Burned: The Spy South Africa Never Caught

by Sue Dobson

★★★★★ “An unflinching memoir of a spy during a tumultuous time and unsavory alliances. Dobson recounts her recruitment, training, and espionage with rare self-awareness.” Henry R. Schlesinger, author of Honey Trapped

From the snowy Soviet shooting range to the heat and dust of Africa, nothing is what it seems. And neither is Sue Dobson.

The image of South Africa in the 1980's as the golden paradise on the tip of the African continent conceals a brutal, racist Apartheid regime. Those who oppose it risk their lives. Beauty and brutality go hand in hand.

Sue Dobson, a young white South African woman lives a 'legend'—a life where she pretends to conform, moving easily through the echelons of the racist government in her work as a journalist, whilst concealing her espionage and military training in the Soviet Union, and her intelligence work for the banned African National Congress.

Matters come to a head when sinister forces try to derail the Namibian independence process and Sue's cover is blown during a difficult honey trap operation, bringing the Cold War to Africa, and leading to her desperate flight across Southern Africa with the Apartheid security police snapping at her heels.

Genres: Africa, Espionage, Memoir

268 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2023

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding.
It's rare to encounter a memoir that is not only utterly engrossing and exceptionally well written, but also delivers a thorough education at the same time. I learned a lot about South Africa, its history and politics, and the fight to end Apartheid, all while remaining absolutely glued to the page throughout. Sue Dobson is an immensely gifted storyteller, and she has one hell of a story to tell. Both her love for her home country and her visceral disgust at the brutal Apartheid regime into which she was born shine through in her evocative prose, and her account of her life as a spy makes for a gripping read.
Highly recommended on all accounts.

*** I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. ***

[Karla Huebner]

This was a fascinating look at the world of late apartheid South Africa, from the perspective of an anti-apartheid white South African spy working on behalf of the ANC. Sue Dobson describes her unlikely development into an undercover agent, including her secret training in the Soviet Union, and then her attempts to make a difference without receiving useful directives from her ANC handler.

The spy story is clearly told, but there are some missing pieces of information that distract, particularly regarding Ms. Dobson's family. She provides information about her parents to a satisfactory extent in relation to the story, but her marriage is almost a complete mystery. No, we don't need to know very much about it, and presumably her ex-husband objected to being included, but it's confusing to read first that her contact to ANC insiders was through her brother-in-law and sister-in-law when (at least as far as I could tell) she was an only child and wasn't herself yet married. If she's already married, then we're puzzled as to how he responds to her first leaving South Africa on the pretext of a European "gap year" when she's actually in the USSR, and then we wonder how they're getting along when she's traveling regularly to Namibia to pursue a honey trap affair, and finally it's quite baffling what's going on in this marriage when she flees to the UK and soon has a baby. I couldn't quite tell, in fact, whether she had one kid prior to fleeing the country and then had another, or produced both in the UK. We know early on in the book that she's a divorced woman with children, but it was extremely distracting not to have any sense of the chronology of her marriage, or any clue whether her husband was a racist or apolitical or what. Either leave husband and kids completely out of the book, or give the husband a fake name and let us know just enough!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Court Singrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was valuable information to me about life under apartheid. Descriptions of the USSR trip were also unique and insightful to me.

I didn’t find the ins and outs of spying and career moves that allowed for spying to be worthwhile. Still it’s a story that should be told and I’m glad she wrote it for us to read.

[Phillip Kang · Rating 5 out of 5]

South Africa in the 1980’s was known as the beautiful golden paradise perched on the tip of the African continent. But the beauty and allure of that country masked a brutal, racist and much hated apartheid policy perpetrated by the White South African regime. Many who had opposed it - mostly Blacks - paid for their struggles with their own lives.

Within the privileged White community emerged a “very ordinary” woman who was to play an extraordinary role in fighting apartheid. In her memoir “Burned: The Spy South Africa Never Caught”, Sue Dobson provides a true account of her role as a “soldier in the war against apartheid" - as she puts it - and it has taken her over thirty years to share this incredible story.

Raised in a dysfunctional family, and hardly able to cope with her mentally ill mother, Dobson found comfort as a teenager in her tiny transistor radio, which served as a gateway into another world and gave her hope for a better future. As she grew and learned, and having witnessed how the Blacks in her country were being mistreated, she began to realise that racial equality was a value to be cherished. So she determined then that she would work towards this goal.

Dobson recounts how she became involved with the ANC, a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid. Desperately wanting to join the ANC, she met a senior ANC official and recruiter in London in 1981. Instead of accepting her to be a member, he asked her to go back to South Africa and create a legend for herself and live it by blending herself into the society. Although disappointed, she took the advice. She began to work undercover as a journalist for a pro-apartheid tabloid and then as a news writer for a government broadcaster. Then, in 1986 after a crucial meeting with a very senior member of the ANC, she finally got accepted into the organisation and was immediately enlisted for espionage and military training for a year in Moscow.

Back in South Africa after the training, Dobson’s real job as an ANC spy began. Continuing to live the legend, her brief was to get as close to the government as she possibly could. She passed security clearance to work as a writer and translator for the government’s Information Bureau. Through it she had access to the Minister for Internal Affairs and even interviewed the Foreign Minister.

Over several months, she had a honey-pot affair with a police official, who confided information that she passed to the ANC. It was during this time, and when she was part of the ‘dirty tricks’ team sent to Namibia to derail its independence process, that she realised her cover was blown. This discovery quickly set in motion her desperate flight through Southern Africa with the South African security forces hot on her heels. Upon arrest she could face up to 15 years in prison and brutal torture for treason.

I don’t recall that I’ve read a memoir of a former spy. Dobson’s is probably the first, and I find it refreshing, captivating and riveting. She’s put her heart and soul into a coming-in-from-the-cold account that is intensely personal and vulnerable. In it she talks honestly about her dysfunctional family, her privileged race, the mistreatment of the Blacks, and about being the betrayer and the betrayed, besides her role as a spy. It is also peppered with horror stories of killings of prominent members of the ANC and brutal persecutions of those who fought for the anti-apartheid cause. It certainly brought about an acute awareness in me of how racist and brutal the apartheid regime was and why it was necessary to dismantle it.

Dobson played her part in getting rid of apartheid and making South Africa a better country. Her memoir is a commendable testament of her untiring efforts.

I received an advance review copy from Booksirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

[Chloé Lagacé-Raposo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me longer than expected to finish this book. Even though I found the story very interesting, I found it hard to get into. That being said, whenever there are a lot of acronyms in a book it's hard for me to follow and remember what each acronym means and especially since I wasn't particularly familiar with the ins and out of the Apartheid Regime.

Sue Dobson grew up in South Africa in a time where the apartheid regime was active and she always felt strongly against it. At a young age, she was dreaming of joining the ranks of the Soviet Union to become a spy and help put an end to the apartheid regime. She figured out a way to find and get in contact with one of the leaders and she made it happen for herself. She started her training and after a few months she started the work. During her time as a spy, which spanned several years, she was able to collect a lot of Intel. She even got close to some of the main targets but that eventually got her discovered. At that point, she tried to obtain help from her handler and leader but he ended up leaving her to fend for herself. With her quick thinking and all of her training, she managed to get away from the people following her and found an embassy where she could seek asylum.

I received an advance review copy for free through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[V Dowdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I rarely give 5 ⭐️ reviews. This author deserves it in spite of a few minor typos.

Now the story: the book had me intrigued from the title and did not disappoint. as she takes a deep and what I feel honest is an dive into her personal life and journey to become a spy against apartheid. To imagine the atrocities that people suffered and she witnessed is beyond even imagining, but to have the courage to step forward for those beliefs and take action by infiltrating at the center point to provide intel is crazy, brave and a beautiful testament to the movement lead by Nelson Mandela for civil rights in South Africa.
Oh, and to not get caught…is pretty bad a$$ too

I actually read this book a little slower than is my usual pace. The information packed book is a lot to take in and left me in need of time to think between reading seasons. My advise is take your time and savor the history lesson and her storytelling.

Thanks for sharing your story.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Texas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burned: The Spy South Africa Never Caught - An interesting look at South Africa from the 1970s to 2021 through the eyes of a native daughter turned Communist Apartheid spy for the African National Congress (ANC). Disillusioned by the Apartheid, a young, white South African woman joins the ANC, trains in the USSR and returns to South Africa as a communist spy. Far from James Bond but an interesting read about Africa and Her history and one woman's efforts to make a difference. 4*