Since the end of October last year a number of new political trials have commenced, all under the new Internal Security Act. Trials which involved accused who allegedly committed the offences for which they are charged in the period before the new Internal Security Act became current (June 1982), are still being charged under the now repealed Terrorism Act of 1967.
Two people have been sentenced since December last year, one to 24 years imprisonment and the other to five years imprisonment. A large number of trials were adjourned for the New Year recess and could result in a number of people being sentenced early this year.
CONVICTIONS AND ACQUITTALS
ROGGERIO CHAMUSSO
Roggerio Hoffsani CHAMUSSO (32), who prefers to be called Patrick SHANGE, was acquitted of two murder charges but convicted on three counts under the Terrorism Act in the Pretoria Supreme Court on 6 December 1982. He was sentenced to an effective 24 years imprisonment.
Chamusso was sentenced to 10 years for receiving military training in Angola, 12 years for sabotaging an electricity sub-station and six years for being in possession of limpet mines used in the sabotage. Four years of the six year term are to run concurrently with the 12 years.
In his judgement on the two murder charges, the judge referred to the 'conflicting evidence' given by the security police and the 'unreliable' and 'dishonest' evidence of the two state witnesses.
PIKININI MAPHUMULO
In one of the first convictions under the new Internal Security Act, Pikinini MAPHUMULO (51), was sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Durban Regional Court in December 1982.
The court found that Maphumulo had encouraged four people to undergo military training outside South Africa which could be used in furthering the aims of the ANC. He had pleaded not guilty.
FANTI AND OTHERS
Three men charged under the security legislation operating in the Transkei bantustan area were acquitted in the Umtata Regional Magistrate's Court on 21 January.
Mzwandile Wilson FANTI (55), a Stutterheim taxi operator, Ezra Mvuyisi SIGWELA (42), a field worker of the Transkei Council of Churches, and Alfred Siphiwo XOBOLOLO (60), deputy leader of the Transkei opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had pleaded not guilty to charges under Section 27 of the Transkei Public Security Act.
They were alleged to have engaged in activities aimed at furthering the objectives of the ANC, or to have acted in the direct or indirect interests of the ANC.
CONTINUING TRIALS
LILIAN KEAGILE
In testimony given in the Terrorism Act trial of Lilian KEAGILE (24), it was revealed that she was examined by a doctor 83 days after she was assaulted by members of the security police during interrogation. She was examined by the senior district surgeon for Johannesburg on 9 February 1982 after being assaulted on her arrest on 18 November 1981.
She complained of pains in her chest and under her breasts, after being kicked all over her body. A wet sack was placed over her head and later used to hit her on the body. She was also slapped on both ears.
When she appeared again in the Johannesburg Regional Magistrates Court from 10 to 13 January this year, further evidence was given in a trial within a trial of how she was assaulted and molested while in detention.
The state alleges that Keagle took part in the activities of the ANC, alternatively that she engaged in its affairs or that she contravened the Terrorism Act. The trial was postponed to 7 March.
The general secretary of the South African Black Municipal and Allied Workers Union (SABMAWU), Philip DLAMINI (31), was jailed for 18 months on 13 January for refusing to give evidence in the trial. He had been called as a witness three times but each time he refused to testify. Lawyers have been asked to investigate the possibility of an appeal against his jailing.
Dlamini is appearing as an accused in another Terrorism Act trial with seven others.
THLOLOE AND OTHERS
The Terrorism Act trial in which the banned journalist Joe THLOLOE (40), and seven others are to appear was postponed on 12 December 1982 to 22 March this year.
The former number one accused in this case, Harrison NOGQEKELE (26), who appeared with the other eight at a previous hearing last year, is appearing in a separate trial which began on 10 January.
The other accused are Philip DLAMINI (31), the former general-secretary of the South African Black Municipal & Allied Workers' Union, Veli Truman MNGUNI (33), Sipho NGCOBO (28), Nhlanganiso SIBANDA (26), Steven MZOLO (26), Mfana .MTSHALI (18) and Shadrack RAMPETE (27). Most of the accused are members of the Azanian National Youth Unity but the trial is being billed by the press as a 'PAC trial'.
HARRISON NOGQEKELE
The separation of the trial of Harrison NOGQEKELE (26), the former chairman of the Azanian National Youth Unity (AZANYU), was ordered when he appeared with Joe Thloloe and seven others on 7 December 1982. It was submitted by the State that an additional charge had been drafted against Noggekele who was to have been the number one accused in the trial.
Noggekele appeared again in the Johannesburg Regional Court on 14 January and was allowed by the magistrate to change his plea of guilty which he had made at a previous hearing to a plea of not guilty. The State alleges that he contravened the Terrorism Act between February 1981 and June 1982 by bringing arms and ammunition into South Africa and seeking a place to hide them, and that he recruited people for military training outside the country.
DUNA AND OTHERS
The 'terrorism trial' taking place in the Ciskei Supreme Court at Zwelitsha was postponed on 4 November 1982 to 28 February.
The four accused, Mabone William DUNA (31), Jeffrey Bayi KEYE (52), Dumisani Bizette MANINJWA (31), and Luyanda Patrick MAYEKISO (23), are charged with participating in terrorist activities, being members of the ANC and possessing banned literature. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
MAPEKULO, MAKONE AND NKOSI
Three members of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) appeared in the Springs Regional Court on 20 October on charges under the Internal Security Act.
The three, Vulindelela MAPEKULO, Andrew MAKONE and Mzwandile NKOSI, were not asked to plead, and their case was postponed until 17 January. They were remanded in custody.
The case is a sequel to the detention of a number of Springs COSAS members in September last year.
Their charges relate to furthering the aims of a banned organisation and being in possession of proscribed publications.
NDLOVU AND YOUTH
A 17 year old youth and Nkosenye NDLOVU (23), appeared in the Durban Magistrates Court from October to December last year charged with two offences under the Internal Security Act. They pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It is alleged that the two furthered the aims of the ANC by encouraging others to leave the country for military training and by inciting others to commit certain illegal acts.
Judgement was due to be given on 10 December but there have been no reports of the outcome.
ALAN MARSDEN
A second-year social science student at the University of Cape Town, Alan MARSDEN (20), appeared in the Wynberg Magistrates Court on 11 December 1982 on charges of contravening the Internal Security Act. He was not asked to plead and no evidence was led. He was remanded in custody.
When he appeared again on 20 December he was granted bail of R500.
The State alleges that he is a member of an 'unlawful organisation' and that he possessed a banned publication.
NTSATHA AND PETER
The trial of Nomakephu Jane NTSATHA (25) and Mncekeleli Lawrence PETER (21) resumed on 17 January after being postponed on 16 October last year.
The two are appearing in the Zwelitsha Regional Court on charges of being members of the ANC, recruiting people to undergo military training and being in possession of banned publications. Both earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Giving evidence in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of confessions allegedly made by the two accused, Peter disclosed how he was taken out of his cell at dawn and driven to the cemetery where the grave of Steve Biko is located. He was made to stand next to the tombstone wearing handcuffs and leg irons and told to talk about Steve Biko's organisation. When he refused he was threatened with a gun and told that he was going to die like a dog 'in the same manner as Steve Biko died'. The trial continues.
PETER MOKABA
A former student at the University of the North, Peter MOKABA (23), appeared in the Pietersburg Regional Court during November 1982 on eight charges under the Internal Security Act.
The State alleges that he was a member of the ANC and participated in its activities and encouraged others to join the organisation. He is charged with collecting and sending political data to the ANC in Swaziland; receiving training in Maputo and Luanda; being in possession of a pistol with eight rounds of ammunition which he planned to use to endanger the security of the state; and possessing illegal publications.
Mokaba was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody until the hearing on 14 February.
APPEALS
BARBARA HOGAN
The first South African woman to be jailed for high treason, Barbara HOGAN (30), was refused leave to appeal against her sentence on 6 December 1982.
Hogan was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on 20 October 1982 for being a member of the ANC. Legal experts interpreted the outcome of the trial as meaning that membership of the ANC is in itself an act of treason, since it denoted identification with the overall aims of the organisation.
KATI AND KING
The first people to have been convicted of terrorism under the Transkei Public Security Act, James Zamiwonga KATI (53) and Peter Bawose KING (57), were granted leave to appeal against their convictions on 7 October 1982.
They were both sentenced to effective seven year jail terms for taking part in 'terrorist' activities that endangered the maintenance of law and order in the Transkei bantustan area.
CHARLTON NTULI
Charlton NTULI (73), who was sentenced to five years imprisonment on 11 August 1982 for being a member of the ANC, had his sentence reduced to three years by the Umtata Appeal Court on 4 November 1982.
OTHER TRIALS
WORKERS AND TRADE UNIONISTS
- Two Metal and Allied Workers' Union members, Jacob MAGAHAKWE and Ernest LETSWELA, who were arrested after industrial unrest at the B and S factory in Brits in September 1982, had charges of Intimidation against them withdrawn on 14 December 1982.
The charges were withdrawn due to the non-appearance of two state witnesses. Trade union leaders have called for the repealing of the Intimidation Act because of the wider implications of its use against legal trade union work in general.
- Twenty-nine mine workers who were arrested in May last year for participating in an illegal strike, were still in prison at the beginning of January because they could not afford the bail. One of the bail conditions is that their travel documents be impounded. Since they are from Lesotho and the Transkei they cannot return home; neither can they return to the compound where they worked because they have been fired. The reason for the delay of the trial is because of difficulty in tracing a crucial witness.
- An organiser of the General Workers' Union of South Africa (GWUSA) was acquitted on 14 January in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court of trespassing charges.
Solomon MALULEKE (30) was arrested with two other GWUSA officials, Donsie KHUMALO and Solly MASEMOLA, outside the State Trade Centre at Olifantsfontein on 29 November last year. The charges against Khumalo and Masemola were withdrawn on 30 December.
The three had gone to the Centre to see the head with whom they had an appointment. They failed to trace him and when they left the Centre they were arrested. At the time of the incident workers at the Centre were prohibited from joining a trade union because they were state employees.
- Six more workers face charges under the Intimidation Act. They were arrested after a strike at the Teltron electronics company but were released on bail on 23 December.
When the Intimidation Act was introduced last year trade unionists and lawyers claimed it would be used against worker leaders. The Act lays down heavy penalties for 'intimidation' which it defines very broadly.
YOUTH AND STUDENTS
- Five students from the University of the North appeared in the Pietersburg Magistrates Court on 6 January on charges of arson. Their appearance followed the burning of a bookshop on the university campus on 5 June last year.
The five are Ian PETJE (21), Mangalam HLONGWANE (23), Gerson KGOBE (23), Rhulani MAHLABA (21) and Eric HLABAHLABA (22). They were not asked to plead, and the case was postponed to 25 February.
- The trial of 20 people charged with public violence following an incident on graduation day at Fort Hare University on 1 May last year continues in the Zwelitsha Regional Court.
The court was told how one of the accused, a 15-year-old girl, was shot by police and seriously wounded and another, a 25 year old student, was treated for a bullet wound in his leg. The incidents occurred during the demonstration.
- Six youths appeared in the Humansdorp Regional Court on 11 January to face 16 charges of arson. The charges arose out of the burning of 16 schools in Port Elizabeth between November 1981 and February 1982.
The youths claimed that after their arrest blankets were deliberately withheld from them so that they would be cold at night and that three of them were shown food which was then taken away from them. The case continues.
MISCELLANEOUS
- Karabo MOTLANA (22), the son of the chairman of the Soweto Committee of Ten, Nthato Motlana, was released on R500 bail when he appeared in the Ermelo Magistrates Court on 3 January on a charge of possessing prohibited publications. Appearing with him was Ninki MALEKA, who was granted R200 bail. The hearing was adjourned to 2 February.
Police said that Motlana and Maleka had ANC documents in their possession when they were stopped at the Swaziland/South Africa border.
- A second year BA student at the University of the Witwatersrand, Carl NIEHAUS (22), was sentenced in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on 22 December to 50 days imprisonment suspended for five years for being in possession of banned literature.
Niehaus claimed that the publications of the ANC and South African Communist Party had been pushed under his front door.
- Thirty-nine residents from Sobantu Village, including 11 youths, who were arrested and held under the Internal Security Act after disturbances at the village in October last year, have been released uncharged. They were to have appeared in court in early December.
All were held in connection with incidents on 9 October 1982 at the funeral of Graham Radebe, a youth who was shot and killed by police during demonstrations against rent increases in Sobantu in October.
*continued from p.3* service in the New Brighton area of Port Elizabeth on 16 December. It was organised by the Detainees Parents Support Committee (DPSC) and addressed by Helen Joseph, a former restricted whose banning order expired recently. Armed police with dogs mounted roadblocks in the area and photographed everyone as they arrived. The 31 'white' people who attended were charged with entering a black township illegally.
EXILE DETAINED
Vuma NTIKINCA, a former court prosecutor in the Transkei bantustan who fled to Lesotho in 1981, was detained on 7 October 1982 while visiting Umtata. Ntikinca, a student at the University of Lesotho, was local branch secretary of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The head of security police in the Transkei said a case against him was being prepared for the Attorney-General.
RELEASES
- Rev Themba SIBEKO, a former chairman of the Border Council of Churches, was released from detention in the Ciskei bantustan at the end of December.
- It was reported in November that Tembekile NYHOBO had been released from detention.
