There appears to have been a break in press reporting of trials before the Special Courts for around a month from the end of September — the time of the Kissinger shuttle and Smith's acceptance of the principle of majority rule within two years. Special Court trials and convictions are known to have continued in the districts during and since this period, as often as not in open court, but have not been covered by journalists. A number of reporters from the Rhodesian and South African press were posted in Geneva from late October, while the worsening security situation in the operational areas may also have been a factor. Press reports of Special Courts did resume towards the end of October, but in the main have been of trials in Salisbury and Bulawayo only. It appears that a decision has been taken to hold a greater number of hearings in these major cities. Convictions were reported in late November from Special Courts in Umtali and Chiredzi. Since the opening of the Geneva Conference, 7 people are reported to have been sentenced to death for political offences under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, while 10 have had their appeals against the death sentence dismissed in the same period.
22(7) October: Salisbury. TAMAYI ISBORE, 27, a quarry worker from the Mtoko area, was sentenced to life imprisonment on conviction of possessing arms of war. He was alleged to have supplied explosives to a man called Philip, his uncle, subsequently used to cause blasts on railway lines and a beerhall in the Greater Salisbury area. A CID officer who visited Isbore's kraal on 28 July, a week after the Pink Panther and La Boheme restaurant bombings, found him in possession of 65½ sticks of commercial gelignite, a length of safety fuse and detonators. Isbore, who pleaded not guilty, maintained that he was delegated by the quarry to look after left-over explosives at the end of the day.
2 November: Bulawayo. TITUS MATSHAZI, a businessman of Luveve township, Bulawayo, was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, 2 years being conditionally suspended, on conviction of failing to report the presence of guerillas before the expiry of the 72 hour deadline prescribed under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. He was said to have met the guerillas on 27 August, but to have reported them to an off-duty police constable only on 30 August.
3 November: Bulawayo. SAUL NDUNA was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, LEMSON MATUMBA PHIRI to 12 years imprisonment, and MULILAMANGO DANIEL MLAUZI to 10 years, on conviction of possessing arms of war. All three men came from Gwanda.
10 November: Salisbury. ZAKARIYA GAISON, 27, a spirit medium, and RABISON CHAKABUA, 45, his assistant, both from the Kandeya TTL, were each sentenced to 16 years imprisonment on conviction of failing to report the presence of guerillas to the authorities. It was alleged that a seance had been arranged for a group of guerillas seeking advice on how to gain protection from the Rhodesian security forces.
15 November: Bulawayo. MOSES MASUKU MASINA, 25, the vice-chairman of the Luveve West branch of the Youth League of the African National Council, was sentenced to death on conviction of a range of offences under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, including sheltering guerillas over a period between July and September 1976. The charges arose out of a gun battle at Mr. Masina's home in New Luveve, an African township about 11 km from the Bulawayo city centre, on the night of September 1/2. A white Detective Section Officer was killed when police attempted to arrest an African, allegedly a guerilla, in a midnight raid on the house. The African, subsequently identified as Rogers Nkala, alias Solomon Maphosa, and alleged to have been responsible, as a member of a guerilla group, for the deaths of three whites and attacks on two others over a 5 month period, was also shot dead, as was an off-duty African police constable caught in the cross-fire. The incident received considerable publicity at the time as the first occasion on which shots were officially admitted to have been exchanged between security forces and a guerilla in a major urban centre. A number of people were subsequently brought to trial, including Moses Masina's wife, Patricia Masina, who was sentenced in October to 5 years imprisonment, 2½ suspended, for failing to report 3 guerillas who had allegedly stayed at her house. Moses Masina himself was convicted of providing guerillas with food, drink and accommodation, failing to report their presence, and of recruiting 23 young Africans for guerilla training in Botswana and transporting them to the border. He was found not guilty of the murder of the white Detective Section Officer. In a statement of agreed facts, the Court was told that Masina had joined the ANC in 1975. In mitigation, he pleaded that he was recently married and had a young child.
16 November: Salisbury. BULOGNA WIRESI, 27, was sentenced to death on conviction of laying a landmine in the Kariba area on 30 July 1976. A vehicle had subsequently detonated the mine, but no-one had been injured. ALFRED JOHN, 25, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the same offence. Passing judgement, the Court President, Mr. Justice Beck, said there was evidence that Wiresi was dissatisfied over the pending removal of the kraal dwellers into a collective village. "The probability," Mr. Beck said, was that Wiresi "thought that by laying a landmine in a road he could persuade the authorities from undertaking the move."
18 November: Bulawayo. NEHEMIAH MAPHOSA, a schoolteacher from the Gwanda TTL, was sentenced to life imprisonment on conviction of three charges of persuading young boys to be trained as guerillas outside Rhodesia. Some had tried to go to Botswana but had later returned to their homes. A police officer told the Special Court that since January 1975 about 700 people, their ages ranging from 14 to the middle 20's, had left the area for guerilla training.
23 November: Chiredzi. JASPER MUPHAMBARA, 19, of Melsetter, and ONISIMO SIMBA CHARAMBA, 21, of Mtoko, were sentenced to death on conviction of possessing arms of war. Both denied having 1,700 rounds of ammunition, an AK rifle, 5 SKS rifles, 8 hand grenades and various landmines, mortar and bazooka tubes. Both were alleged to have been members of guerilla groups.
26 November: Umtali. GILBERT MATASANHURA, 23, from Inyanga, NICHOLAS MANGWEZA, 21, from the Mandellas area, and RUGERA MUTAMBA, 20, from Charter, were all sentenced to death on conviction of guerilla activity. Each had been captured following contacts with security forces, Matasanhura in the Honde Valley in July, and Mangweza and Mutamba in the Chinyauwhere TTL near Umtali in September. Two of the accused appeared in court on crutches. In another case before the same court, ELIAS MANDENGWANA, 27, from the Melsetter area, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for helping guerillas to rob three stores. A juvenile, unnamed, was also sentenced to 20 years for warning guerillas of the presence of two district assistants in his kraal area.
6 October: Bulawayo Regional Court. JOHN SAYI ZIREBWA, 21, a former teacher at Mahoko Primary School near Fort Victoria, was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for attempting to leave Rhodesia for guerilla training. The Court was told that Zirebwa had resigned from the school during the August holidays and had made to leave the country on 27 September.
20(7) October: Umtali Magistrates Court. Four unnamed juveniles, all aged between 14 and 15 and including one girl, were found guilty of attempting to go for guerilla training. The boys were sentenced to 4 years imprisonment each and the girl to 4 years, with 2 suspended. The Senior Magistrate, Mr. G.J. Geddes, told the accused that the Court was "extremely reluctant" to sentence children to gaol, even for short periods, but felt obliged to be severe "in the hope of deterring others." Earlier the Court had heard that 20 people, all aged between 13 and 20, had been caught trying to cross into Mozambique so far that month.
21 October: Salisbury High Court. MATHIAS MUSWERA, JOSEPH MANDOMBO, and NDUNUA ESNATI, from Kafura Collective Village in the Pfungwe TTL, Mrewa, were all sentenced to life imprisonment on conviction of assisting guerillas to lay a landmine in a country road. The mine was subsequently detonated by an army vehicle and one passenger was slightly injured. Mr. Justice Pittman, passing sentence, said that while some might feel the death penalty to be more appropriate, the accused were "simple tribesmen who were not proved to have any interest in the terrorist cause." He therefore felt it his duty to be merciful.
3 November: Umtali Provincial Magistrates Court. Two unnamed juveniles, one aged 15 and the other 16, were each sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on conviction of attempting to cross into Mozambique for guerilla training. Passing judgement, The Provincial Magistrate, Mr. G.V. Schaap, warned that the court intended to impose increasingly stiff penalties on guerilla recruits in future. While the accused in this case were scarcely more than children, the offence was common among people of their age and a deterrent sentence was essential.
10 November: Bulawayo Magistrates Court. ELVA NKALA, a 36-year-old mother of 5 children, was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment, 18 months of which were conditionally suspended, on conviction of failing to report guerillas. The court was told that the accused, a resident of Magwegwe Township, Bulawayo, was visiting her family home in the Matopo TTL when 3 guerillas arrived on 8 September. She had been asked not to say anything about the strangers for fear of people and children in the kraal being killed if police arrived.
12 November: Umtali Provincial Magistrates Court. 22 people, whose names were not given, were sentenced to prison terms of from 4 to 8 years on conviction of attempting to leave the country to undergo guerilla training. Two others, also unnamed, were gaoled for 10 years for the same offence, while sentence on a 12-year-old girl was postponed for 5 years. Most of the 24 sentenced were juveniles. Another man, MATCHES NDANGANA, was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment having pleaded not guilty to failing to report guerillas.
24 November: Bulawayo Regional Court. TOMMY NCUBE and SOFA NCUBE appeared in court on two charges of assisting guerillas and failing to report their presence. After the accused had lodged a plea of not guilty, the trial went into secret session for security reasons and the final outcome was not reported.
