Charlene Smith
King Carl Gustaf of Sweden this week knighted long-time anti-apartheid activist Horst Kleinschmidt with the Order of the Polar Star, Sweden’s highest award for foreigners.
Sweden became the first government to acknowledge the incredible work over five decades of the organisation International Defence and Aid Fund (Idaf), which Kleinschmidt headed from 1979 until its closure in 1991.
There is hardly a Cabinet minister who did not benefit from the hundreds of millions of rands Idaf covertly siphoned to South Africa to help those arrested or jailed for their activities against apartheid and to support their families – including the families of President Nelson Mandela and Deputy President Thabo Mbeki – putting thousands of children through school and placing food on the table for many.
Entire law firms existed almost wholly on funds channelled to them by Idaf for the defence of clients arrested for anti- apartheid activities, regardless of their political affiliation.
As Kleinschmidt – who was arrested, held in solitary confinement and finally fled South Africa in the early 1970s to later head Idaf – recalls: “Often the African National Congress accused us of bias towards the Pan Africanist Congress or black consciousness, and often the PAC would accuse us of being a front for the ANC.
“All their accusations were ill-founded. We made it our business to assist opponents of apartheid, often not even knowing what party an individual supported.
“The work we did was secret. Because we were banned as an organisation, we had to conduct our business clandestinely, employ subterfuge and create a range of decoys. Detection would have meant immense suffering and further court cases in South Africa. The very essence of our work was not to be found out.
“This meant that in our offices the words, and names, of those we assisted were never mentioned, even whispered. The need-to-know principle was applied rigorously. We knew that we carried an enormous responsibility.
“Even the reprehensible apartheid agent [Craig] Williamson had to concede many years later that the security police never managed to break the security [Idaf] employed in its operations.”
To do their work, Idaf employed the services of thousands of supporters, who would, using a pseudonym, each month write a letter and send money to anti-apartheid activists, many of whom were banned, banished or in jail, or to their families. They would enclose money to assist the person or his or her family.
Well-known artist George Pemba, as an example, was banished for a time but was funded over three decades by fellow artist, and the deputy director of Idaf under Kleinschmidt, Barry Feinberg.
Pemba only recently discovered the identity of his real benefactor -who wrote, as all did, under a pseudonym – and said that Feinberg’s assistance and encouragement had helped him continue working through decades in which poverty was a daily reality and he received no recognition for his work, which is now recognised as among the finest in South Africa.
Swedish ambassador Bo Heineback said the king made his decision based on the close working relationship the Swedes had had with Idaf as its major sponsors over many decades. He said the Order of the Polar Star “is only given to someone of high talent and intellect, to someone of impeccable character”.
Heineback said that Idaf had with integrity channelled millions of Swedish kronor to victims of apartheid in South Africa over many years.
Kleinschmidt noted: “We are only in our fifth year of our young democracy and sadly I feel it is difficult to try and recall and make others understand the vicious effect on all our lives under apartheid repression.
“This honour belongs also to those who had the courage, commitment and dedication to represent in the courts the many political trialists. Their courage was not only in standing up for human rights, but also in potential danger for receiving funds from a banned organisation.
“Some 170 attorneys and 80 advocates risked their freedom in the event that the special branch detected the ruses and circuitous routes devised by Idaf.
“Most importantly the honour belongs to those whom we assisted, tens of thousands of detainees, banned and banished people and the long, long lists of prisoners, as well as the wives and families who waited.”
The award is in the form of a medal worn on Swedish national days, and a small lapel pin with the colours of the Swedish flag.