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Peter Hain
Matthew-stadlen
Matthew Stadlen

A Pretoria Boy: The Story of South Africa’s Public Enemy Number One

Peter Hain Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Friday, 1 April 2022

12:00pm

1 hour

Sheldonian Theatre

£7 - £12.50

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Anti-apartheid leader and former Labour cabinet minister Lord Peter Hain looks back at a life that saw him exiled from his native South Africa, framed for a bank robbery and nearly assassinated by a bomb.

Hain recalls the harassment and arrest of his anti-apartheid parents in 1960s South Africa, the hanging of a close white family friend, and his exile to London. He became public enemy number one in South Africa when he organised anti-Springbok demonstrations, narrowly escaping jail for disrupting all-white sporting tours by South African teams. It was revealed last year in the Undercover Police Inquiry that he had been spied on for 25 years.

Hain was MP for Neath between 1991 and 2015. He was a minister for 12 years, including seven in the cabinet as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Secretary of State for Wales, Leader of the House of Commons and Energy Minister. He is now a member of the House of Lords.

This event is part of the festival’s programme of African literature and culture.

Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Goldmoney Properties Felicity Bryan Associates Voltaire Foundation Confucius Institute Mirabaud Private bank - London Gravita Accountants to the festival Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Pasture to Plate Compassion in World Farming HM Government of Gibraltar Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Spain Arts and Culture Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Oxford Mathematics Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner European Union University of Oxford The Telegraph Festival media partner Other donors David Isaac Jason and Heidi Smith Martin and Elise Becket Smith Tim and Marion Stevenson Miles Young Jim Mellon Pusey House Founded 1884 Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College founded 1893 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 New College New College founded 1379 Yale University Press London The Oxford Times Windrush Group Science Oxford Schoolreaders The Litmus Partnership CAV Oxford Oxford University Images Oxford University Images Italian Cultural Institute Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies The Sheldonian Theatre University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Paul Bloomfield Ltd Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Colbenson Festival digital strategy & web design MACROVegan Human Ecology Project New Dutch Writing Conference Oxford BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner OX magazine Ox in a Box
 

The Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Goldmoney Properties Felicity Bryan Associates Voltaire Foundation Confucius Institute Mirabaud Private bank - London Gravita Accountants to the festival Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Pasture to Plate Compassion in World Farming HM Government of Gibraltar Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Spain Arts and Culture Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Oxford Mathematics Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner European Union University of Oxford The Telegraph Festival media partner Other donors David Isaac Jason and Heidi Smith Martin and Elise Becket Smith Tim and Marion Stevenson Miles Young Jim Mellon Pusey House Founded 1884 Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College founded 1893 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 New College New College founded 1379 Yale University Press London The Oxford Times Windrush Group Science Oxford Schoolreaders The Litmus Partnership CAV Oxford Oxford University Images Oxford University Images Italian Cultural Institute Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies The Sheldonian Theatre University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Paul Bloomfield Ltd Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Colbenson Festival digital strategy & web design MACROVegan Human Ecology Project New Dutch Writing Conference Oxford BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner OX magazine Ox in a Box