offices of Word.com, the residences of New Yorker fiction editor Bill Buford, Professor Edward Said, and the actress Molly Ringwald, as well as urban design and development consultation for The Mercer in SoHo. His design work has been published in House Beautiful, Interiors, the New York Times “House and Home” section, and will appear this year in an upcoming issue of Architectural Digest. In 1990, Mr. Sanders designed Mac Wellman's Crowbar, which restored the historic Victory Theater on 42nd Street to legitimate theatrical use.

Mr. Sanders is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, is the chair of the New Media Committee for the AIA’s Center for Architecture, and currently teaches at the New School in Manhattan.