A total of 76 political trials took place in South Africa in 1978, compared with 95 in 1977. A total of 194 persons were convicted and sentenced to a total of 688 years' imprisonment. Of the remaining 100, 39 were acquitted or had the charges withdrawn, while the rest were still on trial at the end of the year, when the courts adjourned for the summer recess.
All the 76 trials took place under South African security laws — the Terrorism, Sabotage, Internal Security and Explosives Acts — and do not include other politically-motivated cases which are held under illegal gathering and public violence charges. Of the 76 trials, 32 were under the Terrorism Act and 22 under the Sabotage (General Law Amendment) Act. (RDM 6.2.79, from figures collected by SAIRR; see FOCUS 15 p. 2 for break-down of 1977 figures).
The legal recess took place during December and January and is responsible for the relative lack of progress in many trials since the last issue of FOCUS. However press reports indicate that in February 1979 at least 14 political trials were in process, involving some 55 persons.
