Peter Ralph Randall
Encyclopedia
Peter Ralph Randall was an anti-apartheid
publisher in South Africa, and was banned by the former South African government between 1977 and 1981. He later became a professor in charge of teacher education at the University of the Witwatersrand
, Johannesburg.
newspaper, and his mother, Elizabetha Margaretha Randall (née Powrie), was a specialist nursing sister. Randall was educated at the Open Air School, the Durban Preparatory High School, and Kearsney College
, and after matriculating he trained at Natal Teachers’ Training College (NTC) in Pietermaritzburg. He also completed a BA in English and history through the University of South Africa. He was the first Kearsney matriculant to obtain a distinction in English, and he gained distinctions in English each year thereafter, from teacher training to BA level. In 1956 he was awarded a medal for best final-year student at NTC.
At NTC he met Isobel Hickman, the previous final-year medallist, and they were married in 1958 in Greytown. From 1957 to 1961 Randall was employed by the Natal Education Department, and taught at Vryheid High School and Greytown Junior School. In late 1961 he and Isobel travelled to England, and from 1962 through 1963 they were employed as teachers by Essex County Council (Peter taught at Broadfields County Primary and Mark Hall Secondary, Harlow). During this time they toured Europe and Britain in an old Bedford van, and before returning to South Africa they worked as apple-pickers.
In early 1964 they returned to Pietermaritzburg, and from 1964 until mid-1965 Randall lectured at NTC and was the warden of the men's residence. Daughter Lee-Ann was born in 1964, and in 1965 they moved to Johannesburg, where their second daughter Susan was born. Their third child Jonathan died as an infant; a second son named David was born in 1970.
because of the Bantu Education policy, and Randall went there several times to teach Afrikaans and to learn some Zulu. Other important influences on his thinking at this time were leading Liberal Party figures such as Peter Brown, author Alan Paton
and senator Edgar Brookes.
From July 1965 to mid-1969 Randall was Assistant Director of the South African Institute of Race Relations, based in Johannesburg. The Institute published several titles by him, including a series of talks he gave on human rights and the need for social justice. From mid-1969 to 1972 he was Director of Spro-cas (Study Project on Christianity in Apartheid Society), which was sponsored by the Christian Institute
and South African Council of Churches
(SACC). Randall worked closely with Beyers Naudé
who was heading the Christian Institute, and with other leading anti-apartheid clerics like Denis Hurley and Desmond Tutu
. Although Spro-cas was intended as a relatively short-term project, it put together a substantial body of publications. Under the directorship of Randall, it published some 25 titles with the view to contributing to the search for social justice in South Africa. One of those was Cry Rage!, an innovative collection of anti-poems by James Matthews
and Gladys Thomas, which became one of the icons of the Black Consciousness Movement
.
“Spro-cas 1”, the study project, was followed by “Spro-cas 2”, the action project, again with Randall as Director. After discussions — particularly with Bennie Khoapa
and Steve Biko
, it was decided to split the project into a Black Community Programme and a White Consciousness Programme. The aim was for the BCP to develop community education programmes, and for the WCP, where a key figure was Horst Kleinschmidt, to make South African whites aware of social injustice and the need for change. The project ran until the BCP was banned in 1977. The story is told in A Taste of Power, the final Spro-cas report written by Randall. Although some details had to be glossed over in this book due to state restrictions on the media, it paid considerable attention to Black Consciousness as well as to the sins of the apartheid government.
From 1973 to Oct 1977 Randall was Director of Ravan Press, which was established in 1972 by Beyers Naudé, Danie van Zyl and Randall (the unusual spelling of “Ravan” is due to the word being made up of the initial letters of Randall, van Zyl, and Naudé). Randall’s role was diverse: editor, publisher, salesman, and financial manager. In a time when “non-whites” were severely repressed by the government, Ravan Press became an important avenue through which dissident voices could be heard. Its first literary title was Sing for our Execution (1973) by Wopko Jensma
, and Randall proceeded to develop an impressive list of emerging writers. His approach was that: "Artists are able to interpret our situation and speak to people of all groups in a universal medium and in a way that academics, journalists and clergy cannot because they are so firmly labelled in their ethnic or denominational boxes." Ravan had several publishing “firsts”, most notable being the acceptance of JM Coetzee's first book, Dusklands, after it had been rejected by other South African and international publishers. Other firsts included works by Sipho Sepamla
, Chabani Manganyi, Miriam Tladi, Peter Wilhelm, and Stephen Gray
.
Due to his involvement in anti-apartheid publishing, Randall experienced severe state repression from 1970 onwards. His passport was confiscated in 1972 for a period of ten years. It was returned for one month in 1981, after pressure from German and American publishers for Randall to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair; it was returned in full in 1982. Randall was also prosecuted in 1973 under the Commissions Act for refusing to give evidence before the Schlebusch Commission, along with Beyers Naudé and others, and was sentenced to three months imprisonment, suspended. In 1974 the three founding directors of Ravan were prosecuted under the Internal Security Act for publishing the words of a “banned person” (Paul Pretorius of NUSAS), but the case was dismissed on a technicality because the security police confused Spro-cas and Ravan Press.
Randall also experienced harassment such as having his mail and telephone calls intercepted, attempts to plant spies, intimidation of bookshops not to stock Ravan titles, having his visitors trailed, cars being outside his house with listening devices in them, and so on. An unsuccessful attempt was made to entice both Randall and Naudé into a relationship with a buxom Post Office employee.
In 1974 Randall stood as a Social Democratic candidate in the Von Brandis constituency in central Johannesburg, in the national general election. Horst Kleinschmidt was his electoral agent, and to general surprise they managed to gain a thousand votes and save their deposit in a safe United Party seat.
The offices of Ravan Press in Braamfontein, Johannesburg were the target of bomb threats and acts of vandalism such as slogans being painted on the walls. Randall once endured a four-hour security police raid of Ravan (along with the other organisations in Diakonia House, such as the Christian Institute and SACC), during which every document and letter—and his personal diary—was scrutinised.
On 17 October 1977 Randall was served with banning orders by the Minister of Justice, Jimmy Kruger. At least forty black leaders were detained in the same month, and the Christian Institute and seventeen other organisations—mainly black consciousness groups—were declared unlawful and were not allowed to continue their existence. Other white South Africans banned in that month were Beyers Naudé, Cedric Mayson, Brian Brown, and Theo Kotze, all of whom were associated with the Christian Institute. The banning orders were for five years.
In terms of Randall’s banning order, he was forbidden to attend gatherings (the legal consensus was that this meant meeting with more than one other person at a time); he was forbidden to leave the Johannesburg magisterial area without the permission of the chief magistrate, Mr Francis; and he was forbidden to enter schools, factories, publishing houses and so on. He was also required to report weekly to his local police station and sign the register, and when going on holiday he had to report to the local police station on arriving at his destination. To attend functions at his children's schools or take his family on holiday he had to seek permission, which was sometimes granted and sometimes not. Mr Francis would forward Randall’s requests to the Minister, who would call for reports and recommendations from the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) and the security police, and the Minister would then instruct Francis. The granting or withholding of permission appeared to be completely arbitrary and no appeal was possible.
In 1981 Randall applied for permission to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair
—a request which drew divergent responses from BOSS and the security police. The head of BOSS suggested that it was best to let Randall attend the Fair, stating that “hy sal in elk geval gemonitor word” (in any case he will be monitored). Once in Frankfurt, Randall considered applying for political asylum in the UK, thus going into exile there, but ultimately he decided against this. His banning order was lifted later the same year by the new Minister of Justice, Kobie Coetzee, after approaches from the Progressive Party and others.
Randall's role in the anti-apartheid movement may not always have been very public. The South African Council of Churches pays tribute to him on their website with these words: "The final list of twenty five publications in the four year history (of Spro-cas) is testament to the courage and determination of Peter Randall and all who worked with him on the SPROCAS project." The effect of Randall's work reached into the heart of the Apartheid government as attested to by Mr Kobie Coetsee
, then the Minister of Justice, and who is generally seen as one of the prime movers in facilitating the dialogue between Mr Nelson Mandela
and the government. In an interview with Padraig O'Malley
on 27 September 1997 he stated that exposure to people like Beyers Naudé
, the thinking of Steve Biko
, and works like A Taste of Power (by Randall) lead him and others to acknowledge the righteousness of aspirations which were not satisfied but were being actively suppressed.
He remained in employment at Wits until his retirement in 1995, eventually becoming professor assignatus and director of teacher training. During this time he wrote an M.Ed dissertation on private schools, which was later published as Little England on the Veld. In 1989 he was awarded a Ph.D degree for his thesis on the role of the history of education in the training of teachers. Part of this research included Randall making study tours to the UK and US.
While at Wits University, Randall published a few academic articles and edited several collections. He delivered papers at international conferences held by the History of Education Society in Berlin, Lisbon, Cracow, and Dublin, some of which were published in the proceedings of the International Standing Committee on the History of Education. In the 1980s and 1990s Randall and his wife Isobel attended several conferences of the IBBY (International Book Board for Young People) in Groningen, Seville and Berlin, where they delivered joint papers.
After 1995 he continued as a part-time lecturer at Wits, a part-time editor at Ravan Press, and a book reviewer for Financial Mail. His career as a book reviewer had begun thirty years and some 300 titles earlier with the Rand Daily Mail, and during Randall’s banning his reviews had appeared under his wife Isobel’s name.
The William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand holds a collection of Spro-cas titles and other works by Randall.
The catalogue of the Library of Congress
in Washington DC lists 20 of Randall's works.
Copies of the Ravan Press correspondence between Randall and various authors (including JM Coetzee), as well as manuscripts, are archived in the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown, South Africa.
The South African Institute of Race Relations' archives include several of Randall's titles published between 1965 and 1969.
Guide to Malawi. (1971) Winchester Press, Johannesburg & Blantyre.
South Africa's Minorities. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #2. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Directions of Change in South African Politics. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #3. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Some Implications of Inequality. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #4. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Education beyond Apartheid: report of the Education Committee.(1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #5. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Towards Social Change : report of the Social Commission. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #6. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-001-1
Power, Privilege and Poverty : report of the Economics Commission. (1972) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #7. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-004-6
Apartheid and the Church : report of the Church Commission. (1972) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #8. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-006-2
Law, Justice and Society : report of the Legal Commission. (1972) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #9. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-016-X
South Africa's Political Alternatives : report of the Political Commission. (1973) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #10. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-022-4
A Taste of Power : the final co-ordinated report. (1973) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #11. Ravan Press, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-025-9
"Confused Mhlaba." published in Index on Censoring Vol. 5, no. 4 (Winter 1976) pages 1–9.
Not without honour : tribute to Beyers Naude. (1982) (Ed. Randall, P) Ravan Press, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-138-7
Little England on the veld : the English private school system in South Africa. (1982) Ravan Press, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-220-0
Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1982. (1983) (Ed. Randall, P) South African Institute of Race Relations, Johannesburg.
The Narrow Margin : how Black and White South Africans view change. (1983) ( Eds. Fredman, S; Nell, M & Randall, P) David Philip Publishers, Cape Town. ISBN 0-908396-80-5
Educating the educators : proceedings of a Conference on the Provision of Educators in South Africa, the university's role. (1983) (Eds. Freer, D & Randall, P): Department of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Addressing educational crisis & change : relevant private sector initiatives 11–12 March 1987 : the conference papers. (Ed. Randall, P) Centre for Continuing Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-85494-992-5
The role of the History of Education in teacher education in South Africa, with particular reference to developments in Britain and the US. (1988) Thesis (Ph.D.) University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
"Historico-Pedagogics and Teacher Education in South Africa." published in Perspectives in Education Vol II nr. 2.(Summer 1990) pages 36–47
"The Church, Schooling and Segregation in Colonial South Africa." published in Paedagogica Historica International Journal of the History of Education, Supplementary Series Vol I. (1995) University of Gent, Belgium. ISBN 9080049736
"The Beginnings of Ravan Press: a memoir." in Ravan: Twenty-five years (1972–1997). Published 1997 by Ravan Press, South Africa. ISBN 0-86975-496-3
"From orthodoxy to orthodoxy: the study of education at the University of Cape Town, 1910 - 1980." published in Paedagogica Historica International Journal of the History of Education, Supplementary Series Vol III. (1998) University of Gent, Belgium. ISBN 90-800497-6-X
Internal resistance to South African apartheid
Internal resistance to the apartheid system in South Africa came from several sectors of society and saw the creation of organisations dedicated variously to peaceful protests, passive resistance and armed insurrection. It came from both black activists like Steve Biko and Desmond Tutu as well as...
publisher in South Africa, and was banned by the former South African government between 1977 and 1981. He later became a professor in charge of teacher education at the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
, Johannesburg.
Early history
Peter Randall was born in Durban in 1935, the youngest of four sons. His father, Walter Kenneth Randall, worked as a journalist and court reporter for the Natal MercuryThe Mercury (South Africa)
The Mercury is an upmarket English language newspaper owned by Independent News & Media and published in Durban, South Africa.As the most popular English morning newspaper in the region, The Mercury has 269 000 readers .-Content:...
newspaper, and his mother, Elizabetha Margaretha Randall (née Powrie), was a specialist nursing sister. Randall was educated at the Open Air School, the Durban Preparatory High School, and Kearsney College
Kearsney College
Kearsney College is a private boarding school for boys in Botha's Hill, a small town that lies between the provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the largest city of KwaZulu-Natal, a province in South Africa.- History :...
, and after matriculating he trained at Natal Teachers’ Training College (NTC) in Pietermaritzburg. He also completed a BA in English and history through the University of South Africa. He was the first Kearsney matriculant to obtain a distinction in English, and he gained distinctions in English each year thereafter, from teacher training to BA level. In 1956 he was awarded a medal for best final-year student at NTC.
At NTC he met Isobel Hickman, the previous final-year medallist, and they were married in 1958 in Greytown. From 1957 to 1961 Randall was employed by the Natal Education Department, and taught at Vryheid High School and Greytown Junior School. In late 1961 he and Isobel travelled to England, and from 1962 through 1963 they were employed as teachers by Essex County Council (Peter taught at Broadfields County Primary and Mark Hall Secondary, Harlow). During this time they toured Europe and Britain in an old Bedford van, and before returning to South Africa they worked as apple-pickers.
In early 1964 they returned to Pietermaritzburg, and from 1964 until mid-1965 Randall lectured at NTC and was the warden of the men's residence. Daughter Lee-Ann was born in 1964, and in 1965 they moved to Johannesburg, where their second daughter Susan was born. Their third child Jonathan died as an infant; a second son named David was born in 1970.
Anti-apartheid activity
While a student at NTC, Randall took an interest in radical politics and approached Peter Hunter, a lecturer with similar views, with the hope of becoming constructively involved. Hunter took him to a school in Sobantu Village in Pietermaritzburg, where teachers had to learn AfrikaansAfrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
because of the Bantu Education policy, and Randall went there several times to teach Afrikaans and to learn some Zulu. Other important influences on his thinking at this time were leading Liberal Party figures such as Peter Brown, author Alan Paton
Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Paton was a South African author and anti-apartheid activist.-Family:Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province , the son of a minor civil servant. After attending Maritzburg College, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Natal in his hometown, followed...
and senator Edgar Brookes.
From July 1965 to mid-1969 Randall was Assistant Director of the South African Institute of Race Relations, based in Johannesburg. The Institute published several titles by him, including a series of talks he gave on human rights and the need for social justice. From mid-1969 to 1972 he was Director of Spro-cas (Study Project on Christianity in Apartheid Society), which was sponsored by the Christian Institute
Christian Institute
The Christian Institute is a British evangelical Christian pressure group. The CI promotes a Conservative Christian viewpoint, founded on the belief that the Bible is inerrant and should be the authority on all of life...
and South African Council of Churches
South African Council of Churches
The South African Council of Churches is an interdenominational forum in South Africa. It was a prominent anti-apartheid organisation during the years of apartheid in South Africa. Its leaders have included Desmond Tutu, Beyers Naudé and Frank Chikane....
(SACC). Randall worked closely with Beyers Naudé
Beyers Naudé
Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé was a South African cleric, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist...
who was heading the Christian Institute, and with other leading anti-apartheid clerics like Denis Hurley and Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
. Although Spro-cas was intended as a relatively short-term project, it put together a substantial body of publications. Under the directorship of Randall, it published some 25 titles with the view to contributing to the search for social justice in South Africa. One of those was Cry Rage!, an innovative collection of anti-poems by James Matthews
James Matthews (writer)
James Matthews is a South African poet, writer and publisher.He was detained by the apartheid government in 1976, and was denied a passport for 23 years....
and Gladys Thomas, which became one of the icons of the Black Consciousness Movement
Black Consciousness Movement
The Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
.
“Spro-cas 1”, the study project, was followed by “Spro-cas 2”, the action project, again with Randall as Director. After discussions — particularly with Bennie Khoapa
Bennie Khoapa
Bennie Khoapa was a social worker in South Africa during the 1960s and 1970s involved in the resistance to apartheid. He worked for the Young Men's Christian Association , and was supportive of the young activists of the time, especially the young Steve Biko...
and Steve Biko
Steve Biko
Stephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
, it was decided to split the project into a Black Community Programme and a White Consciousness Programme. The aim was for the BCP to develop community education programmes, and for the WCP, where a key figure was Horst Kleinschmidt, to make South African whites aware of social injustice and the need for change. The project ran until the BCP was banned in 1977. The story is told in A Taste of Power, the final Spro-cas report written by Randall. Although some details had to be glossed over in this book due to state restrictions on the media, it paid considerable attention to Black Consciousness as well as to the sins of the apartheid government.
From 1973 to Oct 1977 Randall was Director of Ravan Press, which was established in 1972 by Beyers Naudé, Danie van Zyl and Randall (the unusual spelling of “Ravan” is due to the word being made up of the initial letters of Randall, van Zyl, and Naudé). Randall’s role was diverse: editor, publisher, salesman, and financial manager. In a time when “non-whites” were severely repressed by the government, Ravan Press became an important avenue through which dissident voices could be heard. Its first literary title was Sing for our Execution (1973) by Wopko Jensma
Wopko Jensma
Wopko Jensma Wopko Jensma Wopko Jensma (born 26 July 1939 Ventersdoorp, Wopko Jensma (born 26 July 1939 [[Ventersdoorp]], Wopko Jensma (born 26 July 1939 [[Ventersdoorp]], [[South Africa]), is a [[South Africa]]n [[poet]] and [[artist]]...
, and Randall proceeded to develop an impressive list of emerging writers. His approach was that: "Artists are able to interpret our situation and speak to people of all groups in a universal medium and in a way that academics, journalists and clergy cannot because they are so firmly labelled in their ethnic or denominational boxes." Ravan had several publishing “firsts”, most notable being the acceptance of JM Coetzee's first book, Dusklands, after it had been rejected by other South African and international publishers. Other firsts included works by Sipho Sepamla
Sipho Sepamla
Sydney Sipho Sepamla was a contemporary South African poet and novelist.Born in a township near Krugersdorp, Sipho Sepamla lived most of his life in Soweto. He studied teaching at Pretoria Normal College and published his first volume of poetry, Hurry Up to It!, in 1975...
, Chabani Manganyi, Miriam Tladi, Peter Wilhelm, and Stephen Gray
Stephen Gray (writer)
Stephen Gray is a South African writer and critic who was born in Cape Town in 1941. He studied at the University of Cape Town, Cambridge University, England, and the University of Iowa, USA. Until 1992 he was Professor of English at the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg.Gray is a prolific...
.
Due to his involvement in anti-apartheid publishing, Randall experienced severe state repression from 1970 onwards. His passport was confiscated in 1972 for a period of ten years. It was returned for one month in 1981, after pressure from German and American publishers for Randall to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair; it was returned in full in 1982. Randall was also prosecuted in 1973 under the Commissions Act for refusing to give evidence before the Schlebusch Commission, along with Beyers Naudé and others, and was sentenced to three months imprisonment, suspended. In 1974 the three founding directors of Ravan were prosecuted under the Internal Security Act for publishing the words of a “banned person” (Paul Pretorius of NUSAS), but the case was dismissed on a technicality because the security police confused Spro-cas and Ravan Press.
Randall also experienced harassment such as having his mail and telephone calls intercepted, attempts to plant spies, intimidation of bookshops not to stock Ravan titles, having his visitors trailed, cars being outside his house with listening devices in them, and so on. An unsuccessful attempt was made to entice both Randall and Naudé into a relationship with a buxom Post Office employee.
In 1974 Randall stood as a Social Democratic candidate in the Von Brandis constituency in central Johannesburg, in the national general election. Horst Kleinschmidt was his electoral agent, and to general surprise they managed to gain a thousand votes and save their deposit in a safe United Party seat.
The offices of Ravan Press in Braamfontein, Johannesburg were the target of bomb threats and acts of vandalism such as slogans being painted on the walls. Randall once endured a four-hour security police raid of Ravan (along with the other organisations in Diakonia House, such as the Christian Institute and SACC), during which every document and letter—and his personal diary—was scrutinised.
On 17 October 1977 Randall was served with banning orders by the Minister of Justice, Jimmy Kruger. At least forty black leaders were detained in the same month, and the Christian Institute and seventeen other organisations—mainly black consciousness groups—were declared unlawful and were not allowed to continue their existence. Other white South Africans banned in that month were Beyers Naudé, Cedric Mayson, Brian Brown, and Theo Kotze, all of whom were associated with the Christian Institute. The banning orders were for five years.
In terms of Randall’s banning order, he was forbidden to attend gatherings (the legal consensus was that this meant meeting with more than one other person at a time); he was forbidden to leave the Johannesburg magisterial area without the permission of the chief magistrate, Mr Francis; and he was forbidden to enter schools, factories, publishing houses and so on. He was also required to report weekly to his local police station and sign the register, and when going on holiday he had to report to the local police station on arriving at his destination. To attend functions at his children's schools or take his family on holiday he had to seek permission, which was sometimes granted and sometimes not. Mr Francis would forward Randall’s requests to the Minister, who would call for reports and recommendations from the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) and the security police, and the Minister would then instruct Francis. The granting or withholding of permission appeared to be completely arbitrary and no appeal was possible.
In 1981 Randall applied for permission to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. As to the number of visitors, the Turin Book Fair attracts about as many visitors, viz. some 300,000....
—a request which drew divergent responses from BOSS and the security police. The head of BOSS suggested that it was best to let Randall attend the Fair, stating that “hy sal in elk geval gemonitor word” (in any case he will be monitored). Once in Frankfurt, Randall considered applying for political asylum in the UK, thus going into exile there, but ultimately he decided against this. His banning order was lifted later the same year by the new Minister of Justice, Kobie Coetzee, after approaches from the Progressive Party and others.
Randall's role in the anti-apartheid movement may not always have been very public. The South African Council of Churches pays tribute to him on their website with these words: "The final list of twenty five publications in the four year history (of Spro-cas) is testament to the courage and determination of Peter Randall and all who worked with him on the SPROCAS project." The effect of Randall's work reached into the heart of the Apartheid government as attested to by Mr Kobie Coetsee
Kobie Coetsee
Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to democracy....
, then the Minister of Justice, and who is generally seen as one of the prime movers in facilitating the dialogue between Mr Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and the government. In an interview with Padraig O'Malley
Padraig O'Malley
Padraig O'Malley is a peacemaker, noted author and professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston who specializes in the problems of divided societies, such as South Africa and Northern Ireland...
on 27 September 1997 he stated that exposure to people like Beyers Naudé
Beyers Naudé
Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé was a South African cleric, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist...
, the thinking of Steve Biko
Steve Biko
Stephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
, and works like A Taste of Power (by Randall) lead him and others to acknowledge the righteousness of aspirations which were not satisfied but were being actively suppressed.
Academic career
In 1977, prior to his banning, Randall was employed as a part-time temporary organiser of teaching practice by the Education Department at the liberal University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). His banning order meant that he could no longer officially work at Ravan Press, and Wits approached the Minister for permission to employ him full-time. This was granted after six months, during which Wits continued to pay his salary although he could not fulfill his duties. Unofficially, he did continue his involvement with Ravan, acting in an advisory capacity and carrying out some editorial responsibilities.He remained in employment at Wits until his retirement in 1995, eventually becoming professor assignatus and director of teacher training. During this time he wrote an M.Ed dissertation on private schools, which was later published as Little England on the Veld. In 1989 he was awarded a Ph.D degree for his thesis on the role of the history of education in the training of teachers. Part of this research included Randall making study tours to the UK and US.
While at Wits University, Randall published a few academic articles and edited several collections. He delivered papers at international conferences held by the History of Education Society in Berlin, Lisbon, Cracow, and Dublin, some of which were published in the proceedings of the International Standing Committee on the History of Education. In the 1980s and 1990s Randall and his wife Isobel attended several conferences of the IBBY (International Book Board for Young People) in Groningen, Seville and Berlin, where they delivered joint papers.
After 1995 he continued as a part-time lecturer at Wits, a part-time editor at Ravan Press, and a book reviewer for Financial Mail. His career as a book reviewer had begun thirty years and some 300 titles earlier with the Rand Daily Mail, and during Randall’s banning his reviews had appeared under his wife Isobel’s name.
Current
From 2002, Peter and Isobel Randall spent much of their time in the United Kingdom, establishing a home in the West Midlands. In 2007 both became naturalised British citizens, while retaining their South African citizenship. During 2005 - 2006 the South African History Archives (SAHA) obtained from the State Archives copies of all the reports and recommendations from BOSS and the security police relating to Randall. A copy of the documentation was given to Randall and another copy is archived by SAHA at Wits.Archives
The National Library of South Africa lists 46 works by Randall in its catalogue. These include earlier works of an educational nature for schools.The William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand holds a collection of Spro-cas titles and other works by Randall.
The catalogue of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
in Washington DC lists 20 of Randall's works.
Copies of the Ravan Press correspondence between Randall and various authors (including JM Coetzee), as well as manuscripts, are archived in the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown, South Africa.
The South African Institute of Race Relations' archives include several of Randall's titles published between 1965 and 1969.
Individual Works
Anatomy of Apartheid. (1970) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #1. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.Guide to Malawi. (1971) Winchester Press, Johannesburg & Blantyre.
South Africa's Minorities. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #2. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Directions of Change in South African Politics. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #3. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Some Implications of Inequality. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #4. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Education beyond Apartheid: report of the Education Committee.(1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #5. Spro-cas, Johannesburg.
Towards Social Change : report of the Social Commission. (1971) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #6. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-001-1
Power, Privilege and Poverty : report of the Economics Commission. (1972) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #7. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-004-6
Apartheid and the Church : report of the Church Commission. (1972) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #8. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-006-2
Law, Justice and Society : report of the Legal Commission. (1972) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #9. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-016-X
South Africa's Political Alternatives : report of the Political Commission. (1973) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #10. Spro-cas, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-022-4
A Taste of Power : the final co-ordinated report. (1973) (Ed. Randall, P) Spro-cas publication #11. Ravan Press, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-025-9
"Confused Mhlaba." published in Index on Censoring Vol. 5, no. 4 (Winter 1976) pages 1–9.
Not without honour : tribute to Beyers Naude. (1982) (Ed. Randall, P) Ravan Press, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-138-7
Little England on the veld : the English private school system in South Africa. (1982) Ravan Press, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-86975-220-0
Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1982. (1983) (Ed. Randall, P) South African Institute of Race Relations, Johannesburg.
The Narrow Margin : how Black and White South Africans view change. (1983) ( Eds. Fredman, S; Nell, M & Randall, P) David Philip Publishers, Cape Town. ISBN 0-908396-80-5
Educating the educators : proceedings of a Conference on the Provision of Educators in South Africa, the university's role. (1983) (Eds. Freer, D & Randall, P): Department of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Addressing educational crisis & change : relevant private sector initiatives 11–12 March 1987 : the conference papers. (Ed. Randall, P) Centre for Continuing Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. ISBN 0-85494-992-5
The role of the History of Education in teacher education in South Africa, with particular reference to developments in Britain and the US. (1988) Thesis (Ph.D.) University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
"Historico-Pedagogics and Teacher Education in South Africa." published in Perspectives in Education Vol II nr. 2.(Summer 1990) pages 36–47
"The Church, Schooling and Segregation in Colonial South Africa." published in Paedagogica Historica International Journal of the History of Education, Supplementary Series Vol I. (1995) University of Gent, Belgium. ISBN 9080049736
"The Beginnings of Ravan Press: a memoir." in Ravan: Twenty-five years (1972–1997). Published 1997 by Ravan Press, South Africa. ISBN 0-86975-496-3
"From orthodoxy to orthodoxy: the study of education at the University of Cape Town, 1910 - 1980." published in Paedagogica Historica International Journal of the History of Education, Supplementary Series Vol III. (1998) University of Gent, Belgium. ISBN 90-800497-6-X