Spy – Uncovering Craig Williamson
Jonathan Ancer discusses his book 'Spy – Uncovering Craig Williamson'. (Camera & editing: Darlene Creamer)
It was in 1972 when the seemingly ordinary Craig Williamson registered at Wits University and joined the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS).
Williamson was elected NUSAS’s vice president and in January 1977, when his career in student politics came to an abrupt end, he fled the country and from Europe continued his anti-apartheid ‘work’. But Williamson was not the activist his friends and comrades thought he was. In January 1980, Captain Williamson was unmasked as a South African spy. Williamson returned to South Africa and during the turbulent 1980s worked for the foreign section of the South African Police’s notorious Security Branch and South Africa’s ‘super-spy’ transformed into a parcel-bomb assassin.
Through a series of interviews with the many people Williamson interacted with while he was undercover and after his secret identity was eventually exposed, Jonathan Ancer details Williamson’s double life, the stories of a generation of courageous activists, and the book eventually culminates with Ancer interviewing South Africa’s ‘super-spy’ face-to-face. It deals with crucial issues of justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, betrayal and the consequences of apartheid that South Africans are still grappling with.
About the Author
Jonathan Ancer is a journalist who has held various positions on a variety of publications: reporter at The Star, features writer at Directions magazine, editor of Grocott’s Mail and crossword columnist for the Cape Times. He has won awards for hard news journalism, feature writing and creative writing.
Spy – Uncovering Craig Williamson is published by Jacana Media
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