The Theatre of Violence

Exposing often overlooked aspects of state repression and political violence, this profound and deeply compassionate study documents the often contradictory and confusing stories of those who committed some of the most dreadful deeds during South Africa's apartheid era. In telling their stories, individuals on various sides of the apartheid divide, from the police force and intelligence officers to grassroots activists and members of township self-protection units, offer the first critical examination of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty process, show how media representations of protagonists inform public perceptions, and scrutinize international scholarly writings on the issue of political violence. Tracing political violence in South Africa from 1960 to 1994, these accounts show how an overarching theater of violence forced protagonists to compete with each other, almost spiralling South Africans into a political vortex that risked outright societal disintegration.