Irony upon Irony upon Irony: The Mythologising of Nationalist History in South Africa.

Many myths assert that Albert Luthuli as President-General of the African National Congress (ANC) launched the armed struggle on his return to South Africa after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1961. The first substantive biography on Luthuli (Couper 2010) utilises extensive archival evidence from Luthuli's own pen to argue that the iconic leader never countenanced the initiation of violence by Umkhonto we Sizwe. These divergent interpretations spark what is arguably one of the most relevant and controversial historical debates in South Africa. First, the author argues that those who dismiss Luthuli's own words are fearful of a history that drives a wedge between Luthuli and the ANC when in fact its history is littered with examples of President-Generals whom the Congress and its perceived contexts outgrew and 'retired'. Second, the author argues that those who dismiss the archives are fearful that the Luthuli thesis undermines the assumption that ANC traditionally operates as a collective through consensus decision making despite the fact that unilateral decisions made by Nelson Mandela to initiate violence and later to negotiate with the National Party regime occurred to avoid known objections by his colleagues. Perhaps the ironies present in the remembering of one icon will lead to ironies being remembered in another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]