The student from Bloemfontein, Shadrack MOLEFI (20) on trial under the Terrorism Act (see FOCUS 20 p. 12) was convicted on 20 February in Johannesburg Regional Court and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.
It was alleged that Molefi met a member of the Soweto Students League in Bloemfontein early in 1978 when he was given financial assistance to leave the country for military training. He went first to Swaziland but returned because student refugees were being arrested and then attempted to travel to Botswana but was arrested by security police when the train reached Mafeking. This was in May, since when he had been in custody.
Defence counsel disputed the admissibility of a "confession" made by Molefi to a magistrate, saying Molefi had been assaulted and his statement dictated; this was rejected by the court, which also turned down an application for bail pending an appeal (RDM 17.2.79).
