ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the personal experiences of squatter resistance and violence, as narrated by those who were involved in and affected by it. The chapter outlines a counter-narrative to the dominant memory story about violence in South Africa. On the other hand, it provides the detail of the participants' lived experiences of the past in so far as it was meaningful for them. It focuses on how the participants construct their experiences of apartheid, violence and resistance, and how these constructions challenge the meaning of Crossroads violence within national memory discourse. It shows the ways in which comrade violence has been demonized as opportunistic, dirty and disconnected from the national liberation struggle. The chapter deals with three personal stories from Nyanga Bush such as: Melford Yamile, Commander Zet, and Angelina. It then pulls out some of the key themes emerging within these stories, in relation to a broader analysis of the life histories of the Crossroads memory community.