L-R: Graca Machel, Abdullah Ibrahim, Samora Machel and Sathima Bea BeanjaminOn 17 August 1982, Ruth First was killed by a letter bomb sent to her by South African security agents. The explosion in her office in on the campus of the Univ...
L-R: Graca Machel, Abdullah Ibrahim, Samora Machel and Sathima Bea BeanjaminOn 17 August 1982, Ruth First was killed by a letter bomb sent to her by South African security agents. The explosion in her office in on the campus of the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane killed her instantly and wounded Aquino de Bragança, Pallo Jordan and Bridget O’Laughlin, who were with her at the time. The letter bomb had been prepared by Jerry Raven under the instructions of Craig Williamson, a major in the South African Police - both of whom were granted amnesty by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commision for their terrorist crimes. Their amnesty was unsuccessfully challenged by family members.Ruth First was one of the defendants in the Treason Trial of 1956-1961, alongside 156 other leading anti-apartheid activists who were key figures in the Congress Alliance. After the state of emergency, that followed the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, First was listed and banned. She could not attend meetings, publish, and could