Berend Schuitema with members of the Marshals Corps (Eastern Cape December 2008)
ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT
"Aan het goede kant"
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus
prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom
ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie,
in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel
op maandag 30 september 2013 te 14.00 uur
door
Roeland Willem Anton Muskens
geboren te Rotterdam
Review Interview: Radio 1, NOS, NTR, Kunststof. Interview Roeland Muskens, by
Petra Possel (07-08-2014)
One Dutch word that is understood throughout the world –
Apartheid led to civil protest in the 1960’s but in the course of time became a
national-based mass movement which became gradually more militant. About this
our guest wrote a book, “Aan het goede Kant”. Here is Roeland Muskens.
Petra Possel: Good evening. Mr. Muskens you wrote a
book on the history of the Dutch Anti Apartheid Movement. Let me first ask you:
were you yourself involved with the Anti Apartheid Movement? I recall some time
ago when a billiards competition was held throughout Holland in which money was
being collected for the ANC. You have written a massive book of 700 pages which
will tax readers.
Roeland Muskens: That is true. The material was so
fascinating that I could not stop writing!
Petra Possel: You cover a significant chapter in
Dutch activism spanning a period from 1960 to 1990 intricately involved with
South Africa and allied to the African National Congress. Three decades of a
very significant period from the early 1960’s to the release of Nelson Mandela
from prison. But before we get into the discussion let us first talk about you.
You are a nephew of Bishop Muskens. No!?
Roeland Muskens: um, um . . . .
Petra Possel: Yes, Bishop Muskens he is your uncle .
. . . .
Roeland Muskens: Yes, but I knew him from a whole
other angle. I met him at a conference of returning missionaries from Africa.
And when he appeared people flustered, stick away any bread you may have with
you.
Petra Possel: laughs . . . It does of course rhyme with
your activism. The Catholic moral was that if you were very poor you were
permitted to carry off a loaf of bread from a shop. So were you inspired by
your activism in which you immersed yourself?
Roeland Muskens:
Well, I would not normally befriend a Catholic Bishop, but uncle Tinnie (I
called him uncle) was an exception. He stood on the “Goede Kant”.
Petra Possel: So he passes muster?
(Interlude, soccer report)
Petra Possel We continue with our talk with Roeland
Muskens), we are talking about the campaign to free Roeland Muskens, the
Boycott Outspan Action with its ghoulish poster of “don not squeeze a black
South African” depicted by a white hand squeezing out an orange, we know about
the actions against Shell, the attacks on the Makro businesses and the burning
down of ISV establishments, etcetera. I have encapsulated the whole history of
the Dutch Anti Apartheids movement in a few sentences, but Roeland Muskens
worked on the subject for seven years and finally produced a 700 page book.
Roeland Muskens: Yes, it became a book weighing a
full kilogram.
Petra Possel: You are a political scientist with a
lot of practical experience in Latin American action groups. What brought you
to write about South Africa?
Roeland Muskens: Well, it is actually quite simple. A
number of people out of the Anti Apartheid Movement approached me to write the
book. The reason for this was that I seemed well qualified, but more
importantly had no nor direct involvement in the movement.
Petra Possel: So you were not involved at all in the
movement itself?
Roeland Muskens: That is right; I was not involved at
all. But like all people in the Netherlands I was fully aware of the Anti
Apartheid Movement. I attended a few rallies and was also present at the mass
meeting when Nelson Mandela came to Amsterdam for his first visit.
Petra Possel: So you were an activist. And did you
also around with one of the typical canvas bags over your shoulders”? You were
not involved in the movement itself. Was this a condition for your writing the
book?
Roeland Muskens: Well, yes. The Anti Apartheid
Movement was riddled by factions. So the problem was that groups were competing
with one another sand could raise the issue that one was getting too much
attention at the expense of others.
Petra Possel: who by name invited you to write the
book?
Roeland Muskens: Sietse Bosgra.
Petra Possel: Sietse Bosgra.
Roeland Muskens: He was the central figure of the
Anti Apartheid Movement. He started the Committee Zuidelijk Afrika (KZA) in the
1970s, a few years after the Dutch Anti Apartheid Movement itself. This KZA
must not be confused with the Comite Zuid Afrika (CZA), which existed from
shortly before the Sharpeville massacre.
Petra Possel: It is interesting that in the post war
years many Dutch were still aligned to the Afrikaners in the post Boer War
Tradition. Then from the time of the CZA / AABN there comes a total inversion
in a very short time. How and, why is this so?
Roeland Muskens: Well, it is a kith and kin, or blood
relationship. The Boers were at first Dutch settlers who trekked inland. The
Dutch Reformed connection was also a powerful bond. Sharpeville was a tipping
point and also should the Christian communities. This was as result of
stringent pass laws administration. Blacks were allowed into the white areas if
they were directly invited to work for whites. (Muskens goes into more details
about the run up to and actual shootings at Sharpeville and aftermath.)
Petra Possel: So out of this came a surge of
activism, but the political parties remained more or less neutral. And then of
course there were the financial interests; something similar to the sanctions
imposed by the EU and US on Russia at that time was not possible against South
Africa.
Roeland Muskens: If one thinks about it took the anti
apartheid movement internationally thirty years of agitation without success,
but in the case of Russia it happens almost overnight.
Petra Possel: In your book you make mention of the
many organizations that made up the broader anti apartheid movement. . . . . .
Roeland Muskens: . . . . . . . you had the CZA, the
KZA, the AABN, Kairos, Boycott Outspan Action, and later the Azania Committee.
Then from mid 1980’s the radical wing of autonomous/anarchist groups which
controlled the anti apartheid media space.
Petra Possel: Why is it that there were so many
groups while the issue of racial discrimination was so obvious?
Roeland Muskens: The easy answer to this is that in
the Netherlands this always happens. Each small town has two soccer clubs.
There were also ideological differences. The AABN identified with the Dutch
Communist Party, CPN. Here we think of Connie Braam . . . . . .
Petra Possel: . . . . . . . . . And Berend
Schuitema, a strong charismatic figure. They were the two central figures. And
the other group that had no links with the CPN was the KZA.
Roeland Muskens: Yes, the KZA was first the Angola
Committee, and when Angola was freed it focused on Southern Africa in the
broader sense. The KZA went fishing in AABN waters which caused a lot of
friction. Any attempt to b erring about some sort of fusion or collaboration
were tried, but consistently failed.
Petra Possel: Yes, I surmised so from your book.
Roeland Muskens: None of the central figures were
easy people. I spoke to all concerned and found them all amicable and highly
motivated people.
Petra Possel: One of the people who you did not speak
to was Berend Schuitema. He still lives and is in South Africa.
Roeland Muskens: Yes, he was the initiator of the
AABN. He was a South African exile with huge convening power and charisma. When
he spoke people hung at his lips. He led the AABN for six years. I did not
speak to him unfortunately. In 1974 there was a clash and Berend Schuitema left
Amsterdam.
Petra Possel: This clash and here we come again on
the topic of clashing factions, and also a lot of distrust. It was suggested by
Breyten Breytenbach, that Berend Schuitema was a traitor who had him arrested. Was
this ever proved?
Roeland Muskens: No, there was never any proof of
this. What happened is that Breytenbach got Schuitema involved in setting up a
“white wing” of the ANC.
Petra Possel: so in fact to broaden the resistance to
include active whiter members in South Africa.
Roeland Muskens:
Yes, part of the ANC was in favour, but part was vehemently opposed. Under
pressure of the latter the AABN kicked Berend Schuitema out of the movement.
Petra Possel: In your book did you find any proof of
Berend Schuitema being a spy.
Roeland Muskens: No.
Petra Possel: What happened to him?
Roeland Muskens: It was a heavy blow for him. Lost
everything and wondered around in Europe for a few years. After what he
suffered one could say that he suffered a post traumatic stress. For a while he
found himself with the IRA. This makes sense because it was anti British which are
what the Irish also were. He also rubbed shoulders with other radical movements
in Europe.
Petra Possel: Could you say that he started drifting?
Why did you not visit him?
Roeland Muskens: Well, for the reason that he went
drifting. I also read a lot about him and a lot of what he had written himself
and I felt that there was not much that I could use.
Petra Possel: You could also think that he became a
victim to the vicious internecine fighting? It was a time when people beat one
another’s brains out because of the polarization.
Roeland Muskens: It was enormously polarized, indeed.
There were many conflicts but which the groups managed to keep to themselves.
Petra Possel: I also spoke to Sietse Bosgra, the man
who handed over the archive to you. He said that when he read your book he was
amazed to realize how strong and pernicious the role of communists was within the
AABN. He said he always suspected this, but your book confirms this. This helps
him to make a reconstruction of the entire period. They wanted a regime change
in the Netherlands and were also prepared to block any Dutch funding for the
ANC. The ANC got all its funding from the Soviet Union and that is how they
wished it to stay. This was scandalous; the idea that if Western governments
started funding the ANC that it would thereby results in undermining Moscow’s
influence over the ANC.
Roeland Muskens: That checks, but in my researches I
could not directly prove this. It is true that in the offices of the AABN it
was almost totally packed with communists. Earlier this was not the case as on
the board of the AABN there were normally one or two communists. But there was
nothing confirming a formal connection between the AABN and the CPN.
Petra Possel: Sietse Bosgra wrote a critique on your
book which confirms what I have told you. To him it seemed as if the AABN were
expecting a Russian invasion at any time.
Petra Possel: Let us look at something else. Nelson
Mandela was an icon, a symbol of peaceful change.
Roeland Muskens: until the end of the 1970s nothing
much was known about Mandela. The ANC wished to signal the role of Mandela and
in the Netherlands this gained most traction.
Petra Possel: Eventually he was freed. Let us go to
the first visit of Mandela to Amsterdam. You were also there, at the Leidse
Plein? (Some clips on Madiba’s speech and the very loud cheering around the
Leidse Plein).
Petra Possel: we are speaking with Roeland Muskens who wrote
a very thick book on the history of the Dutch Anti Apartheid Movement. He
described all the fights, splits and frictions in the movement but in the end
all came together to welcome Mandela to Amsterdam. The announcement was made by
the Mayor of Amsterdam, Ed van Tijn.
Roeland Muskens: Yes, a committee was put together
including mainly Amsterdam municipal officials and members of the various anti
apartheid committees. Squabbling broke out among members of the movements and van
Tijn had to intervene.
Petra Possel: Yes, I remember this. Connie Braam flew
in against one another in a fight and they had to be separated. Van Tijn
emphasized that he would do the introductions and chair Mandela’s meeting and
if the movement members were not satisfied with this they could bugger off.
Nelson Mandela was a poor speaker. Could you give an explanation why the Anti
Apartheid Movement hit it off with the Dutch public?
Roeland Muskens: in my view the Anti Apartheid
Movement offered the Dutch another chance for having either collaborated with
the Nazis, or who did little. In the final analysis there was no economic or
other interest which was common between South Africa and the Netherlands.
Petra Possel: About the radicalization of the
movement in its later year years. We are speaking of the fires started at Makro
establishments, etc. Clip from a spokesperson from an anarchist movement, RARA:
“for years we have had agitation by the Anti Apartheid Movement for called for
Dutch firms to leave South Africa. There was no result. By setting fires to
these firms they will have costs to calculate and come to the conclusion that
they can best get out of South Africa”. What was the impact of this on
public opinion and on the established movements?
Roeland Muskens: The movements, the KZA as well as
the AABN considered these actions a threat to established public opinion
supporting them.
Petra Possel: It is remarkable that these actions
were not branded as “terrorist”.
Roeland Muskens: Yes, that also surprised me. There
was instead considerable goodwill and tolerance of these radical actions. These
radicals could build on the enormous work that went ahead of the many the
established organizations. The AABN was marginal at the time and not involved
with the Shell Oil boycott. This anarchist upsurge outflanked the AABN which
was impotent and floundering. (In the words of Petra “op z’n kont lag”), but
the incident gave it a spinning machine for media coverage.
Petra Possel: So basically the radical movements
overtook the institutionalised movement. As you said, “we got sand in our
eyes”. What is interesting is how events in South Africa played out in the
Netherlands. For example, the Klaas de Jonge case which in the shortest possible
time got a whole talking machine going.
Roeland Muskens: Yes, the Klaas de Jonge gave the
AABN a welcome respite and it was able to milk the event to the hilt. Klaas de
Jonge became known as the last “true Dutch hero”.
Petra Possel: During your PhD promotion a member of
the public stood up and questioned you about the torture and murders in SWAPO
camps. In a letter to a newspaper he accused you of sidelining the question.
Roeland Muskens:
Yes, I did read up on this but this was not in South Africa, but
affected Namibia. The AABN tried to smother the issue. It was only the
religious KAIROS that brought up the matter. “Torture is torture”
Petra Possel: And did you deal with Winnie Mandela
and the murder of Stompie Sepei?
Roeland Muskens: In a liberation movement there are
always things that go wrong.
Petra Possel: Yes, that I can understand. But your
book title is “Aan het Goede Kant”. So this means that both sides be seen in
the same light.
