Stephen Ellis misquoted in book Martin Bosma

On 28 May, the Dutch parliamentarian Martin Bosma published a book entitled Minderheid in eigen land: Hoe progressieve strijd ontaardt in genocide en ANC-apartheid (Bibliotheca Africana Formicae, Amsterdam). Mr Bosma’s book draws heavily on work by senior researcher Prof. Stephen Ellis of the African Studies Centre, including his prize-winning 2012 book External Mission: The ANC in exile, 1960-1990 (C. Hurst & Co., London). Prof. Ellis says many of these references are bizarre and some invented. Ellis: ‘Perhaps the most glaring is the statement on page 90: “In 1953 gaan leden van de SACP (South African Communist Party) op audiëntie bij Mao en Stalin. Ze ontvangen meteen 30.000 dollar van de Russische communisten” (in English: “In 1953, members of the SACP have an audience with Mao and Stalin. They immediately receive 30,000 dollars from the Russian Communists”). A footnote attributes this to page 13 of my book – which in fact mentions only a visit to China in 1960, long after the death of Josef Stalin. More than once Martin Bosma attributes to me the statement that “het ANC is een criminele organisatie” (in English: “the ANC is a criminal organisation”), which I am said to have made at a meeting in January 2013. In fact I have never made such a statement and it is not my opinion. Anyone who wants to know my views on the ANC should read my book’, Prof. Ellis says.

Leiden, 1 June 2015

You may also want to read Stephen Ellis' letter 'Onjuist gebruikt als bron' in NRC Handelsblad on 6 June 2016.