There were many highlights during my recent three years in London establishing Biznews’s global foothold. Among them was getting to know Lord Peter Hain, a genuine anti-apartheid hero whose selfless activism played a massive role in ending the National Party’s project in social engineering. My interaction with Hain came at another dark time, when he provided a largely under-appreciated service to his former homeland by exposing the criminality of the Guptas and their political puppets to the world. Watching him in full cry from a reserved seat in the House of Lords was an unforgettable experience. As is listening to this recent interview with Hain on BBC Radio, embedded below. It was the last of four in the 2019 series of “Reflections with Peter Hennessy”. A must-listen. – Alec Hogg
The BBC’s Radio Four is known among the British as the nation’s cerebral option. This well deserved reputation comes from decades of delivering consistently high quality content. What follows is an excellent example of this high standard.
Since 2013, historian Peter Hennessy has picked four of his country’s highest profile politicians for in-depth interviews that explore their formative influences, experiences and impressions of people they had known.
The final interview of the Seventh Series’ of Reflections with Peter Hennessy featured South African-raised anti-apartheid icon Lord Peter Hain. Aired last month, the interview provides unique insights into Hain, whose family were ejected from their homeland because of their political activism. Although best known for leading the sports boycott against white South Africa, Hain also became British MP for 24 years, served in the cabinets of two Prime Ministers and was given a lifetime peerage after his retirement in 2015.
The peerage opened the door for Hain’s participation in the House of Lords, where his contribution to his former homeland has been immense through exposing the Guptas, Bell Pottinger and multinational companies which participated in the pillage of State Capture.
Here, with kind permission of the BBC, are the two Peters – Hennessy and Hain…
