No title {Arrest} Long Walk Original Manuscript (Image #491)

Chapter Fourteen: We returned from Durban on a Sunday afternoon of the 5th August. Cecil Williams was driving and I sat next to him in a white dust coat. Cecil had been chairman of the Congress of Democrats and a leading member of the Springbok Legion. He was also prominent in the theatre world and had produced several plays. It was a clear, cool day of Natal, whose scenic beauty has always charmed me, was particularly strinking that afternoon. From the time of our arrival in Durban up to the moment of our departure I had had a crowded programme of clandestine activities involving travelling around the city and townships every night, speaking to individuals and groups, and drawing up my report for the National Executive of the ANC. My friends Monty Naicker, his wife Marie, Ismail and Fatima Meer, J.N.Singh and Radhi and others gathered at the place where I was staying and gave me an inspiring send off. I had looked forward to the return journey as a form of rest and recovery from exhaustion. I had had little time to see Zami and the children and I now hoped to spend some days with them discussing domestic matters and telling them about my travels and impressions abroad. Soon after leaving the stuffy atmosphere of a big industrial city we travelled through rolling hills and majestic views. The relaxing weather and clean fresh air cleared away my drowsiness. Durban is the main sea port for the country's leading industrial area, the Witswatersrand, and the highway between the sea port and Johannesburg runs closely to the railway line for the greater part of the distance, lending strategic significance to this artery for those planning future operations. Soon my