Olivia Forsyth

Olivia Anne Marie Forsyth (born May 1960 in London) is a former spy for the apartheid government in South Africa. With the agent number RS407 and code name "Lara", Forsyth attained the rank of lieutenant in the Security Branch of the South African Police. Forsyth was recognised in intelligence circles as the apartheid government's "most outstanding spy" next to Craig Williamson, but was described by the African National Congress (ANC) as a "terrible, incompetent and inefficient spy".

Forsyth defected to the ANC but was later incarcerated in its prison camp, Quatro, in northern Angola. Following her escape into Luanda, Forsyth spent six months hiding in the British embassy there.

Forsyth was born in Kensington, London, in May 1960, to South African parents Joan Yvonne (née de Vos) and Peter Traill Forbes Forsyth. The family moved back to South Africa in January 1962 and settled in Natal.

Forsyth started her education at Westville Infant School. After her mother moved with the children to Pietersburg (now Polokwane) in the Transvaal (now Limpopo), Forsyth attended Capricorn Primary and Capricorn High School, where she matriculated in 1977 and was awarded honours with academic distinction. She was a school prefect and house captain as well as a member of the Pietersburg Junior Town Council. From 1978 to 1980 Forsyth attended the University of the Witwatersrand, graduating with a double major in English and Afrikaans-Nederlands and a sub major in Zulu, she also studied German. Forsyth attended Rhodes University from 1982 to 1985, where she majored in Journalism and Politics and earned an African Studies Honors degree. In 1985 Forsyth registered for a master's degree in Journalism but did not complete it.

From May to November 1981, Forsyth worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs (now the Department of International Relations and Cooperation) in Pretoria, as a foreign service officer. Forsyth was assigned to the Protocol Department, based in the Union Buildings, where she was approached by the National Intelligence Service (South Africa) (NIS). Forsyth joined the Security Branch of the South African Police in November 1981 during which time she was recruited by Craig Williamson and trained at the spy training center known as Daisy Farm.

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