Rivonia Trial

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The Rivonia Trial was an infamous trial which took place in South Africa between 1963 and 1964, in which ten leaders of the African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to "ferment[sic] violent revolution"[1].

Contents

[edit] Origins

It was named after Rivonia, the suburb of Johannesburg where 19 ANC leaders were arrested at Liliesleaf Farm, privately owned by Arthur Goldreich, on 11th July 1963. It had been used as a hideout for the African National Congress. Among others, Nelson Mandela had moved onto the farm in October 1961 and evaded security police while masquerading as a gardener and cook called David Motsamayi (meaning "come-and-go").

[edit] Arrests

Arrested were:

and others.

Goldberg, Bernstein, Hepple and Goldreich were Caucasian Jews, Kathrada was Indian, and Sisulu, Mbeki, Motsoaledi and Mhlaba were black.

The trial was essentially a mechanism through which the apartheid government could hurt or mute the ANC. Its leaders, including Nelson Mandela, who was already serving a 5 years sentence on Robben Island for leaving the country without a passport, were prosecuted, found guilty, and imprisoned. The apartheid regime's attack on the ANC's leadership and organizers continued with a trial known as Little Rivonia, in which other ANC members were prosecuted for their anti-apartheid activities. Amongst the defendents in this trial was the chief of MK, Walter Mkwayi who was sentenced to life imprisonment alongside Mandela and the other ANC leaders on Robben Island.

The government took advantage of 90 days without trial, and the defendants were held incommunicado. Meanwhile, Goldreich and Wolpe bribed a guard and escaped from jail on August 11. Their escape infuriated the prosecutors and police who considered Goldreich to be "the arch-conspirator."

Lawyers were unable to see the accused until two days before indictment on October 9. Leading the defense team was Bram Fischer, the distinguished Afrikaner lawyer, assisted by Joel Joffe, Arthur Chaskalson, George Bizos and Harold Hanson. At the end of October, Hepple was able to leave the dock because he had agreed to testify for the prosecution; later he managed to flee the country.

The presiding judge was Dr. Quartus de Wet, judge-president of the Transvaal.

The chief prosecutor was Dr. Percy Yutar, deputy attorney-general of the Transvaal, also Jewish.

The trial began on November 26, 1963. After dismissal of the first indictment as inadequate, the trial finally got under way on December 3 with an expanded indictment. Each of the ten accused pleaded not guilty. The trial ended on June 12, 1964.

[edit] List of defendants

Image:Rivonia accused.gif

[edit] Charges

Charges were:

  • recruiting persons for training in the preparation and use of explosives and in guerrilla warfare for the purpose of violent revolution and committing acts of sabotage
  • conspiring to commit the aforementioned acts and to aid foreign military units when they invaded the Republic,
  • acting in these ways to further the objects of communism
  • soliciting and receiving money for these purposes from sympathizers in Algeria, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Tunisia, and elsewhere.

"Production requirements" for munitions for a six-month period were sufficient, the prosecutor Percy Yutar said in his opening address, to blow up a city the size of Johannesburg.

Kantor was discharged at the end of the prosecution's case.

The trial was condemned by the United Nations Security Council, and led to their trying to get international sanctions imposed against the South African government.

[edit] Escapes

  • Arthur Goldreich and Harold Wolpe escaped from The Fort prison in Johannesburg while on remand after bribing a prison guard. After hiding in various safe houses for two months they escaped through Swaziland dressed as priests with the aid of Manni Brown who posed as a tour operator as a cover to deliver weapons to the ANC.
  • Wolpe's escape saw his brother-in-law, James Kantor arrested and being charged with the same crimes as Mandela and his co-accused. After being the subject of vicious taunting and many attempts to place him as a vital cog of MK by Percy Yutar, finally Judge Quartus de Wet discharged him, stating Accused No 8 has no case to answer. Kantor fled the country and died of a massive heart attack in 1975. His health never recovered from the harsh treatment while in prison awaiting trial.

[edit] Results

Originally the death penalty had been requested, but was changed because of world-wide protests and the ingenuity of the defence team. Eight defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, and one acquitted.

[2] "There was no surprise in the fact that Mandela, Sisulu, Mbeki, Motsoaledi, Mlangeni, and Goldberg were found guilty on all four counts. The defense had hoped that Mhlaba, Kathrada, and Bernstein might escape conviction because of the skimpiness of evidence that they were parties to the conspiracy, although undoubtedly they could be prosecuted on other charges. But Mhlaba too was found guilty on all counts, and Kathrada, on one charge of conspiracy. Bernstein, however, was found not guilty. He was rearrested, released on bail, and placed under house arrest. Later he fled the country."

Denis Goldberg went to Pretoria Central Prison instead of Robben Island (at that time the only security wing for white political prisoners in South Africa) where he served 22 years.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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