SHAKING HANDS WITH BILLY - a new book by Dr Anthony Richard Turton
Shirene Dovey
Shaking Hands with Billy by Dr Anthony Richard Turton has just been published by Just Done Productions R350
Dr
Turton’s work is the record of a personal journey, through one
man’s experiences of various branches of the South Africa Security
infrastructure. It is a detailed recollection, and almost obsessively footnoted
and cross referenced. It provides a surprisingly intimate glimpse into a hidden
world, the subterranean part of the ice-berg that was “The State”.
The book takes us beyond this personal narrative however, leading us to explore
in our memories and experiences the way that the personal relates to the
communal; how the miracle of the 1994 elections had many precursors in some of
the most secretive aspects of the National Party created apparatus, and how
those experiences could, or should, inform our journey onward as both a society
and a country.
Dr Anthony Turton says in the introduction to this book “I pen the hidden history of South Africa’s transition to democracy as I experienced it, for no reason other than to seek to understand it myself. It is with considerable pride and a deep sense of humbleness that I commit a piece of the as yet unknown history of the Chief Directorate Covert Operations (CDCO) of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to writing. This is done, not with the intention of engaging in an orgy of kiss-and-tell self-aggrandizement, but rather as a humble record for those interested in such things, in order that they may know about the hidden world that was shrouded by intense secrecy that pervaded the very best years of my entire generation.“
“I dedicate this work to the memory of my comrades-in-arms in the three Security Force formations that I had the privilege to serve in – the Light Horse Regiment (LHR), 81 Armoured Brigade of the South African Defence Force (SADF); the Chief Directorate Covert Operations (CDCO) of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), also known as Chief Directorate “K”; and the South African Secret Service (SASS) of which I was a founding member, specifically serving within the Chief Directorate Covert Collection and Counter Intelligence (CDCCCI) – in a sincere attempt to explain our complex history as accurately as I am capable.”
The title, Shaking Hands with Billy, refers to a code-phrase used during a special operation, designed to bring the planner of the Pretoria car bomb to justice. I experienced this event as a turning point in the Armed Struggle, because I saw a major shift in Security Force response as a direct result, in a way that is remarkably similar to the contemporary American-led War on Terror. Using this analogy, the Pretoria car bomb was our mini 9/11 and nothing was the same afterwards, including the angry response by government that was hell-bent on finding a culprit to hold accountable. As an intelligence officer in that special operations team, I was confronted with many contradictions, so over time the notion of Shaking Hands with Billy came to symbolize to me the political transformation that occurred in South Africa, when we faced our darkest hours. I later came to respect the operative who we code-named “Billy”, and was pleased to see him take his rightful place as a democratically elected Member of Parliament. We never brought Billy home to trial as intended, because the peace negotiations aborted all aggressive operations, allowing us to give our full attention to sustaining the momentum towards peace instead. Thus, for me, Shaking Hands with Billy came to eventually represent the transformation in our own society, as we moved from endemic violence to what appears to be a stable peace. I believe that is a noble pursuit and so I share it.
“On its surface Shaking Hands with Billy is the story of one man’s odyssey. And odyssey is, I believe, the correct word, neither overstatement nor misrepresentation. To be sure, many chapters in Anthony Turton’s personal narrative describe the recruitment and work of a Cold War soldier – instilling in him a sense of detachment, manifest in that chilling, if necessary, “thousand yards stare”. Yet it is less a tactical, macho, warrior epic like the Odyssey than an alienated veteran’s dragged-out struggle, his repeated attempts to reconcile himself to a political landscape that is both strange and at times uncomfortable, and then to embrace the chaos and complexity as, for better or worse, his only home.”
James G. Workman
· Size 228.6mm x 210mm
· Publication Date 1 December 2010
· Preview Shakinghands_Preview.html View the Preview
· Number of Pages 556
· ISBN 13 978-1-920315-58-0
· Illustrations/Photos Black and White interspersed throughout the text
· Cover Type Paperback
· Colour pages 8
· Binding Section Sewn
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