Four men who have served long sentences in Robben Island have been released from prison and placed under banning orders:
- Andrew Tukuza MASHABA (56) was jailed for 15 years in 1964 as accused No. 1 in the second Rivonia Trial of ANC members under the Sabotage Act.
His ban was issued on 14 September and expires on 30 September 1981. It restricts Mr Mashaba to Johannesburg and prevents him from entering educational institutions, factories and Coloured or Indian areas. He is prohibited from all social gatherings.
In July Mr Mashaba was taken from Robben Island, where he served his sentence to Leeuwkop Prison near Pretoria and transferred to a Pietersburg prison on 13 September from where he was released on 17 September and, according to his wife Mrs Caroline Mashaba (who was herself banned until 1977) told to make his own way to his Soweto home.
- John Edward MATTHEWS (66) of Johannesburg, who was jailed for 15 years' in 1964 for sabotage activities with Umkhonto we Sizwe (ANC), was released in December and banned for three years, restricted to the Johannesburg magisterial area.
- Sisa NCAPAYI (40) of Cape Town, who was jailed for 12 years in 1967 as a PAC member for recruiting youths for military training, was released in July and sent to the Transkei. No further details were reported.
- Eddie DANIELS (50) jailed in 1964 for 15 years under the Sabotage Act for activities with the African Resistance Movement (ARM).
He was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison and released on 16 November and taken to Cape Town security police HQ to be served with a five-year banning order preventing him from leaving the Cape Town area or entering factories. schools or African areas. He has to stay at home at weekends, public holidays and from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.
Eddie Daniels is now staying with his brother in Cape Town. His 17-year-old son Donovan told the press "My father is still committed to a non-racial South Africa. His ideas have not changed since his imprisonment".
A month after his release Daniels was in court charged with breaking his ban on 22 December. No evidence was led and he was due to appear in court on 10 January.
Other political prisoners whose sentences expired in 1979 are believed to have been released, although no reports of their release or banning have been recorded. They include: Levy MOLEFE and Peter MAGANU, convicted with Mashaba; E.M. SIGWELA and D.W. LUTHULI, ANC members sentenced in 1969. N.N. VIMBA and D.G. MAHANJANA, Unity Movement, sentenced in 1972.
