Peking’s Stake in Africa

In May 1963 when Michael Harmel and John Hodgson escaped from South Africa they stayed for a time in Lobatsi, a forlorn, dust-swept little town on the edge of the Kalahari Desert a few miles inside Bechuana- land, which had become a center of political intrigue.

Harmel and Hodgson had set up a training center for sabotage near Johannesburg where Hodgson, among others, had instructed selected Africans in the use of explosives. They had also arranged for promising young Africans to be sent to Soviet bloc countries and China for further guerrilla training. When the South African police got on their trail they skipped to Bechuanaland.

PL

About the Author

Pieter Lessing

Featured Tags

In May 1963 when Michael Harmel and John Hodgson escaped from South Africa they stayed for a time in Lobatsi, a forlorn, dust-swept little town on the edge of the Kalahari Desert a few miles inside Bechuana- land, which had become a center of political intrigue.

Harmel and Hodgson had set up a training center for sabotage near Johannesburg where Hodgson, among others, had instructed selected Africans in the use of explosives. They had also arranged for promising young Africans to be sent to Soviet bloc countries and China for further guerrilla training. When the South African police got on their trail they skipped to Bechuanaland.