Slovo
The unfinished autobiography of ANC leader Joe Slovo
Joe Slovo
Joe Slovo began his political life as a lawyer at the Johannesburg Bar where he was a colleague and close collaborator of Nelson Mandela in the 1950s. He also served as Mandela's lawyer in that period. He was co-founder with Mandela of the ANC's guerrilla movement, and became the first white person elected to the ANC national executive.
Slovo began writing this autobiography after the fatal bomb attack on his wife, Ruth First, portrayed in the film "A World Apart." After many years in prison and exile, Slovo returned to South Africa where he was to play a leading role in the constitutional negotiations. Following South Africa's first-ever democratic election in April 1994, he won widespread respect and admiration as Minister for Housing. He died of cancer in January 1995.
Joe Slovo did not only interpret the world, he helped change it.
—Nelson Mandela
Our man for all seasons.
—Nadine Gordimer, Nobel prize winner
A remarkably gutsy man and a born raconteur.
—New Statesman
South Africa’s most important and most popular white leader.
—The Guardian
Story-telling and jokes were among Joe Slovo’s gifts: they were a way of lightening the dark times of defeats and deaths which came with a political choice that was both brave and extremely rare for a white. This unfinished work is his authentic voice…
—Victoria Brittain, The Guardian
Story-telling and jokes were among Joe Slovo’s gifts: they were a way of lightening the dark times of defeats and deaths which came with a political choice that was both brave and extremely rare for a white. This unfinished work is his authentic voice…
—Victoria Brittain, The Guardian
