Around Mother Africa Long Walk Original Manuscript (Image #443)

wanted to have a discussion with me and pointed out that his house in town would be the most ideal place for the purpose. At that time the Anderson Ganyile affair, who was kidnapped from Basutholand by agents of the South African government, was still fresh in our mind. I bluntly refused and told Kirby that we could discuss everything where we were. But after receiving assurances from my friends that he had been of assistance to all our friends who passed through the country and that I had nothing to fear from him I accepted his invitation and we drove to his house. Although I was invitated to him as David Motsamai he obviously knew who I was and along the way repeatedly complained that we should have told him beforehand that I was coming and added that he was not only the Immigration Officer but also the Security Chief for Lobatsi. That shook me badly. In my country the Security Police were not just concerned with the safety of the State but were the instrument the enemy used for persecuting freedom fighters and all those who opposed racial discrimination. As an outlaw I had been dodging them for 10 months only to find myself in the clutches of one of them in the course of an important mission. It turned out that my fears were qute baseless and Kirby had no sinister motives. He outlined the position in his country quite well and made sensible suggestions in regard to my security whilst in Bechuanaland. He pointed out that Fish's house was a dangerous place for me in which to stay for the South African authorities well knew that every South African refugee stayed there. Secondly he pointed out that the house was in the African township where Fish lived was near the South AFrican border and within the easy reach of South Africa and difficult for them to protect. He then