Rivonia Trial 1963-1964
The Trial, 1963-1964
Rivonia Trialist supporters, led by Gertude Shope and other activists, outside the Palace of Justice. Source: Pretoria News Library
On 30 October 1963 ten defendants appeared in the Pretoria Supreme Court charged on two counts of sabotage. The specific charges the accused faced were: (1) 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; (2) conspiring to commit the aforementioned acts and to aid foreign military units when they invaded the Republic; (3) acting in these ways to further the objects of communism; and (4) soliciting and receiving money for these purposes from sympathisers in Algeria, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Tunisia, and elsewhere.
The defence team comprised of Joel Joffe, who was the instructing attorney, Bram Fischer, Vernon Berrange, Arthur Chaskalson and George Bizos. The trial judge was Justice Quartus de Wet, with the Prosecution led by Dr Percy Yutar. The Verwoerd government was hoping for the maximum sentence for the accused i.e. the death penalty. From the outset, the defence team informed their clients that they should expect the worst. All ten accused pleaded not guilty to all charges.
For the accused, the courtroom became a new site of struggle. The defendants’ daily appearances in court drew large crowds that filled up the courtroom and streets outside the court. Many supporters were in violation of numerous influx control regulations, and the courts for them too, became new sites of struggle.
In presenting the prosecution’s case, Yutar claimed that the accused were all members of what he considered ‘a cabinet of the government soon after the overthrow of the state’. In this cabinet, Mandela was Deputy Minister and Minister of Defence, while Govan Mbeki was Minister of European Affairs. The rest of the accused each had a cabinet portfolio.
The state’s star witness had to have been Bruno Mtolo, who testified in camera as ‘Mr X’. Mtolo had been a member of the regional command of the Natal MK and had a photographic memory. He implicated Mandela and his co-accused by recalling various meetings and events where he was exposed to these leaders’ words and plans to overthrow the state. His reason for becoming a witness for the state was, he said, due to his disgust at how Sisulu and other top leaders were living a lavish lifestyle while he claimed to have been denied his ten-pound a week wage for his activities in the MK.
The most profound moment in the trial was probably Mandela’s speech in the dock. He condemned the very court he was appearing in as illegitimate. He then proceeded to argue that the laws in place were equally draconian and that defiance of these laws was justified.
The trial ended on 12 June 1964, with the court sentencing eight of the convicted to life imprisonment. Mandela, Sisulu, Mbeki, Motsoaledi, Mlangeni, and Goldberg were found guilty on all four counts. The defense had hoped that Mahlaba, Kathrada, and Bernstein might escape conviction due to lack of evidence that they were actually party to the conspiracy. However, Mhlaba was found guilty on all four counts and Kathrada was found guilty on one charge of conspiracy. Bernstein was found not guilty; but he was later rearrested, released on bail, and placed under house arrest. Soon afterwards he fled the country. Kantor was the only accused discharged at the end of the prosecution's case.
Eight of the accused were incarcerated on Robben Island Prison, with the exception of Goldberg, who was sent to Pretoria Central Prison where he served 22 years. At the time Pretoria Central was the only security wing for white political prisoners in South Africa.
Soon after the trial defence lawyer Bram Fischer was arrested and put on trial for ‘supporting communism’. Many believe the state went after Fischer because the Rivonia trialists had not received the death penalty. Fischer’s case received much attention, as Fischer was an Afrikaner fighting against an Afrikaner government. He was sentenced to life in prison and was only released when he was critically ill.
‘The accused waved to the audience as they descended below the dock. Outside, as on the preceding day, large numbers of police, some with dogs, stood ready to control the crowds and avoid any embarrassing incidents or disorder. Among some 2,000 people present there were only a few hundred Africans who showed their emotions. They responded to news of the verdict with shouts of Amandla Ngawethu! and the clenched fist and upright thumb of the ANC. Some unfurled banners – "We Are Proud of Our Leaders" – which the police seized. All except Goldberg, the one white, were flown to Robben Island, the maximum security prison some seven miles from the shores of Cape Town.’
Extract from the book, From Protest to Challenge, A Documentary History of South African Politics.
