It is estimated that a total of 35 security trials took place in 1979, with 148 persons accused. Of 33 major cases reported by FOCUS as having concluded in 1979 (others are still in progress, see this issue) 81 persons were convicted and imprisoned (with some being freed on appeal) and 30 were either acquitted or given suspended sentences.
Those imprisoned include Johnson Nyathi, one of the accused in the PAC Bethal trial who was sentenced to 10 years and then to a further year "for attempting to escape". Nyathi claimed that he had been assaulted and thrown from a window by Krugersdorp security police. The PAC trial was delayed several months while Nyathi recovered from his injuries.
The only person sentenced to death in 1979 was James Mange but in April Solomon Mahlangu, ANC militant, was hanged.
Among those freed was Jefferson Lengane, Soweto student accused with the SASM Eleven and given a suspended sentence in April. Lengane was then charged again, with three others, but charges were eventually withdrawn. Both trials related to the uprising of 1976.
The families of the four Soweto students imprisoned at the end of the SASM trial have been told to move to a Bantustan in preparation for the release of their children, who will be forbidden to remain in Johannesburg, as is customary with released prisoners. According to the Dept. of Co-Operation and Development, the department had in the past "assisted prisoners who are released to re-establish themselves" by finding a place where the ex prisoner can legally reside and a suitable job. Families are also approached and asked if they want to join those released in the homelands.
The Sunday Post interpreted this move as a way of gaining credibility for the Bantustan programme and good publicity for P.W. Botha's government, if early release for the Soweto students is contemplated. Cautioning the families against moving, the paper stated "These students went to jail for a reason. They accepted this as a possible consequence of fighting in present day South Africa for something they genuinely believe in. By going to jail they do not necessarily believe they have lost anything".
The four students are Sechaba Montsitsi (four year term) Maphison Morobe (three years) Susan Mtembu (two years) Seth Mazibuko (two years). Convicted of sedition, they may be eligible for remission or parole.
Later it was reported that families of other imprisoned students have also been 'advised' to move out of Soweto. Those known to the press included the families of: Henry Afrika S. Phillip Ngwenya both jailed for four years in 1978 for having banned literature Canzi Lisa, jailed for five years in 1978 for distributing leaflets. Naledi Tsiki, jailed for 14 years in 1978 as a guerilla. Jerome Kodisang, jailed for 5 years in 1979 in PAC trial. Michael Khala, jailed for 7 years in 1979 in PAC trial. And the family of Mrs Elizabeth Gumede, jailed for five years in 1979, have been threatened with eviction from their Soweto house on the grounds that the registered tenant was no longer living there. Township regulations do not normally allow tenancies to be transferred to single people.
