SISULU: Man M BEKI: No

'married to need to take up

off liis politics tlie nation’ any banner

DENNIS GOLDBERG, 33, sacrificed a WALTER SISULU’s friends say the early GOVAN MBEKI listened attentively to brilliant professional career for politics. inspiration in politics for 53-year-old Si- the address given by the African minis­ He matriculated at 16, was a B.Sc. (Civil sulu came from the Bible. And it’s true ter, who was an early member of the ANC. Engineering) at 30 and married two days that he was a regular church-goer in his Mbeki was a teenager and the time was before he turned 31. Christian home in the Engcobo district of the twenties when the pass system and After showing little interest in poli­ the Transkei. And he would listen care­ the Africans’ hunger problems were re­ tics at the University of Cape Town he fully at the mission school to the stories garded as misfortunes to be borne with plunged into the struggle. For him it of Moses and Aaron, and Joseph and quiet fortitude# But Mbeki, the son of a started with a society interested in the David. religious family in the Nqamakwe dis­ effects of the colour bar on youth; it After two spells of work in the Reef trict of the Transkei, was impressed by ended with detention during the 1960 mines, Sisulu had enough to buy a horse the minister’s demands for rights for Emergency and arrest at Rivonia. He and and some suits and there was little to sug­ Africans# his bride spent their honeymoon doing gest the political future ahead of him. Mbeki had no real need to take up youth work. Later he became absorbed in But that was before he met Clements any political banner# His parents were the COP campaign in Luyela township, Kadalie, leader of the S.C.U.A., in East wealthy enough, with a good farmhouse, Simonstown — which cost him his job as London. Pass raids were frequent at the and reasonable flocks of sheep, goats a technical assistant in the SAR. He was time and Sisulu used to see people sleep­ and horses# The future looked secure# sacked. ing out in the veld to avoid arrest. But a successful farmer’s life was not After working as an engineer for the Sisulu craved for education as an es­ for him# Cape Town Municipality he practised as cape and he moved to Johannesburg in the After graduating with a B.A. in 1936, a consulting engineer and then joined a thirties where he attended the Bantu Men’s Mbeki became a teacher# Soon he was Cape Town construction firm. In 1960 he Social Centre. Still there was no hint of doing political journalism# Some of his was made resident engineer on a R400,000 politics. He was active in cultural socie­ essays were published in 1939 in book highway contract, but in the same year ties, church choirs and musical associa­ form entitled ’The Transkei in the came the Emergency and detention. tions, and juvenile delinquency among Making#’ He was always investigating Despite his professional success African youths. conditions among Africans and exploring Goldberg had continued to be active in But at the bakery where he worked, means of bettering their lot# politics as a member and later an exe­ Sisulu met a co-worker who had a smat­ While doing top-level organisational cutive member of the Congress of Demo­ tering of trade unionism and they organi­ work for^the ANC he, he was a member crats. sed an abortive strike for more wages. of the joint Committees of the Congress He also served on the Joint Congress After the inevitable sack> Sisulu started Alliance which organised the Congress consultative committee. His wife worked in the newspaper industry. His ventures of the People# And he still found time to with him in COD and the Women’s Fede­ included a news agency, a printing press run a shop and keep up his journalism to ration. % company and a weekly paper. support his wife and four children# 9 In spite of all this personal advance­ ment, Sisulu was still preoccupied with the future of his people. He joined the ANC in 1940 and in nine years was Se- cretaiy General under the Presidency of first Dr Moroka, and then Chief Lutuli# He and Mandela have always worked closely together in the ANC. When Sisulu married in 1944, Mandela was the best man. And Sisulu’s old friend, A.M.Lembeda, a lawyer who founded the ANC Youth League, warned the bride in a speech: ‘You are marrying a man who is already married to the nation.’ % -% THE RIVONM

MANDELA: A life KATHRADA: His

of arrests, bans first taste of Soldier, editor,

and jailings prison at 16 Nazi - hater

NELSON MANDELA, Transvaal Presi- A.M. KATHRADA was groomed for peace* LIONEL BERNSTEIN has no political dent and Deputy National President of ful politics almost from the day he was background. His parents were middle- the banned ANC, was bom in Umtata 46 bom 34 years ago in Schweizer Reneke. class. He may have become interested years ago, the sen of a prominent chief. His family were all scholars. One uncle in social problems first when he was at In his early life he was fascinated with was a leading Muslim theologian and school. For the teachers there at the his people’s history and culture. After Mufti of Burma. time belonged to the generation of Bri­ matriculating he went to Fort Hare where Kathrada went to school in Johannes­ tish university graduates who were vio­ he.jy.as.. drawn Jutfq burg and began to take an interest in lently anti-fascist. In any event in the When Mandela was told that a marriage politics immediately.. He was a founder thirties Bernstein was actively support­ had been arranged for him at home, he member of the Transvaal Indian Youth ing Republican Spain by working for the fled to Johannesburg in 1941* There he Congress and left school at 16 to do full­ South African anti-Fascist League which met Walter Sisulu, who introduced him to time * political work for the Transvaal was alarmed by the rise of Nazi-inspired to a legal firm to which Mandela became Passive Resistance Council. It was in hooliganism in South Africa. After a articled. His white employer helped that year — 1946 — that Kathrada had spell as secretary of the Labour Party Iffandela to become an attorney. Mandela his first taste of prison. He served one League of Youth, he joined the Commu­ believed that Africans in South Africa month in Durban for passive resistance. nist Party in 1939. He was then 19. were one people as far as their interests But this did not deter him. Kathrada kept He was soon in charge of propaganda and destiny were concerned. And in 1944 up his work and in 1952 was one of the in the party*s Johannesburg office. He he joined the African National Congress. organisers of the Defiance Campaign. qualified from the University of the Wit- With Oliver Tambo and others, he founded His sentence: Nine months suspended. watersrand as an architect in 1941. Af­ the ANC bo vigorous Youth League. Tam Kathrada has held official positions ter marrying Hilda Watts, he was elected and Mandela eventually went into legal in many South African organisations in­ secretary of the district committee of the practice as partners in their own firm. cluding the Indian Youth Congress, the Communist Party. A year later he joined In 1952, Mandela became Transvaal Peace Council, the Youth Festival Com­ up and served as a gunner with the 6th President of the ANC under Chief mittee, the Indian Congress. Field Regiment of the South African Ar­ Lutuli, a man he much admired. Since He helped to establish the Central tillery in Italy until the end of the war. then his life has been a succession of Indian High School in 1955 and became Bernstein was elected to the national arrests, bans and terms in jail. secretary of its parents association. But executive of the Springbok Legion — the He was held as an organiser of the he found his work becoming more and ex-soldiers* organisation — in 1948 and Defiance Campaign, he was called upon more difficult to carry out. later became editor of its journal * Fight­ to resign from Congress, he was confined He was one of the Treason Trialists to Johannesburg, prohibited from gather* ing Talk* which he continued to produce and has been listed as a Communist. He as an independent journal after the Le­ ings and, in effect, silenced. In 1961 he had another spell in jail during the State went underground. Early in 1962 Mandela gion closed down about 1953. Emergency and was placed under house Bernstein, once described by a friend left the country and toured Africa before arrest in 1962. # visiting England where he met the late as *an all-round square*, helped to found Hugh Gaitskell, then leader of the Labour the South African Congress of Democrats Party, and Jo Grimond, Liberal Party and was a member of its national exe­ leader. cutive. He faced his first big trial in On his return to South Africa he was 1946. It was the African Mine Strike jailed for five years for leaving the case. Bernstein together with the whole country without a passport and inciting district committee of the Communist Party people to strike. He is the No 1 accused and some 40 others were charged with in the Rivonia trail. Twice married, assisting a strike of African mine- Mandela has five children. His second workers. Bernstein was given a suspen­ wife, Winnie, daughter of Transkei ded sentence. Minister of Agriculture Columbus Madi- He was one of the Treason Trialist kizela, shares his dedication. She is prohibited from attending gatherings and accused in 1956 and four years later was confined to Johannesburg. ^ held in detention during the State of Emergency. #

28 DRUM, June, 1964 NDREW MHLANGENI, 38-year-old ex­ a deputation of one for higher wages. He caddie, had a tough start in life as came to Johannesburg as a boy of 17 after RIVONIA: THE one of 12 children of a Johannesburg passing Std. 6 in Sekhukhuniland. After a washerwoman. few days in the city he was arrested and ■He lost his dad when he was six and and jailed for a pass offence. had to work as a caddie to buy clothes Elias, who had hoped to work himself THREE and pay his school fees. Later an elder and his five sisters through school, found brother helped him to go to St Peter’s this impossible on the R5 a month he earned Secondary School. as a domestic servant. So he took a job in MYSTERY MEN But after passing J.C. the boy who a shoe factory at R2.40 a week. It was there wanted to go on studying had to take a job that he persuaded fellow workers to ask Andrew Mhlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi with the Johannesburg. Municipality. Later jointly for a rise. When he led his deputa­ and Raymond Mhlaba are the three he worked as a drawing-office clerk and a tion to the management the others fled and mystrey men in the Rivonia trial. bus-driver. he was sacked. After that, he became ab­ Until the police raid, few people A popular speaker, he became an ANC sorbed in trade unionism and complained knew of them. Now they have become branch secretary in 1956 after five years in for workers’ rights wherever he worked. national figures. And here is their the Congress and its Youth League. Employers considered him a ‘troublemaker’ background — the background that ELIAS MOTSOALEDI, 39, has been a trade and he lost job after job. led them on the road to Rivonia unionist ever since he was fired for leading Visiting his tribal home in Sekhukhuni-

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30 DRUM, June, 19 land, he became involved in politics and In 1960 he was detained for three months At Healdtown Missionary Institution, clashed with his chief. Back in Johburg he during the Emergency and in 1963 he was where he passed Std. 8, he started his po­ listened to City Hall speeches and joined kept in solitary confinement for 50 days litical career by joining a student body that the Communist Party, then the ANC. He under the 90-day law. championed African grievances. In Port became a Congress branch secretary and aymond m h la ba , 44-year-oid son of Elizabeth, where he worked as a laundry then a member of the provincial executive. a policeman is a man of courage and worker after leaving school, he joined the At Denver Men’s Hostel he was a popu­ initiative who has struggled all his union, then the Communist Party and fi­ lar leader. He campaigned for better facili­ life. As a boy he struggled against poverty nally the ANC. ties and got them. In 1950 the hostel resi­ Rto educate himself; as a man he has cam­ In 1946 Mhlaba led a protest at the Port dents backed the stay-at-home strikes almost 100 per cent. paigned consistently for more rights and Elizabeth City Hall against high rents in In 1952 while spending five months in better conditions for his fellow Africans. New Brighton township, where he was a hospital with TB he was served with a A highlight in his political career was when member of the residents’ association. He with a banning order, which curbed his he led the first batch of defiers in the 1952 became a leading African political figure trade unioning activities. He had been campaign. as a member of the Native Advisory Board, chairman of the Africa? Furniture, Matress Fort Beaufort-born Mhlaba did not go to chairman of the New Brighton branch of the and Bedding Workers’ Union and Chairman high school till he was nearly 19. His pa­ ANC from 1947 to 1953 and a member of the of the Council of Non-European trade rents were poor and could hardly read or ANC’s Cape Executive. Unions. write. He is a widower with eight children. ► tar

SATUR&A^WUNE 13, 1964 ______^— “R ivonia” p l o t

TT will be a matter a relief **■ to many who have no kind of sympathy for the accused or their political objectives that the Court found itself able to impose sentences other than death in the 44 Rivonia trial. The . State had itself opened the way for such an outcome by electing not td lay charges of treason, which, as the Judge- President pointed out, was es­ sentially the crime r involved. Although some of the crimes alleged were nevertheless capi- j tal, the sentences were in­ fluenced by this decision. For the trial, although it was thus concerned more with specific ac|^ \han with political motives, profoundly poli­ tical throughout, and jhas its repercussions in every part of the world where South African policies are being debated. If the accused had in fact been sentenced to death the effects would have been widespread. Mr. Vorster may have had this in mind when he made his statement in Parliament this week that it was not a crime to oppose apartheid anu that no one was punished for doing so. This may be open to question in some instances, but it remains true that the series of trials .that has re­ cently agitated the world con-j cerned acts of violence, plan* ned or performed. It is important that the distinction should be drawn. Political change is a legitimate j objective, revolution by vio­ lence is not. It legitimizes it-; self only by success. Those who demand the release of political prisoners, where those prisoners have been convicted apinal nr nlanned violence, are asking the government con­ cerned to collaborate in its own destruction. The Rivonia conspirators were well aware of this, and under no illusions about the consequences of their actions if they failed. Their plot was foolhardy in the extreme, and might have had disastrous and j tragic results for many besides themselves if it had not been nipped in the bud. They have, reason to be thankful that it ended as it did — and so have

v*e ——■■warn—mmam—^ BESPIEGELINGS IN Fisher Premier Van Die! Revolusionere Rabinet (dear Ben Louw) DV. ABRAHAM (Bram) FISCHER, leier van die verdedigingspan in die Bivonia-saak, se naam het in die A gedrang gekom toe dr. Percy Yutar die afgelope week tydens die m k bespiegel het oor „die belangrike vakature van eerste minister” in die kabinet vir die beplande revolusionere regering in Snid-Afrika. Dit het gebeur toe dr. Yutar,' aktiwiteite het die Transvaal Adjunk-prokureur-generaal van Peace Council ontstaan en Transvaal, die afgelope week die nou, met meer en meer ver- Rivonia-hof die laaste keer toe- teenwoordlgende steun, ook gespreek het. Dr. Yutar het in die South African Peace die verband ook 'n bewysstuk by Council waarvan hy gekies is die hof ingedien waarin Lionel tot vise-president. Bernstein, wat in die Rivonia- ) " saak vrygespreek is en gister- oggend weer in die hof verskyn het, groot lof toeswaai aan adv. Rasisme Fischer. Toe dr. Yutar tydens die saak „Dit alleen sou genoeg gewees sy kabinet vir die revolusionere het vir *n ander man. Maar nie regering genoem het, het hy o.m. vir Bram nie. Hy het die tyd en ges€: ,,Die hof mag belang stel energie gevind — die tyden ener- om te weet wie aangestel sou gie gemaak — om die Congress word in die belangrike vakature of Democrats te begin en te lei, om die stryd voort te sit teen van eerste minister. Suid-Afrikaanse rasisme (racia­ lism), en om ’n hand van kame- raadskap en bondgenootsk^p te Kat Uit Sak reik tot sy nie-blanke medebur- gers wat streef na demokratiese „Ek het die pos bespreek vir regte en vryheid.*' die leier van die South African Communist Party wat in ver- Dr. Yutar het in die hof ook skeie dokumente daarop aan- na bogenoemde aanhaling verwys spraak maak dat hulle nog altyd toe hy adv. Fischer aangewys het op die voorgrond was met alle as leier van die S.A.C.P. en as rewolusies. sulks as premier. „Om die rede het ek al die 0 Op 16 November 1962 is aangeklaagdes, wat getuienis af- adv. Abraham (Bram) Fischer geld het, gevra wie in werklik- deur min. John Vorster tot gelys- heid die leier van die S.A.C.P. te Kommunis verklaar. is. Hulle het verseg om te ant- woord. it „Miskien het Lionel Bernstein die kat uit die sak gelaat toe hy die artikel geskryf het wat verskyn op bladsy 2 van Septem­ ber 1953 se Fighting Talk” Die artikel wat as bewysstuk in die Rivonia-saak gedien het is gister deur Dagbreek nagespoor. Daarin skryf Lionel Bernstein, volgens sy eie erkenning, onder die opskrif, „I think of Bram Fischer”, o.m.: ..Hoofsaaklik deur middel van sy (Fischer) poglngs en Reg ter De Wet Praat Met ^^Dagbreek Oor Rivonia S is albei baie bly da* die Kivonia-saak nou verby is/’ h et regter en mev. Quartus de Wet gister aan Dagbreek gese in die eerste onderhoud wat die egpaar ’n koerant oor die Rivonia-saak toegestaan het. Regter De Wet is Transvaal se Wat wdreldbelangstelling be- sig gebly het, het die regter ge- Regter-president. tref, was die Rivonia-saak waar- s£: „Elke ervare regter leer met- . Vrydag het hy agt van die skynlik die regter se grootste tertyd om van sy kantoormoeilik- beskuldigdes in die opspraakwek- saak hede te vergeet, wanneer hy tuis kende saak elkeen lewenslange ontspan." gevangenisstraf opgelA Hulle is Gedurende die saak het hy bale Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, briewe en telefoonoproepe van Van Amerika Dennis Goldberg, Govan Mbeki, vreemde mense ontvang, waarin hulle aan hom wou voorskryf hoe Gedurende die veelbesproke Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoa- hy die beskuldigdes moes straf. ledi, Andrew Mhlangeni en saak het regter De Wet dikwels Ahmed Kathrada. Hiervan s8 hy: „Die gewone tot smiddags laat besig gebly. Regter De Wet het by sy mense besef nog nie dat dit ’n „Bowendien het ek baie werk ge- spogwoning in Pretoria aan Dag­ misdaad is om gedurende ’n had om te doen in my amp as breek ges£ dat so % saak soos saak met 'n regter in aanra- Transvaal se Regterpresident.” die Rivonia-saak „’n gespanne king te kom in *n poging om Regter De Wet vertel dat hy hom te beinvloed nie. Maar in tien dae lank gewerk en ge- atmosfeer” meebring. „Maar ek skryf het aan sy uitspraak van beskou dit nie as die grootste di6 geval sal ek maar nie teen saak wat ek nog hanteer het nie. die oortrederg laat optree nie." 72 bladsve in die Rivonia-saak. Op *n vraag of hy deurgaans, Hy het "reeds daarmee begin Myna insiens bevat siviele ge- nog voordat die redenasies in dinge moeiliker regskwessies as ook toe hy ontspan het, met die Rivonia-saak in sy gedagtes be- die saak afgehandel is. strafsake.” Die regter vertel dat een of twee oorsese regters na ’n deel van die saak geluister het. Onder die regters was appgjEregter Fahey van Amerika. Hy vertel dat hy baie nef is vir rolbal, gedurende die Rivonia-saak net hkweke kans gekry het om *n bietjie op die rolbalbaan te ontspan. Hy is ook lief om skrynwerk te doen en het al self ’n paar klein meubelstuk- kies gemaak. Vakansie Regter De Wet lees ook graag — gewoonlik wetsboeke — maar in die laaste tyd het hy so min kans daarvoor gekry dat daar nog *n paar onoopgemaakte tyd- skrifte by die huis op hom wag. Binnekort gaan hy egter tydens sy en sy eggenote se vakansie aan die kus die kans gebruik om met boeke en visstokke te ont­ span. ,,My vader was *n gesiene juris en ek was dus van klelns- af in aanraking mej die regs- professie. Maar ek liet aan- vanklik eers die graad B.Sc. by die Univemi^Ur van Preto­ ria studeer voordat ek in Kaap- stad handle graad B.A. IX.B. oorgeftlaan het." Mev. De Wet beskryf haarself as ’n „gewone huisvrou”. Sy vertel dat sy haar glad nie laat bangmaak het deur die dreige- mente wat sy en die regter ge­ durende die Rivonia-saak ont­ vang het nie. „Maar ons is albei bale bly dat die saaktiou verby is," vertel sy. ^ Mev. De Wet is bate lief vir musiek en is die moeder van *n dogter, mev. Dorothea Serfon- tein, wat met ’n argitek getroud is. SUNDA^EXPRESS

iv o m a TT is right that the court in 1 those jailed for .life might, m i the Riyoma trial should lather circumstances; have been have shown some -measure oLj accepted leaders of non-White clemenc^&y not"- sentencing!-opinion. W H B B S r 'the accuse^to d^a%v that tlf^sliould, in the Life imprisonment is a se^eie j first place, have believed that enough sen ten ce^ ^ the only hope for the people 1 Death would merely have1 they claim to represent Jiayf in made martyrs of men who^ attempting ^to overthrew the claim to be leader^ of their government? People. WfcS|i- In the event, they tried to And this country i cannot achieve their aims by violent afford to have tnawyrs jneans, including sabotage. kind. No ordered society can The courvoi course, wot tolerate this* The, accused were called upon to ~ consider this arrested and ^suitably punished. aspect of the matter.: \ But this edxihtry cannot af­ It reached its -verdict on ford to ignore the basic causes purely legal^gcounds; and on of non-White unrest and frus­ purely legaT^bunc^ it found tration.^;^ reason for clem ency/^" Nor can it ignore the This strict judicial, obser­ manner in which the many vance cann.pt be emphasised restrictions on non-Whites too strongly, \since attempts have caused moderate leader­ have beerupiade—and are being ship to be replaced by extre­ made—to label this a political mism. trial. E When ' non-White political It was nothing of the kind.; leaders;Presort to desperate It was a fair trial in w hicht^asures, lithe consequences the highest standards of justice ean also be .desperate* as and MjMta judicial integrity. -jj| were | Rivonia has shown. observed — as they are always Unless we want to see new observed in.our courts. and equally determined leaders As for th | accused, they can ultimately replace those who have no quiffel with the oat* j mre now jafied, we should do come. What they were doing 1 something .Jp ameliorate the was akin to high treason — conditions hi which the non- and they knew what the penal-! Whites live, give* them some ties would be if they were sense of identification with us caught. and give them some hope for The tragedy is^ not only that I the future. CXL NATIONALIST VIEWPOINT Rivonia munity. No pressure from out­ that national freedom for th€ side can and will change any­ Black majority is desirable and thing about this. attainable in an undivided South A POLITICAL Sharpeville is To demand that saboteurs and Africa. Because it would mean .. bem§ made out of the ver- prospective guerilla fighters the subjection of the minoritj 2 ,. .and sentences in the should not be checked and kept races, the struggle against it fi «ivonia trial, in political and in check is to ask for the moon, indeed the freedom struggle it. journalistic circles all over the and realistic rulers in all coun­ this country, which may not and world The event is being used tries know this. We were faced will not be lost. It has a nega­ to incite indignation and hatred here not with a spontaneous tive, defensive side, part oi against South Africa's racial rally of ordinary people with which is the crushing of the policies and to break down mis­ definite intolerable grievances Poqo plot and the Rivonia plans givings about drastic action in but with a well-planned plot by And if this was the only side, the West professional revolutionaries who then the world would indeed The Hivonia men's policy of wanted to turn the country have had a good case against violence from inside has been upside down They knew exactly us as oppressors and enemies of timeously smothered; now their what they were doing and what the freedom of others. The fact the price could be In so far as is that we do not only say that fate is being exploited for the they are regarded as freedom our freedom wiU not be des­ benefit of a policy of violence fighters, it must be remembered troyed by men acting in the from outside — for effective that they themselves had for name of the Black majority. We sanctions can hardly be forced their opponents very little of recognize the right of that down without violence dnd this sentiment or sentimentality majority to a separate freedom, would definitely have extremely which is now being invoked on and if that was what the Rivonia violent results their behalf The sort of free­ men were fighting for, we What is South Africa’s reply dom for which they were fight­ would have been obliged to con­ to the current storm of propa­ ing has the appearance of cede their good cause, however ganda? In the first place that a enslavement to the Whites and strongly we would still have state which does not fight and condemned their methods. crush with all its might veno­ would also have assumed this mous subversion and plotting appearance, to the extent that Rivonia is the umpteenth such as have been exposed in the their striving were successful, to pointer, to both White ana Black, Rivonia case, is not worth the more and more of the other that we should seek our peace name Also that all existing or ra?es. the Bantu Included. along the lines of separate free­ future efforts of the same nature The only extenuating circum­ dom and no other But as long should be traced and destroyed stances are that the conspira­ as so many of us are still in equally firmly and thoroughly, tors acted in terms of a disas­ two minds about it we can not for the protection of this or trous view which too many hardly expect a constructive that order, but of all order and people within and without our attitude about our future from the security of the entire com­ borders share with them. That is the outside world. rivo nia accused g et life Judge says it

®5 v*was treason By DICK RICHARDS HPHE offences of which the Rivonia trial accused were guilty were essentially * treasonous, but the State had not charged them with treason and he would not impose the death penalty, the Judge-President, Mr. Justice De Wet, said vesterday when he sentenced the remaining accused to life imprisonment. Those sentenced to life it was the failure oi pern,***** imprisonment, which generally methods of protest which had led nor Immoral for leaders to want means a minimum of 15 years, the non-Whites to believe that freedom of opportunity for their are: Nelson Mandela, Walter they either had to submit or people in all spheres. Their aims S E w ' resort t0. violence. In his opinion had not been criminal, only the Mbeki, Ahmet Mohamed Hath- no people anywhere should be means to which they had re­ rada Raymond Mhlaba, Elias faced with these desperate alter­ sorted. Mosoaledi and Andrew Mlangepi. The judge said he had heard natives. In 1952 the A.N.C., which stood much from the accused and their He asked the court that in for non-racial democracy, aban­ counsel of the disabilities under this case the exercise of clemency doned its strict adherence to the which the non-Whites suffered in was of great importance to "our law because of a total lack of this country, but he doubted future.” any tangible results achieved by very much whether the motives Dr. Percy Yutar, for the State, legal methods. From 1952 to 1961 for their crimes were as altruis­ said he wished to cross-examine it had used illegal, but non­ tic as they would have the court ! Mr. Paton, although it was not violent methods. believe. his normal practice to cross- It should be remembered that Those who planned to over­ examine witnesses who gave those years went hand-in-glove throw governments by revolution evidence in mitigation. with the enactment of legis­ almost inevitably contemplated He wanted to "unmask this lation which deprived the Afri­ replacing those governments man.” cans of their few remaining themselves. Mr. Paton said he was not a rights. Mr. Alan Paton, national presi­ Commmunist nor a fellow-travel­ dent of the Liberal Party and ler, but he shared some of the Great strain author of "Cry the Beloved I Communist aims. He did not Country,” gave evidence in approve of totalitarianism or Those must have been years of mitigation because, he said, he shooting people without trial. great strain for the leaders who had been asked to, he felt it was were being muzzled by banning his duty and he loved his coun­ Franchise orders until finally the A.N.C. try. itself was banned. He did not Relieve that the A.N.C. was dominated by the He said, "human experience has Aspirations Communists although he was pre­ demonstrated that man’s en­ deavour to obtain freedom is He said he had a good deal of pared to accept that Communists had held high positions in the irrepressible.” contact with non-Whites and Even when the decision was they had the hopes and aspira­ organisation. He had never advo tions of all people. cated violence, but believed in the taken to embark on violence abolition of the colour bar and pains were taken to avoid The lowliest of them sought universal franchise. injuring race relations or taking greater economic opportunity and He denied having advocated human life. believed that they would not get military intervention in South this until they had some, form "Their motivation was not the West Africa by the United Nations, overthrow of the State or its :>f political representation. or a take-over in South Africa by institutions, nor to despoil any­ The most intelligent of them the United Nations. one of their property rights, but sought greater economic oppor- Dr. Yutar read at length from to draw attention to African dis­ ;unity and a paricipation ii a television interview which Mr, abilities and to ameliorate the government. Paton made with the Canadian The non-Whites had very rea Broadcasting Corporation. Mr, lot of the African people,” he ind deep grievances such as jo! Paton denied that in it he had said. eservation, the inability to mov< advocated these very things. Mr. Hanson said that at one time .bout freely and that to ean He had at one time been in the "Uitlanders” and later the favour of a trade boycott of South Afrikaners had struggled for their living many had to be Africa, but had changed his views political rights. Today the two separated from their families. When Dr. Yutar asked him if groups were living in amity and He knew Mandela, Sisulu and he would tell “the people over beginning to coalesce. Mbeki. Mandela was regarded as there” that he had changed his The trial, he said, was concerned with the vital political issues of a leader among the Africans and v^ew®» rePhed that he would the coutnry and with a clash of was the "heir-apparent” to Albert ** chance. deeply-held views. Luthull. Sisulu and Mbeki he ^,Dr\ .Yutar theP told 0184 The court was not concerned knew as men of great courage, Jjis chance was here and now as with the motivation and sincerity resolution and ability. he believed that every word Mr. Paton said was being flashed to of the accused up to the point of the capitals of the world. conviction, but, in his opinion, it Sincerity was on the question of sentence. T oo close He had no doubt of their History sincerity nor of their deep Mr. H. J. Hanson, Q.C., who devotion to their people, regard­ made the address in mitigation for Too often the face of history had less of the methods they might been changed by an incomplete have used to further the cause all the accused, told the court of the Africans. that he had been asked to make understanding of the motivation the address because counsel for of accused persons, but in South the defence had | lived too close to Africa such understanding had led the trial and the personalities to mutal acceptance and com­ involved for too long. They had promise. sought someone who could bring His was not a plea for mercy, a more objective approach. but a plea for wisdom and under­ standing that man would not be . The accused were men who had dettered from grieving about his taken a leading part in political position in life. Hence the deter­ affairs f5r years. They had repre­ rent effect of the sentence was not sented the struggle of the non- a major factor. Whites for equal rights. When Mr. Justice De Wet left They had been moved to do the court he not only ended a thisf by the poverty and lack of criminal session of the Supreme opportunity of their people. Court, Pretoria, but also went on it was neither reprehensible leave. Rivonia trial men Sfttean get better conditions in time From Our Correspondent „ A town, luesaay. C p A. WESSELS, officer commanding the Robbeu Island Prison, said today that all the non- Wlutes sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia sabotage trial could “ graduate” in time from Group j (jrr?ul< A’ wWch carries the most privileges for island prisoners. . -. in which the seven men are Asked to explain the gradings, classified, carries the right to Colonel Wessels said: “ Group D, nave visitors once in six months and to write, and deceive, one letter in that period.- .. ‘‘The Prisons Board must see the men every year and these officials can recommend to the Department of Prisons that, they be upgraded to Group C. In this category they can have two visits in six months and receive more than two letters/’ Within two years they could pass through Group B to Group A He said several “ political” offenders were already in Group

w ?J?UP men .could write more fetters and receive more visitors. They were also paid for their services m the prison and could they mo0nCeyneS Cigrettes with Colonel Wessels added that at present the seven men were doing ordinary work inside the jail and had been granted per­ mission to obtain books to further their studies. ^ PROOF “Those who tried to organise this HOUSE OF ASSEiMBLY. uprising are e|ther themselves —Opposition members agreed Communists or are working with the Prime Minister willingly . and knowingly in when he said yesterday that closest co-operation with people who are Communists. if the accused who had The source of their phoney is appeared at the Rivonia partly Communistic.^ trial had succeeded in their Further proof that South Africa had to do with a Communist- aims, a Communist-orienta­ inspired attack aimed at ted Government would have causing disorder and chaos in been established in South the country, was that now for Africa, and all race groups the first time Communist states and governments had would have lost their free­ openly expressed support for dom. these people. „ When the third reading debate on Df. Verwoerd said that should the Appropriation Bill neared these Rivonia accused have suc­ 3 its end, Dr. Verwoerd rose to ceeded, then a Communist- t make a statement on J the orientated government—whether Rivonia verdict and the reactions White, Black or mixed—would to it inside and outside South have been established. i Africa. Mr. S. J. M. Steyn (U.P., Yeo- 3 He asked the world to realise that ! ville): That is true. the people convicted were “Com- Mr. P. A. Moore - (U.P., Kensing­ B mums tic criminals” who nad ton) said that where the in­ ? plotted against the safety of the tegrity of the people of South State, but that they had haa a Africa as a nation was con­ fair trial and had not been shot cerned, the Opposition and the out of hand as had happened to Government were one. This similar elements, in other coun- was particularly true where 0 tries. attempts were made to bring 1 SYMPATHY the judiciary into the picture. South Africans,. no matter of He said a great measure of sym- what language group or of j pathy had been shown to the j what colour, had complete r accused. In fact, the reactions : faith in the judiciary.—8APA. 1 were to make heroes and martyrs r of them. The tendency wa* &o make out that these people had I been concerned only toicn resis­ tance to the Government’s policy. ■ There had also been attempts to construe the facts in such a way ’ that people all over the world ’ would be justified to interfere in the affairs of South Africa. * He wanted to emphasise that South Africa had to do here with an aspect of the cold war. It was not waged against South Africa so much, but Communists regarded the opportunity as „ue handiest tool with which to get at the power of the West. “I want to state clearly and unequivocally that in this case we have not got to do with opposition against the South African Government’s policy, or a championship of the free- , dom and rights of people. We have to do with a Communist Uprising vrijich would have been brought about in South Africa,” the. Prime Minister said. ? DOUgni Whu cne - 1 of providing a headquarters for subversive activities, a few people who had no idea why the property was being purchased TO HIDEOUT made several observations. I Goldreich was seen walking to the end of the property, where c * X he stood for a long time looking at the house from all angles. He later repeated this perfor­ mance from the east, south and Dramatic Story of west. He behaved similarly after walking up the winding driveway. Rivonia Gang Police Disaster Later it became only too clear Cape Times Correspondent that Goldreich was security JOHANNESBURG. -— Eight of the Rivonia accused conscious, making sure that the house was not visible to have been sentenced to life imprisonment after an amazing passers-by. court story of a sinister plot and secret guerilla training To Security Police, Goldreich’s escape was a disaster and they grounds. But they have probably never realized how have little doubt that he too luck, coupled with police perseverance, led to their would have been sentenced to life had he stood trial. eventual downfall. The men now facing life The arrests at Arthur Gold long white coat, got out and sentences may be haunted by reich?s Rivonia mansion on that inspected a tyre. the figure 11. windy July afternoon almost a Finally, Lieutenant vbn Wyk The raid took place on July year ago will go down in his­ made up his mind to risk a 11, 1963; Goldreich and Wolpe tory as the luckiest break the raid in spite of the apparent escaped on August 11, 1963, and police have ever had in their peacefulness of the surround­ the eight Rivonia accused were battle against organized sub­ ings, and yelled “Let’s get found guilty on June 11, 1964. version in South Africa. cracking.” Two weeks before the raid, Eighteen arrests were made. while plots were still being Sisulu was among those caught hatched in the rural Rivonia and handcuffed. His attempt atmosphere and oddly disguised to escape through a window was men moved about on the large foiled by a police dog. grounds, Security Police had Goldreich, with his artist’s already received information beard, was the most surprised. about the hideout. He was pale and could But they did not kno^ its not speak when a detective exact location. addressed him. An officer later recalled that he had looked like a soldier Shrewd Detective immediately after he had been The information came after struck by a sniper’s bullet. one of Walter Sisulu’s so-called Then the full truth dawned Freedom Radio broadcasts. on Lieut, van Wyk and his men It was given to Lieut. Willie —they had pounced at the right van Wyk, a shrewd detective, moment . . . a meeting had been by an African who said Sisulu in progress. was living in Rivonia with a man known to him only as the Hepple’s Offer “Caretaker”. A security branch officer said: The “Caretaker” was, in fact, “These meetings were held Goldreich. This was established about once a month^-sometimes only a few days before the raid. once every two months. Luck Mi Lieut. Van Wyk reported to was with us.” his chief, Col. George Klindt, One of those arrested, Bob lu and was told: “Find the hide­ Alexander Hepple, an advocate, out at all costs.” who later fled the country with To find the hideout, which his family after offering to turn later turned out to be well set State’s evidence, was at the back from all roads and meeting to advise on certain surrounded by plantations and legal points. bush, was no easy task. Goldreich’s surprise at the raid probably equalled the sur­ Night Hunt prise of security police when they heard he was the Night after night the young mysterious “Caretaker” housing lieutenant and his men, heavily a wanted political fugitive. A disguised, searched the sprawl­ Back at security headquarters ing Rivonia countryside in an at the Grays they in fact had a odd assortment of vehicles. file on* Goldreich, but he had During their search they often been written off as a man who passed the house where the was no immediate danger to the plotters were hiding. safety of the State. At the time they had paid little attention to the white­ washed brick gateposts and the Gaol Break long, winding driveway lined by Described as the No. 1 pine trees. detainee, he later escaped with The men had no idea that Harold Wolpe from Marshall they had passed the head-1 Square. quarters of the High Command Information passed on to me of the banned African National this week suggests that Gold­ Congress. reich was active in subversive They had mf^ely been informed circles before moving to Rivonia. Si nihM who went under* I was told that, he occupied a ground after b&ng placed under coft&ge^fh the garden of a Park- house arrest, was hiding some­ town house just before leaving where in the area with a radio for Hivbnia. transmitter. The house was later sold to an American woman. Goldreich House Pinpointed moved out soon after she moved After two weeks of nerve- Communist magazines racking searching, another addressed to Goldreich arrived piece of information revealed at the house. Realizing that the that the “Caretaker” was Gold­ literature spelt trouble, the reich and pinpointed the house. women communicated with the On the afternoon of July 11 American Embassy, who advised the raid had been planned. her to get in touch with the Led by Lieutenant van Wyk, police. who later took charge of the detailed investigations, 40 men, hidden in a laundry van and a Radio Equipment baker’s van entered the R25,000 A few pieces of radio equip­ Lilliesleaf Farm — the hide­ ment were later found in the out. cottage. Other people, too, recalled the “ Get Crack” significance of what they saw The laundry van pulled up after Goldreich was arrested. L and a detective, disguised in a When the Lilliesleaf Farm was fonteins’e ^re m n tn ^^f^3 dromdie ingang van die Braam- tonum saam tydens die verassing van wyle mev. Fischer. Bonte skare Many weep by verassing van wyle \ for Mrs. mev, Fischer ^ Fischer Deur *n Verslaggewer Twee honderd blankes, ongeveer Staff Reporter 300 Bantoes en Indiers, lede ^FHREE-HUNDRED people of all ' van die Black Sash en Randse A races — among them many advokate het gistermiddag die leading members of the Johannes­ verassing van wyle mev. Mol- burg Bar and Side Bar—yesterday lie Fischer by die Braamfon- attended the cremation service of teinse krematorium, Johannes^ Mrs. Molly Fischer, wife of Mr. burg, bygewoon. Abraham Fischer Q.C., one of the Mev. Fischer is verlede Saterdag defence team in the Rivonia trial. in ’n motorongeluk dood. A number of banned people — including Mr. Lionel Bernstein, Boodskappe one of the accused in the trial Geen verassingsdiens is gehou who was found not guilty and me. Boodskappe — onder discharged last Friday — also meer van die Ban toe- en In- joined the mourners. diergemeenskappe — is uit- gelees na die Onse Vader in Most of them, whose banning Afrikaans voorgedra is. orders prohibit them from attend­ In die boodskappe word gemeld ing any gatherings, had been dat die „hele wereld met groot granted special permission to skok en diepe leedwese” van attend. mev. Fischer se dood verneem TRIBUTE het. Sy is onder meer ook be- stempel as ’n „moeder vir haar Whites, Africans and Indians, kinders, *n Olive Schreiner en some weeping, stood with bowed i *n Albert Luthuli”. heads while messages of tribute to Mrs. Fischer were read by Mr. |V. C. Berrange, Q.C., another * Ingeperk member of the Rivonia trial *n Aankondiging vooraf het gelui defence team. | dat daar geen toesprake ge- maak sou word nie, aangesien Messages of condolence, he said die meeste van mev. Fischer over a loudspeaker, had poured in se vriende ingeperk is inge- from many parts of the world. volge die Algemene Regswysi- Among those he read were gingswet. letters from African leaders and Mev. Fischer was voor haar troue the Indian community of South »n nooi Kruger. Haar man, Africa describing Mrs. Fischer as adv. A. Fischer, het die ver- a “ true daughter of South Africa.” dediging in die Rivonia-saak gelei. Na die onluste by Shar- peville het sy ’n paar weke in die tronk deurgebring. Sowel sy as haar man is beper- kings ingevolge die Wet op die onderdrukking van Kommu- nisme opgele.

Collection Number: A3393

Collection Name: Bob Hepple Papers

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