BALEKA AND 21 OTHERS Further attempts to obtain the release on bail of the 22 accused in this treason trial arising out of unrest in the Vaal Triangle in September 1984, have failed. Many of the accused have been in detention since that time and a further postponement has delayed the start of the case until 20 January 1986.
On 18 October a full bench of the Pretoria Supreme Court refused bail after considering affidavits from the accused as well as one from the Transvaal Attorney-General stating that their release would imperil the safety of the state. The men were told they were free to apply again 'if there is greater stability in the country in the months ahead'.
In November the state added a further charge, 'furthering the aims of the ANC', to the charges of treason, subversion, 'terrorism' and murder. Although challenged by the defence the court ruled that until the accused had pleaded the state was at liberty to add to the indictment. The trial has been moved from Bethal to the nearby town of Delmas.
BOESAK Dr Allan BOESAK, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and patron of the UDF, was released from detention on 20 September 1985 and charged with three counts of subversion. His trial is due to start in Malmesbury on 12 May 1986. In another case charges against Boesak and others of illegally entering a township without permission were dropped.
MAPUMULO AND OTHERS When the trial of Mapumulo and 12 others opened in the Estcourt Supreme Court on 15 October, four of the accused refused to take part in the proceedings, declaring themselves soldiers in the ANC's army, Umkhonto we Sizwe, who should be treated as prisoners of war. Norbert BUTHELEZI (23) read a statement on behalf of himself, Wilfred MAPUMULO (28), Robert DUMISA (26) and James MARUPENG (26) in which they described the courts as 'a loyal and faithful arm' of the government. Participation in an apartheid court would be 'a betrayal to the millions of blacks who suffer daily here and to the international community which has declared this policy [of apartheid] a crime'. They refused to plead or to appoint a lawyer but the judge entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.
Eight other people (named in FOCUS 60) pleaded not guilty before Justice Andrew Wilson and two assessors to charges under the Terrorism, Internal Security and Arms and Ammunition Acts. The charges relate to the establishment of arms caches and military training bases for the ANC in the Ingwawuma area of the Kwazulu bantustan in late 1984.
RAMGOBIN AND OTHERS The trial of Mewa RAMGOBIN and 15 other UDF and South African Allied Workers Union (SAAWU) leaders began in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court on 21 October when all the accused pleaded not guilty to the main charge of high treason and alternative charges of 'terrorism' and furthering the aims of an illegal organisation. They are accused of being involved between 1980 and 1985 in an alleged conspiracy to overthrow the government by violence.
The state alleges they were 'knowingly used' by the 'revolutionary alliance' of the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). In opening for the prosecution, counsel denied the case was against the 'UDF as such' because the organisation was not party to the conspiracy. However, he stated that the UDF was formed after ANC president Oliver Tambo called on South Africans to form a united democratic front for national liberation. He drew attention to the use of 'revolutionary symbols', in particular songs, and described SAAWU as 'nothing less than SACTU internally'.
For the first time in a criminal trial video recordings were screened of various meetings addressed by the accused and others. All the videos have been screened provisionally, as their admissability has not yet been decided.
In November the court heard evidence from a Mr O'Brien, a serving soldier who participated in the SADF raid on Maseru, Lesotho in December 1982. The evidence was subject to restriction on the orders of the Minister of Defence, General Magnus Malan. O'Brien told of killing four men in a house in which they found no weapons. However, they confiscated documents and cassette recordings. A SAAWU document found there was allegedly signed 'Yours comradely, T or Y Gqweta'. The court has yet to decide whether the documents are admissible as evidence. A tape recording allegedly found in Maseru was ruled inadmissible in terms of the Minister of Defence's instructions. On 9 December charges were withdrawn against all the accused, except Gqweta, Njikelana Ngcobo and Kikine.
