What is the book about?
The Daisy Spy Ring, published by Naledi, is the definitive account of South Africa’s most successful Cold War espionage operation, revealing the inner workings of its intelligence services for the first time in a powerful, deeply researched historical non-fiction spy narrative.
In a daring operation spanning several European countries, two South African intelligence officers and their sub-agents infiltrated and thoroughly disrupted the activities of the South African Communist Party (SACP). Operating under deep cover for years, they unearthed high-level secrets and sowed internal chaos—crippling the Party’s efforts abroad during the height of the Cold War.
This extraordinary true story of South African spies during apartheid, kept secret for over four decades, is now revealed for the first time by Henning van Aswegen, a former lecturer at South Africa’s National Intelligence Academy, and historian Peter M. Swanepoel. Drawing on insider access and primary research, they deliver a gripping and analytically rich account of South Africa’s intelligence history, Cold War politics, and covert operations abroad.
Peter Swanepoel
I am a trained historian with a deep interest in endurance sports as well as the illumination of the past. My first book, The Daisy Spy Ring, investigates South African intelligence operations during the Cold War. I am currently researching the history of South African cycling, focusing on the apartheid era, where my academic work and personal passion for sport come together. I am currently funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Henning Van Aswegen
Henning van Aswegen was born in Bloemfontein and served as a commissioned officer in the South African Defence Force (SADF), and South Africa’s civilian intelligence services. As a student at Potchefstroom University, he worked as a stringer for South African Associated Newspapers (SAAN), before joining the Perskor Group as a political correspondent. He is an intelligence historian and author, known for his books and articles on the South African civilian intelligence services. His most recent books are Spioenmeesters, The Spymasters of South Africa, Die Buro, Training Intelligence Officers, Russian Espionage in South Africa, and The Daisy Spy Ring.
Author's note
This book presents a detailed account of Operation Daisy and the espionage efforts of South Africa’s security services during the Cold War. We are aware that intelligence history—particularly where it intersects with the anti-apartheid struggle—remains politically charged and emotionally resonant. Much of the public and academic discourse since 1994 has rightly focused on the heroic dimensions of the liberation movements. Yet this emphasis has also meant that the inner workings, motivations, and capabilities of apartheid-era intelligence services have received limited critical attention and are often presented through simplified or moralising lenses.
Our aim is not to revise history in favour of any regime, but to contribute to a fuller, more complex understanding of South Africa’s past. Drawing on declassified documents, interviews, and operational records, this book offers a perspective that has been largely absent from existing narratives.
It is our hope that this work will provoke further research, reflection, and debate about how ideology, secrecy, and geopolitics shaped the trajectory of South African history—and that it will help foster a more nuanced appreciation of the shadow conflicts that shaped South Africa’s path to democracy.
Henning van Aswegen & Peter M. Swanepoel