Jan Caiaphas MASHILO (19) and a 17 year old youth, who were brought to trial with Dr Fabian RIBEIRO (48), a medical practitioner from Mamelodi were convicted and sentenced on 13 February to five years each for attempting to leave South Africa illegally to undergo military training.
Dr Ribeiro was found not guilty of having incited others to leave the country to undergo military training and was acquitted.
The two sentenced have lodged an appeal against their sentences.
A Rhodes University lecturer in journalism, Guy BERGER (24) and a Rhodes sociology student, Devandiren PILLAY (20), were convicted in the Port Elizabeth Regional Court on 16 March on charges under the Internal Security Act and the Publications Act.
Berger was sentenced to four years imprisonment and Pillay to two years imprisonment. In addition both were fined R400 (or four months).
Both were found guilty of being members and of furthering the aims of the ANC, and of possessing and distributing 'undesirable' and banned publications. They were acquitted on a count of furthering the aims of communism and on a count under the Publications Act. Berger was acquitted on a charge of having gathered information about trade unions which could have been of use to the ANC.
Berger explained to the court during the trial how he had been forced to make a statement by being deprived of sleep by security policemen 52 hours after his detention. In a night-long interrogation session he was ordered to remove some of his clothes and stand in front of a draughty window while a security policemen brandishing a cane circled him and asked questions.
The trial and conviction of 176 black bus drivers and other workers for striking illegally in Krugersdorp on 16 February, has raised a storm of protest from labour lawyers, trade unionists and others.
They were convicted in the Krugersdorp Regional Court of charges in terms of the Black Labour Relations Regulations Act, which prohibits strikes by workers in essential services, including transport. They were acquitted of similar charges under the Riotous Assemblies Act.
A total of 188 employees of the Greyhound Bus Lines Company in Chandor, near Krugersdorp, refused to go on duty on 16 February after negotiations with management over pay grievances had broken down.
Police were called, the men were arrested and taken to the Krugersdorp police station. They were tried later and of the workers, 176 pleaded guilty to taking part in an illegal strike. They were sentenced to prison terms of 18 months, conditionally suspended for five years. The remaining 12 pleaded not guilty and were acquitted after they had claimed they had been forced into striking by the other drivers.
One of the conditions for suspending the sentences was that the workers return to work the next day. Labour lawyers described this as "unprecedented" and explained that no court can give an order for any such specific performance. The Secretary of the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) said that the increasing use of police officials to solve labour disputes was a cause of great concern and that the police had no role to play in settling such disputes.
The speed with which the 176 were arrested and tried, without access to lawyers or telephones, has prompted CUSA to take the magistrate's judgement to the Supreme Court for review and appeal.
