From rural herd boy to MK soldier and then ambassador: the autobiography of Mabuse Mampane

Mabuse Mampane, also known as Reddy Mazimba, left his rural home in Sekhukuniland at the tender age of eight in 1951 to begin work as a herd boy in a neighbouring village, before leaving South Africa to undergo military training abroad as a member of uMkhonto weSizwe in 1963. He spent the next 27 years in exile. This is the story of his early life, political conscientisation and illegal departure from the country; his military training abroad and life in MK camps in Africa; his work in OR Tambo's security detail in Zambia; his role as ANC Chief Representative in Tanzania and in the establishment of SOMAFCO; his experiences as Chief Representative in Zimbabwe and recollections of the Olivia Forsyth spy saga; his leadership of the ANC security section in the CODESA talks; his experiences as South African Ambassador to Angola, Sudan and Swaziland; and re-connecting with a family he had last seen decades before, and a sister he had not met until his return to the country in the 1990s.