Mr Jackson Banyini, a 64-year old African cobbler turned barber, was ordered by the West Rand Administration Board (WRAB) to vacate his rented house in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, and move to Soweto. Mr Banyini and his wife Edith, 74, a domestic servant who earns R30 a month, have lived in Alexandra township for 33 years. He refused to move. In 1972 his trading licence for his shoe-repairing business was cancelled, and subsequently he was brought to court several times for refusing to move.
Finally on 5 December 1975 the court sentenced him to three months' imprisonment without the option of a fine. The following day, while Mrs Banyini was at work and her husband in gaol, WRAB workmen removed the windows and door frames of their house and partly demolished the inside walls, rendering the place uninhabitable. Mrs Banyini and her grandchildren were obliged to move to Soweto to a house provided by the Board.
After serving four days of his sentence Mr Banyini was released on parole under the control of a white farmer in Boksburg, 25 km. away, and ordered to work for the farmer until the end of his parole on 2 February 1976. The farmer said that the prison authorities instructed him that on no account could Mr Banyini be allowed to visit his family until the end of his parole. For the first time in 33 years of marriage, it seemed, Mr and Mrs Banyini would spend Christmas apart.
