REPORT OF VISIT OF MR. H.J. BROWN TO MR. BILLY NAIR NOW AT PRISON ON SATURDAY MORNING THE 9th MAY 1964

1. Shortly after receipt of letter dated 1st May 1964, from Messrs. Seedat, Pillay & Company, we contacted the Officer commanding Robben Inland and applied for a permit to visit Mr. Nair. This was considered and duly granted and it was arranged for the permit, to be made available at the Robben Island ferry office on the morning of the 9th May 1964.

2. Mr. H.J. Brown, in whose name the permit was issued, duly obtained same and caught the 8.30 a.m. ferry from Cape Town harbour, which arrived at Robben Island at approximately 9.30 a.m. when arrangements were made for an interview to take place with Mr. Nair in a quay-side office. This interview, lasting from about 9.45 to 10.45 a.-m. took place in apparent privacy with the Security Officer standing out of ear shot, but within sight.

3. The following is the statement which we obtained from Mr. Nair: a) Mr. Nair stated that he was originally taken, together with the other 15 members of his group, to Leeuwkop Prison in the Transvaal, where they were badly treated in that all of them including those incapable of doing so, were forced to run for approximately half an hour and were thrashed in the process of running by a lieutenant, the chief warder, a sergeant and an African named Khumalo. On two occasions the group was dealt with in this manner. b) On the 11th March 1964, 61 prisoners, of whom 16 were Mr. Nair and his group from , were transferred to Robben Island prison. On the 11th they were taken to reception and given clothese, but on the 12th they were made to work, carrying stones. for about an hour and were beaten up by warders with batons and fists. This applies to all 61 of them, including Dennis Brutus, whom Mr. Nair understands has since seen his attorney. c) On the 16th March Mr. Nair and the others were taken to a quarry and made to load wheel-barrow with stones and sand and push them up hill. They were again severely beaten, this time by the criminals on the island, as well as by warders. d) As a result of the assaults on the 16th Dennis Brutus had to receive medical attention and two others were seen by a doctor. Complaints were made to the Chief Warder, who was prepared to accept these from prisoners with visible marks. -2 e) There were three apparent results from the complaints following the assaults, namely that Brutus was isolated from the other prisoners; one of the warders responsible for the assaults was actually removed; and thereafter the criminals were kept separate from the political prisoners. f) Since then the position has improved somewhat, although Mr. Nair stated that from time to time any political prisoner would be assaulted by a warder without reason. g) Mr. Nair also stated that the whole attitude of the warders in relation to the political prisoners was one of hostility. Many of the warders were young, had no manners and were insulting. h) Mr. Nair stated that he did not regard the food as satisfactory and he outlined the daily meal routine which was, for Indian prisoners, porridge with sugar, and proton soup; for lunch, a mielie base, and for supper, bread and fat, soup and coffee. He doubted whether 4 ozs. of meat per day were given. As for Africans, their diet was worse in that the lunch was based on mielies and the supper was merely a repeat of breakfast. i) Another thing which made conditions extremely diffict was the fact that Mr. Nair and the others from Natal were not able to speak Afrikaans and this made things more difficult for them, as most of the prison staff were Afrikaans speaking. j) There were other points which Mr. Nair mentioned, such as the fact that he understood himself to be entitled to have 19 ng trousers, whereas he was only suppied with shorts; and also that the general health of the prisoners was not very good. k) The main object, therefore, of Mr. Nair's request for an attorney, was that he wished to have representations made on his behalf and on behalf of the other 15 in his group for a transfer from Robben Island to a prison in Natal, for such representations to be made to the Minister of Justice, mainly to have visits from his family who could not afford to come here and the language question and cold climate. l) Mr. Nair also mentioned that he was classified as a D class prisoner but that he was advised that he would receive a higher classification next year if his behaviour was good.

m) Further matters that had been taken up with the authorities are the prisoners requests for study opportunities, which are apparently under consideration. Mr. Nair himself wishes to complete his matriculation examination.

n) Apparently Mr. Nair has been advised that he and the others will be entitled to spend 50 cents per month on various purchases for toilet requisites etc. and he enquired whether funds could be placed to his credit for this purpose and to the credit of the 16 others of his Group.

o) In passing Mr. Nair also mentioned that he was a beneficiary in the estate of his mother, Mrs Parvathy Nair handled by attorney G.S.Naidoo of . He stated that the estate was a small one but that any funds arising therefrom should be credited to his wife.

4) At the conclusion of the above interview, Mr. Nair asked whether it would be possible to sign a General Power of Attorney in favour of Mr. Brown, and as, a Power had been taken along in case of this contingency, such General Power of Attorney was duly completed and signed by Mr. Nair in favour of "Elsie Nair (born Goldstone) of Hassim Seedat or Henry Jack Brown or Himan Bernadt.''

5) Mr. Nair asked whether it would be possible for him to have interviews with his attorney approximately every two months. We pointed out that we doubted whether this would be allowed and that we could not be certain how many future interviews would be permitted, if any.

6) Mr. Brown remained at Robben Island until departure of the noon return ferry which arrived back at Cape Town harbour at approximately 12.50 p.m.

COLLECTION NAME: Collection COLLECTION NUMBER: AD1844

ITEM NUMBER: C44 Report of visit of Mr H.J. Brown to Mr. Billy Nair now at Robben Island DOCUMENT: Prison, on Saturday morning the 9th May 1964

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This document is part of a private collection, the Rivonia Trial Collection, donated to Historical Papers at The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

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