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 violent revolution".
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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").
Arrests
Arrested were:
- Walter Sisulu
- Govan Mbeki
- Raymond Mhlaba
- Elias Motsoaledi Trade Union and ANC member
- Ahmed Kathrada
- Dennis Goldberg a Cape Town engineer and leader of the Congress of Democrats.
- Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein architect and member of the communist party
- Bob Hepple
- Arthur Goldreich
- Harold Wolpe prominent attorney and activist
- James "Jimmy" Kantor brother-in-law of Harold Wolpe
and others.
Goldberg, Bernstein, Hepple and Goldreich were Caucasian Jews, Kathrada was Indian, and Sisulu, Mbeki, Motsoaledi and Mhlaba were black.
The trial brought in Nelson Mandela and chief of MK, Walter Mkwayi.
The government took advantage of 90 days without trial, where 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 and George Bizos. 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 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.
List of defendants
- Nelson Mandela
- Walter Sisulu
- Govan Mbeki (father of Thabo Mbeki, now President of South Africa)
- Raymond Mhlaba
- Elias Motsoaledi
- Ahmed Kathrada
- Denis Goldberg
- Andrew Mlangeni
- Walter Mkwayi
- Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein (acquitted)
- Harold Wolpe
- James Kantor
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.
Escapes
- Arthur Goldreich escaped from prison disguised as a priest
- Walter Mkwayi (escaped during trial)
- Harold Wolpe (esaped with the help of Manni Brown)
- James Kantor (esaped with the help of Manni Brown)
- Manni Brown Tour operator as a cover to deliver weapons to the ANC.
Results
Originally the death penalty had been requested, but was changed because of world-wide protests. Eight defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, and one acquitted.
- [1] (http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/trials/toward_robben_island.html) "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.
External links
- "The Rivonia Trial (http://www.observer.co.uk/mandela/story/0,8224,436395,00.html)" - article by Sunder Katwala from The Observer, dated Sunday, February 11, 2001
- Liliesleaf Farm in South Africa (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/warwickmagazine04/mandela/)
- ANC history (http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/trials/toward_robben_island.html)