the following day. She was not going to fly with them to Ghana, but Makiwane would be there waiting for them. ‘We understood Makiwane to be the man responsible for despatching us to China, and the role he later played confirmed that.’ On 5 November, Frene took them to the airport, where they took a flight to Khartoum. At Khartoum airport they were given forms to complete. In the space for nationality, Andrew wrote ‘African’ and this sparked a debate. The immigration official explained that ‘African’ meant nothing as every citizen of Africa, including himself, was an African. Again, Mhlaba had been smarter than Andrew, and correctly written ‘South African’. The embarrassment was between him and the official this time around, but Andrew wondered if some of his slip-ups would jeopardise their trip further on. He was determined to improve his alertness.
The city was very hot, even though the sun had already set. Because they had plenty of time, they decided to take a walk through the streets of Khartoum. The city itself seemed friendly and safe. On one street they came across a group of six boys of African ethnicity like themselves, different from the Arabs of the city. The boys asked where they were from. Mhlaba and Andrew said they were from Dar es Salaam and asked the boys where they were from. The boys said that they were from Darfur in the south and were studying at the local university. They asked Mhlaba and Andrew to come and address them at a meeting later that evening on serious matters affecting Darfur people. Nervous about their status in the country, Mhlaba and Andrew said they were unable to do it. Later, when they were to learn about the issues between South and North Sudan, they remembered this incident and realised that the problems had long been there.
They landed in Nigeria the next afternoon. Some of the passengers disembarked at Lagos airport while those who were heading for Accra in Ghana, as they were, remained on board. It was extremely hot but that was not an issue any more – a soldier had to endure all sorts of weather and living conditions. After all, they had left bad living conditions back home and did not rule out even harsher conditions in the future. By the time they arrived in Accra it was early evening. Makiwane was already waiting. After helping them through the airport procedures and immigration authorities, he warned them that there were Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) people around the corner and advised using a different route to avoid contact with them. Rivalry had increased since they had both gone into exile. Constant fighting for space had caused tension and mistrust between the two liberation movements. ‘They already know there are South Africans coming,’ Makiwane said.
They later learned that the PAC people in question were Peter Raboroko and Peter Molotsi whom they knew very well, having been close comrades before they left the ANC. Andrew thought it would have been nice to see them, but kept it to himself and opted to sheepishly follow Makiwane as he took them to a hotel in Accra where they were to stay until they were ready to proceed to their next destination.
It was the eve of the queen of England’s visit to Ghana, Friday 17 November 1961, and the hype of her visit was everywhere. The streets she was going to use were already decorated, as were the public places she was going to visit. Apart from these obviously attractive additions, Andrew found Accra generally a noisy city, a feeling echoed by other members at the time. ‘There were so many taxis on the roads, each constantly hooting for passengers.’ Only their hotel rooms were safe from this deafening noise. Makiwane had told them that they were to stay in Accra for four days before proceeding to China via two other stops. Andrew and Mhlaba found Makiwane, like Frene, to be very efficient at coordinating their travel. During their few days’ stay in Accra, he took Andrew to the Ghanaian authorities and got him the travel documents for China. He then took Mhlaba to the Guinean embassy, for his travel documents (Andrew was to travel as a Ghanaian and Mhlaba as a Guinean). On the first day of their stay in Accra, Makiwane finalised their travel documents and on the next day he took the two to the Chinese embassy to visit the authorities there, including China’s ambassador to Ghana, Huang Hua, a man in his late 40s. Then they were free to walk the streets of Accra.
On the morning of the fourth day they boarded a plane to Prague, arriving at around four in the afternoon. The weather was cloudy and it was already dark. The next day they boarded another plane to Moscow, and after a few hours connected from there to Irkutsk. The plane had left in the evening and arrived in the early hours of the following day. They were supposed to fly immediately to Beijing in China but bad weather prevented them from taking off. For three days they could not fly, and had to stay in a hotel. Andrew enjoyed the breakfast at the hotel. ‘Every day I ate twelve boiled eggs with bread and coffee. Ray ate only six.’ But each morning they lamented that they had not travelled such a long journey only to be stuck there enjoying breakfast. During their stay in Russia, the authorities had tried to suggest a safer route via Mongolia, but the Chinese authorities had advised against it, suggesting instead that they stay there until the weather allowed them to fly directly to China. ‘Mongolia was a socialist state close to Russia. We did not understand why the Chinese were not comfortable with our travel through it but we never bothered to ask.’
Only on the fourth day was the weather good enough for them to fly out of Russia, and they boarded for Beijing. When they arrived, the Chinese authorities, interpreters, and their comrades Mthembu, Gqabi, Mkwayi and Naidoo were waiting at the airport. They exchanged greetings, hugs and laughter. So began their year-long experience in China and their rigorous preparations to liberate their people back home.
The South African trainees’ last days in China were spent rather differently. The tight military programme had come to an end and for the whole of October and three weeks of November 1962 they toured Shanghai, the Chinese city Andrew Mlangeni regarded as the ‘Johannesburg of China’ because of its sophistication. Andrew found everything in Shanghai elegant. The city was huge and full of people – going up and down and minding their own business, day and night. Andrew was impressed that so many people there spoke English. The trainees had also been taken to the British colony of Hong Kong, and Andrew would later remark that there was more English spoken in Shanghai and Hong Kong than in any other part of China that he had visited.
He was also impressed with the natural landscapes of China, and by the immense pride the Chinese people held in their cultural and heritage sites. For nearly two months the new trainees explored what Andrew would later describe as the wonders of the Chinese people. He saw a nation united in love for its country and with a shared hatred of its adversaries. He observed the power of the spirit of patriotism and positive nationalism. At that time he did not care whether loyalty to the country’s flag was voluntary or enforced – he cared only about the bond that created a nation jealously guarding its resources and sovereignty. China reinforced in him his own bond with his country and his people.
By late-November, when arrangements for their trip back home were finalised, and he had gathered insights about the Chinese, he had to accept that it was time to return. The feeling among all six of them was a mixed bag of emotions. They had grown close to their trainers and other people they had met, the warmth and hospitality. Andrew was particularly impressed by the hardworking people of China. ‘Each Chinese citizen realised that the country could be made better through hard work,’ he later remarked. But they also longed to be home, to see their families, and to put into practice what they had learned.
Naidoo left two days before Andrew and the other four comrades, and headed for London to continue his studies. The rest of the trainees flew to Moscow. They were met by a Russian comrade whom Andrew would later describe as friendly and energetic and who was not shy to display his passion for the Communist Party and his country – a Russian version of the patriotism he had seen among the Chinese and that he hoped one day to see in South Africans. Such character, he thought, would never betray the struggle of the people, or let down the freedom achieved. During the time he had spent in China, Andrew had come to believe that in any event the struggle did not end with the attainment of political freedom but continued afterwards, to defend freedom and its gains. What they had learned should be required learning for all South Africans. ‘It’s a pity we can’t bring everyone here,’ he said.
The Russian comrade was excited to have met them and confirmed that the Russians were already committed to training members of the ANC in conversional education and military instruction. None of the South Africans found out the exact position and rank of this man in government or in the Communist Party, but he seemed very informed about developments around the world and within his party.