Reactions, the impact of the Trial

International reactions

ANC President Oliver Tambo addresses a crowd outside South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, London. This address occurred soon after the Rivonia Trial to maintain international pressure on Apartheid South Africa. Photograph from Sunday Times, supplied by STE Publishers

The media presence and coverage of the Rivonia Trial was significant. The Trial was watched by the world. As a result South Africa experienced pressure from the International Community during and after the trial. The United Nations issued statements to the South African government appealing against the death sentence, which many expected.

In addition, those listed as the co-conspirators during the Rivonia trial – namely Oliver Reginald Tambo, Joe Slovo, Ben Turok, Duma Nokwe, Joe Modise, Gertrude Shope, Jack Hodgson and others – were in hiding or in exile. Many of them helped to raise funds for the accused and organised many anti-Apartheid protests abroad.

In the aftermath of the trial the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, and other international sports bodies began terminating South Africa’s membership to these organisations. By the end of the 1970s, South Africa was largely isolated from participating in world sport. Cultural bodies around the world also terminated South Africa’s membership.

Effect on the struggle

The Rivonia Trial had significant short and long-term consequences. Many observers note that b y imprisoning the leaders of MK, the government was largely able to break the strength of the struggle inside South Africa, and for a time open political activity was nearly impossible . Others note that the liberation movements strengthened their underground networks and continued to create organisational capacity outside of the country.

When the ANC was banned in 1960, Oliver Reginald Tambo became the Acting President of the ANC after the death of Chief Albert Luthuli. He also assumed leadership of the movement abroad. The ANC set up bases in Dar es Salaam for the training of MK recruits. However, during the first half of the 1960s, it was difficult for MK to establish external bases from which to conduct operations. This problem diminished with the coming of independence: Zambia (1964), Botswana (1966), Lesotho (1966), Swaziland (1968), Mozambique and Angola (1975). In 1965 the ANC relocated its headquarters to Morogoro, but its main military camp was at Kongwa.

Anti-Apartheid Rally for Sanctions against the South African Government, London, 1986. Photograph by Paul Weinburg, supplied by South African Media Online

The watershed Morogoro Conference (1969) ushered in a new era in the history of the liberation struggle. It opened up ANC membership to all races.  It also embarked on establishing more military bases in African countries. This period was characterised by an increase in efforts to enter South Africa through neighbouring countries in order to launch guerrilla attacks.

The late 1960s also saw a resurgence of resistance emanating from structures inside the country. This started in 1968 with the establishment of the South African Students Organisation (SASO) and the Black People’s Convention (BPC) in 1972. The re-organisation of political structures, particularly the youth, led to the Durban strikes of 1973 and later the student uprising of 1976. The 1976 Uprisings led to the intensification of armed struggle as thousands of youth fled into exile, swelling the ranks of MK.

Trialists’ release and transition to democracy

In the 1980s various liberation organisations began creating internal structures, like the UDF, to render the country ungovernable. Both the internal and external pressures forced the regime to open dialogue with the incarcerated leaders of the struggle. 

Early in 1985 the government permitted Lord Bethell, a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), to interview Mandela in Pollsmoor. Pollsmoor was the mainland prison in Cape Town to which Mandela and five others had been transferred in 1982. Lord Bethell joined many in urging the South African government to release Mandela in the interests of achieving a negotiated solution. On 31 January 1985, President PW Botha responded by offering to free Mandela if he renounced the use of violence – an offer that Mandela refused.

In the meantime the situation inside South Africa had become increasingly unstable. The government declared a State of Emergency in 1986, and brutally targeted opponents of the government. These government measures merely fuelled the struggle fires.

In 1989, amid momentous global changes marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Apartheid government appeared ready to negotiate.

In 1989 FW de Klerk became President and soon afterwards he announced the release of various political prisoners. Nelson Mandela was released on 11 February 1990.

The Law Today

Between 1990 and 1993 the government was involved in negotiations with numerous political formations. Initial interactions led to the formation of CODESA I and II, culminating in South Africa’s first democratic elections of 1994 and the birth of our new constitution.

The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 and the Internal Security Act were some of the pieces of legislation used by the Apartheid government to undermine the political activity of mainly Black people. These acts ensured that eight of the accused in the Rivonia Trial were sentenced to life in prison. After this trial other pieces of legislation were passed that would further restrict political activity or deny it completely for black people and others opposed to Apartheid. Some of the key pieces of legislation include Section 6 of Terrorism Act, passed in 1976, and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, passed after the Rivonia Trial. Both were used extensively in later politically related trials.

Today, the protection of our civil liberties is guaranteed in the Constitution of 1996. This allows for opposition to the government without the risk of facing arrest and possible imprisonment for political offences. It is no longer a political offence to be a member of any political organisation. It is no longer illegal to publish record or make statements that could be considered ‘security risks’.

Towards Reconciliation

Towards the end of the 1990s, at the request of cabinet, Bishop Desmond Tutu led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Many struggle leaders did not feel compelled to appear in front of the TRC as their main focus was on building a non-racial, non-segregated country, where everyone’s human rights are respected and, most importantly, protected. The TRC process was the government’s attempt to start healing the wounds of Apartheid experienced by both the victims and casualties of war. Although forgiveness was the outcome for many who chose to appear in front of the TRC, forgetting is more difficult. Many Apartheid victims, on both sides, still wear their scars in memory wherever they go.

Corruption, crime and violence against women and children are some of the issues facing our democracy today. While we have a constitution that protects our rights, our country’s legal system and government still has a long road to walk towards justice for all.

‘We, that is the Rivonia group, arrived on Robben Island on the 13th of June 1964. It was a Saturday – cold, windy, raining. We cannot forget the first months at the quarry where we mined stone – we came back with blisters, bloody hands, and sore muscles. And we cannot forget the dozen years or more when we were forced to sleep on the cold cement floors with three blankets and a thin sisal mat. Also we cannot forget the cold showers for 13 or 14 year. There is so much more that one can recall much more that we have found in ourselves to forgive, but these we will never forget’.

Ahmed Kathrada on opening the “Esiqithini: The Robben Island Exhibition” 26 May 1993

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