African Knowledge Production Series

• The seminar will take the form of a panel discussion, with a facilitator asking questions to which each of the panel will respond briefly and spontaneously.
• The panellists will also be encouraged to respond to each others’ inputs.
• This format will allow for a dynamic and interactive exploration of the issues, rather than a series of speeches.
• The panellists are requested to respond to the facilitator from their own experience, rather than from a general organisational and historical knowledge.

The panel of military veterans will be asked to Reflect on some or all of the following, based on their personal experiences:

• Personal decision to join Umkhonto we Sizwe and adopt armed struggle
• Your experience of the establishment of MK and the training of the first MK units
• The level of preparation of MK
• Your reflections on the sabotage campaign of 1961-1963 and its successes and failures
• The ‘Operation Mayibuye’ plan and the consequences thereof
• The Post Rivonia period and the difficulties faced by MK in re-establishing its structures
• Your experience of MK in exile, in Angola and elsewhere
• Lessons from your experiences for the youth of today
• What qualities do you feel were necessary in order to provide leadership in the struggle in past decades?
• What sacrifices did you make?
• If you could go back in time, would you make the same choices?
• What message do you have for young people today?