The List

by Barry Gilder

Rumors have abounded since the early days of South African democracy of a list given to Nelson Mandela by apartheid securocrats of their agents infiltrated into the upper echelons of the ANC. The List tells the story of a group of veterans of the intelligence services who are formed into a secret task team by the newly elected president to investigate the possibility. But just as the moment of optimism begins to blossom, the task team uncovers a ghastly betrayal. Is it too late to save the president and the country?

About the author

Barry Gilder was born in Durban, South Africa in 1950. He obtained a BA degree in English and Philosophy at the University of Witwatersrand in 1972. From 1974 to 75 he served on the National Executive Committee of the National Union of South African Students.

He went into exile in 1976 and joined the African National Congress (ANC) in London, where he worked as a musician. In 1979, he went to Angola, where he underwent training with the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). In 1980, he underwent military and intelligence training in Moscow. He later served as head of the ANC's intelligence unit in Botswana, where he was also a member of the ANC's Regional Political-Military Committee.

Barry spent a brief period in Zimbabwe from 1990 to 1991, where he worked as the Administrative Editor of Africa Information Afrique. He was granted amnesty and returned to South Africa in 1991. From 1992, he worked as Head of Communications and later Deputy Director of Matla Trust, an organisation set up by Nelson Mandela to provide voter education to South Africa's newly-enfranchised electorate before the first democratic elections in 1994.

At the end of 1994, the ANC tasked Barry to assist in establishing South Africa's new democratic intelligence services. From 1995 until 1999, he served as a General Manager and then Deputy Director-General of the South African Secret Service. From 2000 to 2003, he served as Deputy Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (South Africa's domestic service). From 2003 to 2005, he served as Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs, and from 2005 until his retirement from government at the end of 2007, he served as Coordinator of Intelligence.

In 2010, Barry joined in the establishment of a new think tank in South Africa – the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) – formed by former high-ranking officials in the democratic government. He served as MISTRA's Director of Operations until January 2013, spent two years in New Delhi, where he began work on a novel, returned to South Africa in 2014, rejoined MISTRA as Manager of Publications, and, in 2016, became Director of Operations again.

Barry served as South Africa's ambassador to Syria and Lebanon, based in Damascus, from 2019 to 2023.

Barry's story and that of the South African liberation struggle and the challenges of democratic governance are contained in his book: 'Songs and Secrets: South Africa from Liberation to Governance', published by Jacana Media in South Africa in June 2012, by Hurst Publishers in the UK and internationally in November 2012 and by Oxford University Press in the US in February 2013.

Barry obtained a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2018, and the novel prepared for the Master's – 'The List' – was published by Jacana Media in Johannesburg in September 2018. He obtained a PhD in Creative Writing from Wits University in 2023, and the novel prepared for the degree, 'At Fire Hour', was published by Jacana Media in September 2023.

Barry now works as a freelance editor and proofreader through Amazwi Creatives, a partnership with his wife, Dr Reneva Fourie, providing editing, proofreading, ghostwriting and research services for authors, academics and organisations in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the EU and internationally.