together with Arthur Goldreich. Two young Indian comrades, Mosie Moolla and Abdulhai (Charlie) Jassat were in a nearby cell. Together they had bribed a young warder, staged a mock attack on him, and used his keys to let themselves out into the night. The escape of two key -figures in the much publicised Rivonia drama had been an immediate press and radio sensation. A national manhunt had been mounted without any re s u lt, except -for a plethora o-f sensationalised accounts and theories about an apparently perfect escape. They had been reported -from here and there, but they seemed to have vanished into thin air. The warder had been arrested and was being charged as an accessory to the escape.1 Jimmy had become the -fall guy -for the embarassment o-f the Special Branch over the great escape. He was the principal of the legal firm where Harold JCW& had worked^-jife—was-er re la tigwiof the owner of the border farm where Harold had been captured on his way out of the country before the escape. Many Special Branch men with whom Jimmy had been on first-nam e terms knew f u ll well that he had no part in any political movements. But they needed a scapegoat for their own incompetence, and Jimmy had been picked as a proxy for Harold. It was a p etty, v in d ic tiv e act which had h it Jimm/ very hard. He had been shaken by the unexpectedly vicious police hostility towards him, and by the fact that overnight he had been stripped of all the rights and privileges of an 'officer of the c o u rt.' Tor all his legal experience, Jimmy Kantor was the real innocent amongst us in every sense of the word. His arrest had wrecked his social reputation and his family life. It had destroyed his legal practice and ruined him financially. I felt a sense of outrage at what was being done to him which I could not feel for the rest of us who had at least done something of our own volition to finish up where we were. Jimmy and his victimisation by the police helped restore the balance of my mind, and saw me through to the ninetieth day. Strangely, I recall so many trivial incidents and irritations of those seemingly interminable ninety days. But of the ninetieth day itself I remember 1 In fact, the escape had been a comedy of errors. It included lucky flukes, last minute improvisations and missed secret rendezvous. Weeks later, Wolpe and Goldreich reached Botswana by light plane from Swazi­ land, where they had been hiding disguised as priests. Their two Indian colleagues also reached Botswana successfully, following their own route. See: Hilda Bernstein: 'The World that was OOurs' (Heinemann) and Annmarie Wolpe: 'A Long Way Home' <????0t 2 7 2 almcst nothing. I can no longer p ictu re the scene or re c a ll the way in which those of us arrested at Rivonia were formally charged with Sabotage on that day. I know that Jimmy Kantor, Nelson Mandela, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni were s im ila rly charged, but where and when I can not r e c a ll. A ll that I do I remember is th at, before the day was out, we were a ll back in the Pretoria Local Ja il, in the same cells on the same corridor as before. But with a difference. We were no longer detainees. We had graduated into 'Awaiting T ria l P ris o n e rs '. We were no longer incommunicado. We could speak and be spoken to. We could be visited by our families and our lawyers. And we could no longer be denied access to books or writing materials. I know how it must feel to return to life after a winter in hibernation. 2 7 3 CHAPTER 17. 1963-64 We come together -for the -first time since our arrest at Rivonia. Even in the greyness of the prison interview room it is like a club reunion - handshakes, embraces and greetings. I have not seen Nelson since h is t r ia l eighteen months before. Then he had been magnificent, a traditional Xosa leopard-skin across his bared torso, his skin the colour of deep chocolate. Now his flesh has melted away. He is thin and rangy, but as erect as ever, his flashing smile of greeting unchanged. Robben Island has faded h is complexion to dull yellow , and dressed him in the black convict's uniform of khaki shirt, short trousers and rubber-scled sandals. He had always been the best dressed and most clothes-conscious of ANC activists. Even in this mocking 'boy's' outfit he stands tall and distinguished. We all show signs of wear, and are thinner, to re subdued than before, and with us two old comrades - E lia s Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni, ANC and MK a c t iv is t s who had been arrested some weeks after the Rivonia raid. Eleven ointly charged, but there are only nine at this and subsequent consultations. Kantor is not with us. He has had no part in any of the matters which have given rise to the case. He has been dragged in to save the face of prosecutor and security police after the humiliating escape from police custody of his brother-in-law and business partner, Harold Wolpe. Kantor has engaged lawyers of his own and w ill, properly, conduct a separate defence. Bob Hepple is also not with us. He has been taken from Pretoria prison by Security police. "~t» r mmiurs LA>.t lawyers have heard/in legal circles T . i that he is co-operating with the prosecutors. If they are breaking the rules to interrogate him now that he is already charged, they must surely intend to drop the charge and call him as a witness against us. I am sad about th at. I have known him since he was a ch ild . I know that anyone is lia b le to crack under the stress of s o lita r y confinement, but I have seen no sign that he has done so. Break-down would be forg ivab le; te s tify in g against h is comrades would not. I t would be seen as an act of cowardice and betrayal which w ill be remembered, and w ill haunt him. I hope that he w ill s t i l l pull back from the brink, but for the moment we are nine. An impressive legal team has been gathered somehow by H ilda and Bram Fischer together. Our ^ong-standing comrade Bram w ill lead the team. He has defended us and many of 274 cur comrades before. He understands the p o lit ic a l issues as well as any of us. He is a leading member of the Communist Party and has been involved in the political events leading up to this trial. With him are other old friends and sometime defenders: Vernon Berrange who has returned from retirem ent in Swaziland for the case; George Bizos who has been with us in many of our p o lit ic a l and legal b a ttle s ; and Arthur Chaskelson who most of us are meeting for the f ir s t time. We know nothing of him, but Bram recommends him as a brilliant young barrister who is prepared to risk a lucrative career in commercial and insurance law to take a case against the tide of public opinion.1 It proves to be an inspired choice. Professional rules require that barristers' briefs come to them not from their clients but from solicitors. For a political case like this at this time, solicitors are hard to find. Bram, in another inspired moment, steered Hilda towards Jo el Jo ffe . Most of us had never met him. fciL ha<{, a strange story. Well before our arrest, he had given up his practice as a barrister and prepared to emigrate to Australia. His personal and household belongings had already been shipped out when Jimmy Kantor and h is partner Wolpe were arrested, and their legal practice left in a leaderless shambles. Joel had been persuaded to step in temporarily to complete their unfinished legal business. He had postponed his emigration when Hilda - a complete stranger - approached him to act as solicitor for an uncertain number of people in a case where no charge had yet been levelled and no date set. Joel, typically, agreed; he never seems to refuse help to anyone who needs it .= This was an equally inspired choice. He is the mildest and least aggressive of men who combines a fie rc e sense of rig h t and ju s tic e with great empathy. He becomes the lynch-pin of our whole defence, and something much more than a lawyer for us all. He is not only the organiser of our legal affairs but also .asei^nimself the guardian of our fam ilies' personal and financial troubles. In 1 He is presently Judge President of South Africa's Constitutional Court. 2 Before the trial was over and he could close his files on the case, the must^ by association. re d£c is fiOusenoTd afYu persona s+te=&3 Hi p p g r mi □ g~. an t .»- i rnr rie* entually settled in Eng- land. A mors detailed account is given by Hilda Bernstein in her book: 'The World That Durs.' 275 the course of the trial he extends his responsibilities to the legal and personal troubles of many other victias of the police state and their families and dependants.