This Day in History: August 21, 1963
Additional Date: August 21, 1963
James Kantor was a lawyer who owned a law firm and employed his brother in-law Harold Wolpe. Unbeknownst to Kantor, Wolpe was an active member of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Though Kantor himself was secretly funding the armed struggle, he was unaware that Wolpe had purchased Liliesleaf Farm using the firm’s funds. The farm served as the headquarters of MK.
When the police raided the farm in 1963 several leading members of MK were arrested. Kantor was arrested later on 21 August 1963 in his office. He was released later that year and immediately went into exile in London. He left the law profession and wrote about his experiences under the apartheid government. Kantor died of a heart attack in 1974.