Stanley NKOSI (28) and Petrus MOTHLANTHE (27) were each jailed for 10 years on 13 April by a special court in Randburg for offences connected with the ANC and explosives. The third accused, Joseph MOSOEU (43) was acquitted.
Nkosi and Mothlanthe were convicted of bringing explosives into South Africa from Swaziland between January and April 1976, being active supporters of the African National Congress and furthering its aims by undergoing training in the use of explosives. They were sentenced to five years on each of three charges, but two will run concurrently and both will serve 10 years. The explosives and banned literature were found at the home of Mosoeu but it was not proved he knew they were there.
To the court, Nkosi and Mothlanthe said they had joined the ANC because they felt there could be no political change in South Africa without armed confrontation. Mothlanthe, an employee of Johannesburg City Council, spoke of the pass laws and the fact that his son was declared a citizen of Lebowa, a place he had never seen. Nkosi pointed out that even the court entrances were "White" and "Non-White" and added "I do not believe in violence, but a little of it without bloodshed could convince the whites something more drastic could happen and make them change their ways."
