A Circle of Impressions Long Walk Original Manuscript (Image #204)

fortnight I spent at home. Daliwonga, who was playing a leading part in persuading the Bunga to accept Bantu Authorities, was also a member of the Committee and we met the same night. He was the central figure in the discussions quite pressed for time and we arranged to meet later at home. Meanwhile I slept in a boarding house in the town. I thought I had left the Security Police behind on the Rand and had not suspected that they had spread their tentacles as far afield as my home town. I was still drinking coffee with two chiefs in my room when early next morning my hostess brought in a white gentleman. Without any courtesies he arrogantly asked, "Are you Nelson Mandela?" "And who are you?" I countered. He gave his rank as a detective sergeant and his name. I then asked, "May I see you warrant, please?" He resented my impertinence much more than I detested his own arrogance but after some hesitation he produced his authority. I then told him that I was Nelson Mandela. He requested me to accompany him to the police station and I asked whether I was under arrest to which he replied that I was not. I refused togo. Whereupon he fired a succession of questions while at the same time noting my remarks in his notebook: when did I leave Johannesburg, what places had I visited, how long did I intend remaining in the Transkei, exactly where would I go on leaving the area, did I have a permit to enter the Transkei? I told him where I would stay, that the Transkei was my home and that I did not need a permit to enter it, but refused to answer the other questions. When he left the Chiefs criticized me for my abruptness, stressing that I could have answered some of the questions without any risk to myself. I expained that I had done so because of the man's discourtesy and