The Sharpeville massacre radicalised Kasrils against the Apartheid system and he joined the African National Congress ( ANC ) in 1960 , becoming secretary of the Congress of Democrats in Natal in 1961 , the same year he joined the South African Communist Party . In 1962 , he received a five-year banning order prohibiting him from public speaking . He was a founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe ( MK ) as member of Natal Regional Command during the same year . He became the commander of Natal Regional Command in 1963 . He underwent military training in 1964 in Odessa , USSR and at the end of 1965 was sent to London to work for the movement there . During this time Kasrils worked with Yusuf Dadoo , Joe Slovo and Jack Hodgson and they formed a special committee ( 1966 – 76 ) to develop underground activities in South Africa from the United Kingdom . During this time he trained various people including Raymond Suttner , Jeremy Cronin , Ahmed Timol , Alex Moumbaris Tim Jenkins and Dave and Sue Rabkin , with the aim of establishing underground propaganda units in South Africa . He served the ANC and was based in London , Luanda , Maputo , Swaziland , Botswana , Lusaka and Harare . Kasrils eventually became a member of MK 's High Command and was appointed as Chief of MK Intelligence in 1983 . Kasrils also served on the ANC 's Politico-Military Council from 1985 to 1989 and worked underground for the ANC in South Africa during Operation Vula from 1990 to 1991 . He went on to head the ANC 's campaign section from 1991 to 1994
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Ronnie Kasrils