Thy Will Be Done

Peter Conway was born in Yorkshire in 1966. Between the ages of three and forty-six, he lived in South Africa. Thy Will be Done, his first book, is the story of his life during those years, spent mainly in South Africa, but, at times, in other African countries and farther afield. Aged seventeen, he was conscripted into the South African Defence Force (SADF) and attached to Military Intelligence. After officer training, he studied at Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, where he joined, and provided his masters with intelligence on, the United Democratic Front, the only Anti-Apartheid political party permitted to exist alongside the ruling National Party. After university, Conway fought with the SADF in Angola against the Russian and Cuban supported communist insurgency, in what became known as the Bush War. Afterwards, he resumed the role of intelligence officer and was sent to London to infiltrate and report on the identities and funding of Anti-Apartheid protesters outside South African House. On his return to South Africa, as Apartheid drew to an end, Conway witnessed at first-hand the outbreak of open conflict between the then Xhosa-dominated African National Congress and the Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party, in both Johannesburg s South Western Townships and KwaZulu-Natal. Conway continued to serve as an intelligence officer in the South African National Defence Force (SADNF), as it became after the first multi-ethnic general election in 1994, before retiring in 1999 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He then worked as a nightclub bouncer and proprietor and joined the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. Re-hired by the SADNF for covert operations, Conway ran cocaine-filled brothels in South Africa to secure intelligence on white businessmen, procured and transported arms and undertook operations farther afield. Of particular interest is his account of the unsuccessful Wonga Coup. Seconded by the SANDF to Executive Outcomes, Conway, together with Simon Mann, Mark Thatcher and others, played a significant role in the failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in 2004. Thereafter, Conway worked in Africa as a military attaché in South African embassies and as a United Nations peacekeeper in Darfur, as well as providing security at mines and elsewhere. Following his discharge from the SANDF, Conway freelanced for Executive Outcomes, undertaking missions all over Africa. Finally, the venality and cynicism of present-day South African governance became too much and in 2012, aged forty-six, Peter abandoned the land of his dreams and moved to England, where he lives with his partner, Jane. Following his return, he wrote Thy Will be Done, disclosing the frighteningly violent dysfunctionality, bordering upon anarchy, both in present-day South Africa and elsewhere in that continent. It is no read for the faint-hearted, but for those interested in one of the fastest growing and yet most dangerous parts of our world, it s a must.