Donald Woods - Life in Exile

Life in Exile

Soon after Biko's death, Woods was himself placed under a five-year ban. He was stripped of his editorship, and was not allowed to speak publicly, write, travel or even work for the duration of his ban. Over the next year, he was subjected to increasing harassment, and his phone was tapped. The final straw came when his six-year-old daughter was severely burned by an acid-laced T-shirt. Convinced that the government was trying to have him killed, Woods decided to flee South Africa.

Woods and friends Donald Card and Father Kani devised a plan for him to be smuggled out of his house. Disguised as a Catholic priest, Father "David C. Curren", on New Year's Eve, 1978, Woods hitchhiked 300 miles (480 km) before attempting to cross the Tele River between South Africa and Lesotho. However, owing to days of steady rain, the river had flooded, leaving him to resort to crossing at a border post using a false passport. He made it undetected by South African Government officials to Lesotho, where, prompted by a prearranged telephone call, his family joined him shortly afterwards. Once they arrived in Lesotho, Bruce Haigh, an Australian diplomat of the embassy, drove him to Maseru. With the help of the British High Commission (in Maseru) and from the Government of Lesotho, they flew under United Nations passports and with one Lesotho official over South African territory, via Botswana to London where they were granted political asylum.

After arriving in London, Woods became an active spokesman against apartheid. Acting upon the advice of Oliver Tambo, the President of the ANC, Woods became a passionate advocate of nations imposing sanctions against South Africa. He toured the United States campaigning for sanctions against apartheid. The trip included a three-hour session, arranged by President Jimmy Carter, to address officials in the U.S. Department of State. Woods also spoke at a session of the United Nations Security Council in 1978.

On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison after serving twenty-seven years on Robben Island. That Easter, Mandela came to London to attend a concert at Wembley Stadium to thank the anti-apartheid Movement and the British people for all their years of campaigning against apartheid. Woods gave Mandela a tie in the black, green and gold colours of the African National Congress to celebrate the event. On Easter Sunday, Mandela phoned to thank Woods' family for the tie and said that he would wear it at the concert the next day, which he did. Woods stood throughout the phone call.