A Sunday Times newspaper interview with ex-CIA agent Donald Rickard has revealed that the agency revealed Mandela’s location to authorities.
The report seems to confirm long-held beliefs that Mandela was being tracked by the US clandestine services. The CIA has refused to release documents that would detail its involvement in the incident but this latest report may add to pressure for them to be declassified.
The US had been supporting the South African government and considered Mandela to be a “communist terrorist.” Up until the Durban arrest, Mandela had gained him notoriety and he was dubbed “the black Pimpernel.” In Durban, they found him posing as a chauffeur when police caught him at a roadblock and detained him.
"I found out when he was coming down and how he was coming… that's where I was involved and that's where Mandela was caught," Rickard said.