SA
Wally Mbhele
An anti-apartheid hero who in 1979 pulled off a daring escape from the Pretoria Central Prison is fighting a new struggle – against bureaucrats in the democratic government.
Alex Mombaris, a Greek national, visited South Africa last week to attempt to persuade the Department of Home Affairs to grant him permanent residence. His belief in communism, he thinks, is the real reason behind his new struggle.
Mombaris first applied for residence in a visit to South Africa in 1996, when he was a guest of the African National Congress. He was hosted by, among others, President Nelson Mandela, for his contribution to Umkhonto weSizwe’s armed struggle which led to his arrest and imprisonment. He was jailed in 1973 for 12 years for treason for his involvement in arms smuggling.
Despite several attempts, he has not heard from the Department of Home Affairs again.
Mombaris, who was recruited into Umkhonto weSizwe by Deputy Minister of Defence Ronnie Kasrils, returned to Paris last week a very disappointed man. He says he does not expect his support for the struggle to be repaid, but it could at least be reciprocated.
He believes that when home affairs bureaucrats see him, they see red. He has been asked to fill in a section in his application form to disclose whether he has ever been a member of a communist party or associated with similar organisations.
“I am a communist, everybody knows that. Bram Fischer was a communist. All who were in jail with me were communists. Even in the government there are many communists,” he says.
“To ask me a question like this on an application form is discrimination. Would I be refused residence if I’m one? I have raised this matter with ministers, with Kasrils for instance, [Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs] Aziz Pahad, I also saw [Deputy President] Thabo Mbeki when he was in Paris, I’ve raised it with almost everybody relevant in the government,” says Mombaris.
He thinks the South African Communist Party is not leading the struggle to socialism properly. “In so far as I don’t see socialism advance, I’m disappointed,” he says.
Mombaris remains on a blacklist of “undesirables”. When he arrived in South Africa in 1996 he was held at the airport for six hours, in the presence of former high-ranking ANC official Cyril Ramaphosa.
Kasrils intervened on his behalf and he was allowed out of the airport. Among the people he was imprisoned with were SACP official Jeremy Cronin and ANC stalwart Tim Jenkins.
“Before my initial visit, I’d written to Kasrils and submitted my request for permanent residence in South Africa. It was four years ago but I’m still filling in application forms. It’s an indignity to be subjected to this kind of interrogation. It’s a scandal,” Mombaris protests.
“I have suspicions, theories and explanations but I think there’s a problem. It is not so much for me to solve the problem but others should solve it for me.
“When I risked my life, my liberty, my time, nobody asked me for a police clearance, those questions were not asked. I’ve been in the movement since 1967. But I think we should be above that.”
Asked to comment about the progress made in the new South Africa, Mombaris said although he recognises the constraints faced by his comrades in the government, he is nevertheless worried.
“Millions of South Africans have no water, they live in shacks in appalling conditions. People have no time to wait because many will die.”
The Department of Home Affairs had not responded to the Mail & Guardian’s queries at the time of going to press.