Strachan 's opposition to apartheid arose from his personal ethics , rather than ideology . He became a founder member of the Liberal Party of South Africa in 1954 , along with Alan Paton and Peter Brown , and in 1957 joined the Congress of Democrats . In 1959 he married Maggie von Lier , his former student . In 1960 , during the protests after the Sharpeville massacre , he and Maggie stood between armed police and black protesters , preventing the police from firing . A warrant was issued for their arrest , and to avoid it they fled to Swaziland . Three months later they returned to South Africa , Harold under the name Robert " Jock " Lundie , and settled in Port Elizabeth where Harold worked with Govan Mbeki , and helped him produce and distribute the newsletter '' Izwe Lomzi '' ( " Voice of the People " ) . In 1961 he joined the illegal South African Communist Party ( SACP ) , and edited their newspaper '' New Age '' . He accepted Mbeki 's request to improvise explosive devices for the newly formed Umkhonto we Sizwe ( MK ) , and experimented with substances such as nitric acid , potassium permanganate , magnesium , glycerol and icing sugar
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Harold Strachan