In a Different Time: The Inside Story of the Delmas Four

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Umuzi, 2008 - Biography & Autobiography - 319 pages
This book tells the story of four young South Africans who embark on a mission that will ultimately take them to Death Row. They are a highly trained and experienced assassination squad reporting directly to Chris Hani.The narrative details their infiltration into the country, their operations, arrest and subsequent trial. These men are the foot soldiers who sacrificed everything. As their trial unfolds with their attorney fighting to save them from the gallows, so too does the story of their own lives and the choices they make. The story is set in a South Africa gripped by unrest and political tension, when the ANC was in exile and repression at its height.It tells of the extraordinary lengths people go to in order to fight for what they believe, and the acts people will commit to preserve the status quo. The characters are linked by bizarre coincidence and tragedy in a true account narrated by their attorney.Woven through the narrative is the construction of a bomb and its journey towards its target, and the circumstances which enable that meeting.

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About the author (2008)

PETER HARRIS was born in Durban, South Africa, and was educated at Michaelhouse, Rhodes and Warwick University. After practicing law for 15 years, he was seconded to the National Peace Accord, and headed the Monitoring Directorate of South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission for the 1994 election. He consulted for the UN, and was Director of Programmes at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm. In South Africa, he co-founded the Resolve Group Management Consultancy, and is its Executive Chairman. He is a board member of the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC). His book titled 'In a Different Time: The Inside Story of the Delmas Four' won the 2009 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award and the South African Booksellers' Choice Award.