A compelling portrait of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro’s story and its lasting significance in South Africa’s history, Parcel of Death by Gaongalelwe Tiro is out this August from Pan Macmillan.
Parcel of Death recounts the little-told life story of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro, the first South African freedom fighter the apartheid regime pursued beyond the country’s borders, to assassinate with a parcel bomb.
On 29 April 1972, Tiro made one of the most consequential revolutionary addresses in South African history: the Turfloop Testimony. Many of his fellow student activists were subsequently expelled, igniting a series of strikes in tertiary institutions across the country. By the time he went into exile in Botswana, Tiro was president of the Southern African Student Movement (SASM), permanent organiser of the South African Student Organisation (SASO) and a leading Black Consciousness proponent, hailed by many as the ‘godfather’ of the June 1976 uprisings.
‘A biography of Onkgopotse Tiro, who was at once a catalyst and an active change agent in the South African struggle for freedom, is long overdue. For generations to come, this book will be a source of valuable information and inspiration.’ —Mosibudi Mangena
Parcel of Death will be launched at Exclusive Books Rosebank on Thursday 22 August 2019.
