Ben Turok eyes of some senior members in the ANC hierarchy. I tried to persuade Trevor Manuel, who was head of the ANC’s department of economic policy, to invite Professor Adebayo Adedeji, who had been the head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and is a very distinguished scholar, but he was not interested. I found it hard to accept that the leadership in Shell House did not think it worthwhile to benefit from the substantial experiences of the rest of Africa in managing the post-independence political economy. ANC leaders were increasingly preoccupied with the process of negotiations and, in direct consequence, heavily engaged in regular interactions with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as with business interests at home and abroad. The cold shoulder accorded to IFAA was not a new experience for me. I had become used to being marginalised by the exiled leadership in London and Lusaka, and now proceeded to plough my own furrow in IFAA. However, this did not stand in the way of my renewing my warm comradeship with people like Walter Sisulu and many others, with whom I had worked before my departure abroad and in exile. Despite funding difficulties, we pressed ahead with a vigorous programme of lectures, seminars and publications. The IFAA gradually established a reputation as a dynamic, small think-tank broadly supportive of the ANC but with wider intellectual and political concerns. Outside the day-today activities of IFAA, I also became more directly involved in ANC policy discussions and local structures. Mary and I were invited as ‘veterans’ to the 1991 ANC conference in Durban – a gathering of great symbolism and emotion. 24
With my head.indd 24
2014/03/14 11:26 AM