Title: Total Onslaught
Subtitle: Apartheid's dirty tricks exposed
Author: De Wet Potgieter
Publisher: Zebra Press
Cape Town, South Africa 2007
ISBN 9781770073289 / ISBN 978-1-77-007328-9
Softcover, 15 x 23 cm, 344 pages, several bw and colour photographs
For much of its time in power, the National Party government was shored up by the direct involvement of its security forces. Ordinary citizens had no idea that their taxes were being used to fund unorthodox and even illegal operations, ranging from international propaganda campaigns to local death squads. From the dreaded Security Branch, the sinister Civil Cooperation Bureau, the aptly named BOSS and the ubiquitous front companies set up to bypass an arms embargo and economic sanctions, South Africa was run by stealth. It was the government’s Total Strategy against the enemy’s Total Onslaught. Now, for the first time, investigative reporter De Wet Potgieter can reveal the truth behind some of the most enigmatic events in South Africa’s past, from what happened during PW Botha’s final cabinet meeting to the assassination of Olof Palme. These, and many other news stories of the time, afford a rare and fascinating glimpse into the behind-the-scenes machinations of South Africa’s security apparatus in the apartheid era.
Preface
Abbreviations
The beginning
If I had a hammer
No more Mr Nice Guy
Wolves in sheep's clothing
The war of words
The spider's web
Stockholm sends a signal
Enemy of the State
A smorgasbord of suspects
Palace revolution
The Groot Krokodil bites back
The honey trap
The Joker in the pack
Wag the dog
Ship of fools
Night of the generals
Collateral damage
Bibliography
Index