The Durban International Film Festival hosted a sneak preview of the documentary film, “London Recruits”. It tells the story of activists who were recruited in Britain to spread the message inside South Africa in the 1960’s and ’70’s that the banned African National Congress (ANC) was still alive and fighting against apartheid.
Former Intelligence Minister, Ronnie Kasrils was involved in the recruitment and training of these young people for a propaganda campaign in a number of South African cities.
Between 1967 and 1971, over half a million leaflets were distributed through so-called bucket bombs.
Speaking at the preview, Kasrils says when these bucket bombs simultaneously exploded harmlessly in various spaces, it spewed thousands of leaflets into the air.
“We trained them in the use of these leaflet bombs and how to set them up, and gave them instructions of where to place them, in strategic places , the market place, the train stations, the taxi ranks. And on a particular time and day throughout the country in five major cities, they didn’t know of this, but they would place four or five of these bucket bombs around the city, and at a specific time they would all bang! go up and it caused tremendous excitement on the ground.”
VIDEO: Documentary film “London Recruits” on apartheid SA’s secret propaganda war to be released in 2024:
The Film Festival is one of the platforms for the film industry to swap ideas and hone their craft. Director Gordon Main says he met Jacintha De Nobrega at a workshop in London, who then went on to become the South African co-producer.
“And I met this incredible, dynamic person Jacintha and explained this thing. She said: that’s a great story. we need to tell that. And the rest is history really. She just made this happen. We came to meet the Commission, we came to KZN and we very quickly realised that the talent here, the locations here, the can-do attitude of the whole of the province and the city here in Durban just transformed what was a great story into what we believe, is now a great movie.”
