On 12 December three white political prisoners serving sentences under the Terrorism Act made a dramatic escape from Pretoria Central Prison maximum security section.
The three are: Alexander Moumbaris (41) sentenced in 1973 to 12 years in jail together with four others who were also convicted and are now on Robben Island and with Sean Hosey who was released in 1978 after a six-year sentence; Timothy Peter Jenkin (31) and Stephen Bernard Lee (28) both convicted in 1978 of distributing pamphlets for the ANC and the SACP, and sentenced to 12 and 8 years in jail respectively. (See FOCUS 18 p.11).
The prisoners were found missing at 7 a.m. on 12 December. On 14 December a prison warder Francois Daniel Vermeulen appeared in court charged with assisting the escape. On 22 December the Deputy Commissioner of Prisons gave an interview in which he stated that there was only one warder on duty in the maximum security cell-block where the nine white male political prisoners were held, and that there was a shortage of 2000 warders in the country.
The South African press made several speculations as to how the three made their escape, suggesting that it was organised by the Soviet KGB. On 2 January the three escapers held a press conference in Lusaka, Zambia. Their statement was as follows:-
"We are certainly very glad to be in Lusaka. Our presence here is more eloquent than any statement. We have emerged from a maximum security prison in the heart of the Pretoria regime, passed clear through the enemy's territory and crossed heavily guarded borders. You see us now in the country whose commitment to the liberation of Southern Africa is well known.
"A battle has been won whose significance goes beyond the number of prisoners that escaped. We have shown that, for militants of the liberation movement, capture does not mean surrender. Although placed behind walls and bars and closely observed by armed guards, for apartheid prisoners - the struggle continues.
"In the course of our escape we were reluctantly forced to damage the front door of the prison, and so leave evidence about how we got out. This damage however also constitutes important evidence about the mentality of our captors. It should show that we were not supplied by our captors with keys and other help. In spite of this a Prison Department official has been arrested. Characteristically the authorities have seized upon a scapegoat in order to conceal from the people the extent to which it is possible to overcome the security of the state.
"The eleventh of December marked the last day of our own captivity. In this bitter captivity remain our comrades: on Robben Island, in Pretoria and in Kroonstad. Tens of thousands remain imprisoned, for both direct and indirect political offences, throughout South Africa. Many of these face torture by the racist butchers.
"Although for security reasons we are unable to give details, the underground machinery of the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party played an essential role in getting us to where we are now. Once again our liberation movement has successfully thrust its spear deep into the enemy's body.
"The three of us now look forward with heightened enthusiasm to contribute with full strength to the ongoing struggle to liberate South Africa from all forms of oppression.
"While we join our voices to those of concerned humanity in the demand for immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in South Africa, our foremost concern is in the fate of our dear comrade James Mange to whom we bow our heads in respect for the heroism and self-sacrifice, and whose murder the fascist oppressors intend to add to their sinister constellation of crimes. We shall not rest until James Mange and all other political prisoners and prisoners of war in South Africa are liberated.
Amandla Ngawethu! Maatla ke a Rona! All Power to the People! Alexander Moumbaris Stephen Lee Timothy Jenkin 2.1.80 Lusaka.
