Dear Phil,
I related to Eve and Tony when I joined the Congress of Democrats (CoD) as a Wits medical student. Eve was the more active of the two and I did not get to know Tony very well. However I do remember his infectious laugh and good sense of humour.
I remember very well all those many years ago - in the late 50's - how we used to silkscreen posters to be put up on walls at night. or leaflets for distribution. Eve would often be mixing glue - from a starch base - at her house in Orange Grove - to which they moved after staying at Cottesloe for a while. She usually took the lead in all these activities.
One evening the 3 of us went out in their car to put up posters denouncing the new Education Act which was going to impose Christian National education on all schools. We went round Jo'burg pasting up these posters - which had swastikas painted on them to emphasise the point - and we ran out of glue. We still have a few posters left and drove off to have coffee.
On the way we passed the Grays, a building where the Special Branch (SB) had their headquarters and I asked Tony to stop. I took some of the remaining posters and said I was going to deliver them to Colonel Spengler, head of the SB. Tony and Eve waited for me in the car round the corner of the building.
I went up to the 6th floor where the SB offices were and was promptly arrested by two young uniformed cops. They took the posters stuffed under my jumper and the one said to the other, pointing at the swastika "Wat is dit?" His partner said "Dis seker 'n Kommunistiese simbool." (It must be a Communist symbol") I was sent to Marshal Square police cells for the night and later charged with trespass. Tony and Eve had driven off, realising what had happened when I didn't reappear.
On another occasion we went round Jo'burg spreading leaflets announcing the formation of MK ( Umkhonto we Sizwe - The Spear of the Nation). Several members of the CoD took part and most of us were arrested and taken to the infamous Marshal Square. We were photographed and finger-printed and expected to be charged. We never were. We only found out years later why. One of the CoD members arrested was Gerald Ludi and he was eventually exposed as a police spy.
It was sad to be at your Mom's memorial and sadder to see what has happened to the ANC that we supported at great cost to ourselves. The promises of the Freedom Charter have dissolved and what we now have is a ruling party that is drifting into fascism. But that is another story.
Costa Gazidis
I related to Eve and Tony when I joined the Congress of Democrats (CoD) as a Wits medical student. Eve was the more active of the two and I did not get to know Tony very well. However I do remember his infectious laugh and good sense of humour.
I remember very well all those many years ago - in the late 50's - how we used to silkscreen posters to be put up on walls at night. or leaflets for distribution. Eve would often be mixing glue - from a starch base - at her house in Orange Grove - to which they moved after staying at Cottesloe for a while. She usually took the lead in all these activities.
One evening the 3 of us went out in their car to put up posters denouncing the new Education Act which was going to impose Christian National education on all schools. We went round Jo'burg pasting up these posters - which had swastikas painted on them to emphasise the point - and we ran out of glue. We still have a few posters left and drove off to have coffee.
On the way we passed the Grays, a building where the Special Branch (SB) had their headquarters and I asked Tony to stop. I took some of the remaining posters and said I was going to deliver them to Colonel Spengler, head of the SB. Tony and Eve waited for me in the car round the corner of the building.
I went up to the 6th floor where the SB offices were and was promptly arrested by two young uniformed cops. They took the posters stuffed under my jumper and the one said to the other, pointing at the swastika "Wat is dit?" His partner said "Dis seker 'n Kommunistiese simbool." (It must be a Communist symbol") I was sent to Marshal Square police cells for the night and later charged with trespass. Tony and Eve had driven off, realising what had happened when I didn't reappear.
On another occasion we went round Jo'burg spreading leaflets announcing the formation of MK ( Umkhonto we Sizwe - The Spear of the Nation). Several members of the CoD took part and most of us were arrested and taken to the infamous Marshal Square. We were photographed and finger-printed and expected to be charged. We never were. We only found out years later why. One of the CoD members arrested was Gerald Ludi and he was eventually exposed as a police spy.
It was sad to be at your Mom's memorial and sadder to see what has happened to the ANC that we supported at great cost to ourselves. The promises of the Freedom Charter have dissolved and what we now have is a ruling party that is drifting into fascism. But that is another story.
Costa Gazidis
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