Helen Joseph is put under house arrest

Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Former political activist, Helen Joseph, fell victim to the Draconian apartheid legislations. She became the first person to be put under house arrest under the Sabotage Act, introduced by the newly appointed Minister of Justice, B.J Voster. The conditions attached to her arrest included a prohibition on leaving her house at night and over weekends and also on receiving visitors.

How we know this

01Joseph, H. (1986). Side by Side: the autobiography of Helen Joseph, London: Zed.
02Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.
03Sonderling, N.E. (ed.) New Dictionary of South African Biography, v. 2

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Helen Joseph is put under house arrest. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011968

South African History Online (2011) 'Helen Joseph is put under house arrest', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011968 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

South African History Online, Helen Joseph is put under house arrest [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011968, (accessed 12 October 2026).

"Helen Joseph is put under house arrest." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011968. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Helen Joseph is put under house arrest." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011968.