Rivonia Trial
Encyclopedia
The Rivonia Trial was a trial
that 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 overthrow the apartheid
system.
, the suburb of Johannesburg
where 19 ANC leaders were arrested at Liliesleaf Farm
, privately owned by Arthur Goldreich
, on 11 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 "the walker").
and others.
Goldberg, Bernstein, Hepple, Wolpe, Kantor and Goldreich were white Jews, Kathrada and Nair were Indian
, and Sisulu, Mbeki, Motsoaledi and Mhlaba were Xhosa, while Sisulu had a Xhosa mother and a white
father.
The trial was essentially a mechanism through which the apartheid government could hurt or mute the ANC and allied organizations
. Its leaders, including Nelson Mandela
, who was already in Johannesburg's Fort prison serving a five-year sentence for inciting workers to strike and leaving the country illegally, 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 sabotage
. Amongst the defendants in this trial was the chief of MK, Wilton 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 11 August. 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 9 October. Leading the defence team was Bram Fischer
, the distinguished Afrikaner lawyer, assisted by Harry Schwarz
, Joel Joffe, Arthur Chaskalson
, George Bizos
and Harold Hanson
. At the end of October, Hepple was able to leave the dock because under pressure he was told to testify for the prosecution but never did; he managed to escape and 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
.
The trial began on 26 November 1963. After dismissal of the first indictment as inadequate, the trial finally got under way on 3 December with an expanded indictment. Each of the ten accused pleaded not guilty. The trial ended on 12 June 1964.
"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 nations around the world, leading to international sanctions
against the South African government in some cases.
— Nelson Mandela speaking at the dock of the court, June 1964
Originally the death penalty had been requested, but was changed because of world-wide protests and skilled legal maneuvers on the part of the defence team. Harold Hanson was called upon to argue in mitigation. He compared the African struggle for rights to the earlier Afrikaans struggle, citing precedents for temperate sentencing, even in cases of treason. Eight defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment
; Lionel Bernstein
was acquitted.
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.
Nelson Mandela would spend nearly thirty years in prison as a result of the trial. He was released on 11 February 1990 by President F.W. de Klerk.
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
that took place in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
between 1963 and 1964, in which ten leaders of the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to overthrow the apartheid
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
system.
Origins
It was named after RivoniaRivonia, Gauteng
Rivonia is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Sandton area. It is located in Region 3. Rivonia is one of the most affluent residential and business suburbs of Johannesburg, and regarded as the hub of upstart I.T. companies...
, the suburb of Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
where 19 ANC leaders were arrested at Liliesleaf Farm
Liliesleaf Farm
Liliesleaf Farm in northern Johannesburg, South Africa was the farm used secretly by African National Congress activists in the 1960s and was the location where many prominent African National Congress leaders were arrested, leading to the Rivonia Trial....
, privately owned by Arthur Goldreich
Arthur Goldreich
Arthur Goldreich was a South African-Israeli abstract painter and a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement in the country of his birth.-Early life:...
, on 11 July 1963. It had been used as a hideout for the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
. Among others, Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
had moved onto the farm in October 1961 and evaded security police while masquerading as a gardener and cook called David Motsamayi (meaning "the walker").
Arrests
Arrested were:- Walter SisuluWalter SisuluWalter Max Ulyate Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress .-Family and Education:...
- Govan MbekiGovan MbekiGovan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki was a South African politician, and father of the former South African president Thabo Mbeki and political economist Moeletsi Mbeki...
- Raymond MhlabaRaymond MhlabaRaymond Mhlaba was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress .Mhlaba spent 25 years of his life in prison. Well known for being sentenced, along with Nelson Mandela, in the Rivonia Trial, he was an active member of the ANC and the South African Communist Party all his...
- Andrew Mlangeni
- Elias MotsoalediElias MotsoalediElias Motsoaledi was one of the eight men sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial.-Early Life and Family:...
, trade unionTrade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
and ANCAfrican National CongressThe African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
member - Ahmed KathradaAhmed KathradaAhmed Mohamed Kathrada is a South African politician and former political prisoner and anti-apartheid activist....
- Billy NairBilly NairBilly Nair was a South African politician, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa, an anti-apartheid activist and a political prisoner in Robben Island....
- Denis GoldbergDenis GoldbergDenis Goldberg is a South African social campaigner, who was active in the struggle against apartheid and was imprisoned along with other key members of the anti-apartheid movement....
, a Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
engineer and leader of the Congress of DemocratsCongress of DemocratsThe Congress of Democrats is a political party in Namibia, led by Ben Ulenga. It is an opposition party represented in the National Assembly.The party is an observer of the Socialist International.- 2004 elections :...
. - Lionel "Rusty" BernsteinLionel BernsteinLionel "Rusty" Bernstein was a South African anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner.-Early life:Bernstein was born in Durban, the youngest of four children of Jewish émigrés from Europe. He was orphaned at eight years old, and brought up by relatives, after which he was sent to finish his...
, architect and member of the South African Communist PartySouth African Communist PartySouth African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H... - Bob HeppleBob HeppleSir Bob Hepple QC is a South African born academic and leader in the fields of labour law, tort and discrimination. He taught for much of his career at Cambridge University, University College London and as Chairman of the Industrial Tribunals....
- Arthur GoldreichArthur GoldreichArthur Goldreich was a South African-Israeli abstract painter and a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement in the country of his birth.-Early life:...
- Harold WolpeHarold WolpeHarold Wolpe was a South African political economist and writer who was involved in anti-apartheid politics. He was arrested and put in prison in 1963 but escaped and spent 30 years in exile in the United Kingdom. He returned to South Africa in 1990.-Selected bibliography:*“The Problem of the...
, prominent attorney and activist - James "Jimmy" KantorJames KantorJames Kantor was a South African Lawyer. He was Nelson Mandela's lawyer in the Rivonia Trial until he too was arrested and was charged with the same crimes as Mandela. Harry Schwarz, a close friend and a well-known politician, stepped in to act as his defense in the trial...
, brother-in-law of Harold Wolpe
and others.
Goldberg, Bernstein, Hepple, Wolpe, Kantor and Goldreich were white Jews, Kathrada and Nair were Indian
Asians in South Africa
The majority of the Asian South African population is Indian in origin, most of them descended from indentured workers transported to work in the 19th century on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area, then known as Natal. They are largely English speaking, although many also retain the...
, and Sisulu, Mbeki, Motsoaledi and Mhlaba were Xhosa, while Sisulu had a Xhosa mother and a white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
father.
The trial was essentially a mechanism through which the apartheid government could hurt or mute the ANC and allied organizations
Congress Alliance
The Congress Alliance was an anti-apartheid coalition formed in South Africa in the 1950s. Led by the ANC, the Congress was a multi-racial alliance committed to a democratic South Africa.- Congress Alliance, multi-racial struggle, and the Freedom Charter :...
. Its leaders, including Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, who was already in Johannesburg's Fort prison serving a five-year sentence for inciting workers to strike and leaving the country illegally, 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
Little Rivonia Trial
The Little Rivonia Trial was a South African apartheid-era court case in which several members of the armed resistance group Umkhonto we Sizwe faced charges of sabotage. The accused were: Laloo Chiba, Dave Kitson, Mac Maharaj, John Matthews and Wilton Mkwayi...
, in which other ANC members were prosecuted for sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
. Amongst the defendants in this trial was the chief of MK, Wilton 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 11 August. 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 9 October. Leading the defence team was Bram Fischer
Bram Fischer
Abram Louis Fischer, commonly known as Bram Fischer, was a South African lawyer of Afrikaner descent, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial.-Tributes:Fischer is widely acknowledged as a key figure in...
, the distinguished Afrikaner lawyer, assisted by Harry Schwarz
Harry Schwarz
Harry Heinz Schwarz was a South African lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid, who eventually served as the South African ambassador to the United States during the country’s transition to representative democracy.Schwarz rose from the childhood poverty he...
, Joel Joffe, Arthur Chaskalson
Arthur Chaskalson
Arthur Chaskalson, is a former President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Chief Justice of South Africa...
, George Bizos
George Bizos
George Bizos is a distinguished human rights advocate who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa, most notably during the Rivonia Trial.-Early life:...
and Harold Hanson
Harold Hanson
Harold Joseph Hanson was an eminent South African advocate and Senior Member of the Johannesburg Bar Council. He was born in Johannesburg to Ralph Hanson, a Rand pioneer and Clara Lewis. Harold Hanson first married May Koseff with whom he had a daughter. His second marriage was in 1945 to Anna...
. At the end of October, Hepple was able to leave the dock because under pressure he was told to testify for the prosecution but never did; he managed to escape and flee the country.
The presiding judge was Dr. Quartus de Wet
Quartus de Wet
Dr. Quartus de Wet , South African judge-president of the high court of the Transvaal.Born in 1899 in Pretoria, he was the son of Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet, Chief Justice of South Africa and acting Governor-General and Ella Scheepers , who is reputed to have composed the popular Afrikaans song Sarie...
, judge-president of the Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
.
The chief prosecutor was Dr. Percy Yutar
Percy Yutar
Dr. Percy Yutar was South Africa’s first Jewish attorney-general. Yutar was one of eight children in a family of Lithuanian immigrants...
, deputy attorney-general of the Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
.
The trial began on 26 November 1963. After dismissal of the first indictment as inadequate, the trial finally got under way on 3 December with an expanded indictment. Each of the ten accused pleaded not guilty. The trial ended on 12 June 1964.
List of defendants
- Nelson MandelaNelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
- Walter SisuluWalter SisuluWalter Max Ulyate Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress .-Family and Education:...
- Govan MbekiGovan MbekiGovan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki was a South African politician, and father of the former South African president Thabo Mbeki and political economist Moeletsi Mbeki...
- Raymond MhlabaRaymond MhlabaRaymond Mhlaba was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress .Mhlaba spent 25 years of his life in prison. Well known for being sentenced, along with Nelson Mandela, in the Rivonia Trial, he was an active member of the ANC and the South African Communist Party all his...
- Elias MotsoalediElias MotsoalediElias Motsoaledi was one of the eight men sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial.-Early Life and Family:...
- Ahmed KathradaAhmed KathradaAhmed Mohamed Kathrada is a South African politician and former political prisoner and anti-apartheid activist....
- Denis GoldbergDenis GoldbergDenis Goldberg is a South African social campaigner, who was active in the struggle against apartheid and was imprisoned along with other key members of the anti-apartheid movement....
- Andrew Mlangeni
- Billy NairBilly NairBilly Nair was a South African politician, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa, an anti-apartheid activist and a political prisoner in Robben Island....
- Wilton Mkwayi
- Lionel "Rusty" BernsteinLionel BernsteinLionel "Rusty" Bernstein was a South African anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner.-Early life:Bernstein was born in Durban, the youngest of four children of Jewish émigrés from Europe. He was orphaned at eight years old, and brought up by relatives, after which he was sent to finish his...
(acquitted) - Harold WolpeHarold WolpeHarold Wolpe was a South African political economist and writer who was involved in anti-apartheid politics. He was arrested and put in prison in 1963 but escaped and spent 30 years in exile in the United Kingdom. He returned to South Africa in 1990.-Selected bibliography:*“The Problem of the...
- James KantorJames KantorJames Kantor was a South African Lawyer. He was Nelson Mandela's lawyer in the Rivonia Trial until he too was arrested and was charged with the same crimes as Mandela. Harry Schwarz, a close friend and a well-known politician, stepped in to act as his defense in the trial...
(acquitted)
Defence attorneys
- Arthur ChaskalsonArthur ChaskalsonArthur Chaskalson, is a former President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Chief Justice of South Africa...
- Bram FischerBram FischerAbram Louis Fischer, commonly known as Bram Fischer, was a South African lawyer of Afrikaner descent, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial.-Tributes:Fischer is widely acknowledged as a key figure in...
- Joel Joffe
- Nat Levy
- Harold HansonHarold HansonHarold Joseph Hanson was an eminent South African advocate and Senior Member of the Johannesburg Bar Council. He was born in Johannesburg to Ralph Hanson, a Rand pioneer and Clara Lewis. Harold Hanson first married May Koseff with whom he had a daughter. His second marriage was in 1945 to Anna...
- John Coaker
- Harry SchwarzHarry SchwarzHarry Heinz Schwarz was a South African lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid, who eventually served as the South African ambassador to the United States during the country’s transition to representative democracy.Schwarz rose from the childhood poverty he...
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 AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, LiberiaLiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, and elsewhere.
"Production requirements" for munitions for a six-month period were sufficient, the prosecutor Percy Yutar
Percy Yutar
Dr. Percy Yutar was South Africa’s first Jewish attorney-general. Yutar was one of eight children in a family of Lithuanian immigrants...
said in his opening address, to blow up a city the size of Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
.
Kantor was discharged at the end of the prosecution's case.
The trial was condemned by the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
and nations around the world, leading to international sanctions
International sanctions
International sanctions are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally.There are several types of sanctions....
against the South African government in some cases.
Escapes
- Arthur GoldreichArthur GoldreichArthur Goldreich was a South African-Israeli abstract painter and a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement in the country of his birth.-Early life:...
and Harold WolpeHarold WolpeHarold Wolpe was a South African political economist and writer who was involved in anti-apartheid politics. He was arrested and put in prison in 1963 but escaped and spent 30 years in exile in the United Kingdom. He returned to South Africa in 1990.-Selected bibliography:*“The Problem of the...
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 SwazilandSwazilandSwaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
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 KantorJames KantorJames Kantor was a South African Lawyer. He was Nelson Mandela's lawyer in the Rivonia Trial until he too was arrested and was charged with the same crimes as Mandela. Harry Schwarz, a close friend and a well-known politician, stepped in to act as his defense in the trial...
arrested and charged with the same crimes as Mandela and his co-accused. Harry SchwarzHarry SchwarzHarry Heinz Schwarz was a South African lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid, who eventually served as the South African ambassador to the United States during the country’s transition to representative democracy.Schwarz rose from the childhood poverty he...
, a close friend, and a well-known politician acted as his defence. After being the subject of vicious taunting and many attempts to place him as a vital cog of MK by Percy YutarPercy YutarDr. Percy Yutar was South Africa’s first Jewish attorney-general. Yutar was one of eight children in a family of Lithuanian immigrants...
, finally Judge Quartus de WetQuartus de WetDr. Quartus de Wet , South African judge-president of the high court of the Transvaal.Born in 1899 in Pretoria, he was the son of Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet, Chief Justice of South Africa and acting Governor-General and Ella Scheepers , who is reputed to have composed the popular Afrikaans song Sarie...
discharged him, stating Accused No 8 has no case to answer. Kantor fled the country and died of a massive heart attackMyocardial infarctionMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1975.
Results
— Nelson Mandela speaking at the dock of the court, June 1964
Originally the death penalty had been requested, but was changed because of world-wide protests and skilled legal maneuvers on the part of the defence team. Harold Hanson was called upon to argue in mitigation. He compared the African struggle for rights to the earlier Afrikaans struggle, citing precedents for temperate sentencing, even in cases of treason. Eight defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
; Lionel Bernstein
Lionel Bernstein
Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein was a South African anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner.-Early life:Bernstein was born in Durban, the youngest of four children of Jewish émigrés from Europe. He was orphaned at eight years old, and brought up by relatives, after which he was sent to finish his...
was acquitted.
- 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 defence 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
Pretoria Central Prison
Pretoria Central Prison is a large prison in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The prison was the official site of capital punishment in South Africa during the apartheid era...
instead of Robben Island
Robben Island
Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island". Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km². It is flat and only a...
(at that time the only security wing for white political prisoners in South Africa) where he served 22 years.
Nelson Mandela would spend nearly thirty years in prison as a result of the trial. He was released on 11 February 1990 by President F.W. de Klerk.
External links
- "The Rivonia Trial" - article by Sunder Katwala from The ObserverThe ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, dated Sunday, February 11, 2001 - ANC history
- On the trail of Mandela's handgun
- Rivonia Unmasked The prosecutor's account of the Rivonia Trial.
- Historical Papers of the Rivonia Trial, Digital Collection at the University of the Witwatersrand.
- Rivonia Trial Images