A Circle of Impressions Long Walk Original Manuscript (Image #196)

own flesh and blood. My restriction to Johannesburg put me out of touch with developments in other parts of the country and I was now keen to pick up the old threads and brush up my knowledge. Although I read the newspapers as carefully as I could, journalists are usually not the best source of information for those who must plan on the basis of hard facts. What could offer me a better opportunity than to go out and talk directly to people who were in the centre of activities in their respective areas? My first stop was at G.S.D. Nyembe's home near Dannhauser. He was then vice president of Natal ANC and one of the top figures in Nothern Natal. I did the same in Ladysmith and paused to chat with Ahmed Sader, Frank Bhengu and his father. Dr. Ahmed Sader, while studying abroad had been associated with the International Union of Students (IUS). On completing his medical studies he had settled down to practicing medicine in Ladysmith and had emerged as one of the top figures in the Natal Indian Congress in Northern Natal. Between him and G.S.D.Nyembe, and with the assistance of other leading Congressites, they had organised the whole of Northern Natal as a strong base of the Congress movement. They all briefed me on the situation in their region and when later in the afternoon I left Rosebaum Township where the Bhengus lived, the cobwebs were beginning to fall away from the mind. My next stop was Pietermaritzburg where I hoped to see Dr Chota Motala, Archie Gumede and Harry Gwala for an hour or so, so I thought. The Midlands, with Pietermaritzburg as the centre, was one of the best organised regions in the whole country for the COP campaign and to want to talk to its principal figures was but natural. Soon Moses Madiba, Dr. Omar Hassim and S.B.Mungal were there and we talked and talked for hours. I had not slept for two nights now and drowziness and