OTHER TRIALS EFFECT OF STATE OF EMERGENCY
The State of Emergency has indirectly affected the conduct of political trials in a number of ways. Emergency detentions coincided with a marked increase in bail forfeitures and arrest warrants in the period under review. Newspapers reported the non-appearance of 80 defendants. Their whereabouts were in most cases unknown to their lawyers, although many voiced the suspicion that they had been detained under the emergency regulations.
The response of the magistrates - the provisional 'estreatment' of bail, the issue of provisional arrest warrants and sometimes both - put the onus of locating the defendants by a given date onto defence lawyers. This usually proved impossible, although in the case of two teachers due to appear before a Goodwood magistrate on 13 July their lawyer was able to tell the court that they were being held at the Victor Verster Prison in Paarl. The magistrate then instructed the prison authorities to produce them in court a month later. (DD 20.5.86, 14.7.86)
In the case of detainees who were brought to court to face charges under the emergency regulations, the Democratic Lawyers' Association reported that it knew of nine cases of defendants in Durban being asked to plead without legal representation. This included two minors who were convicted. The prison authorities had the names of three lawyers concerned with these cases but failed to inform them when court appearances were due. The President of the Natal Law Society commented that 'it was an unfortunate aspect of the law that police and magistrates were not compelled to advise people facing charges that they had the right to legal representation.' (S Trib 24.8.86; S Star 24.8.86)
So many defence lawyers were detained under the emergency regulations that in July the Law Societies of the Cape, Transvaal and Natal sent a delegation to discuss their position with senior police officers and the Commissioner of Police. But by September the Association of Law Societies was itself under fire for failing to take adequate action on behalf of detained attorneys. Its secretary was criticised for expressing himself 'satisfied with the bona fides of the Commissioner of Police' and the 'assurances' he had been given about the fate of defendants whose lawyers were detained and about the right of access of other lawyers to their professional colleagues in detention. (DD 17.7.86; RMG 7.9.86)
In the most publicised case two Cape Town lawyers were detained at Worcester Magistrates' Court on 19 June while defending 38 people accused of public violence. But allegations that Mohammed Anwar ALBERTUS, an advocate, and Trevor Vernon DE BRUYN, an attorney, had contravened the emergency regulations were withdrawn on 4 August after affidavits had been filed in the Cape Town Supreme Court. These stated that at the time of the arrest police had prevented de Bruyn from handing filmed evidence of police violence at Nkqubela (near Robertson) to a third member of the defence team. Albertus gave notice that he would be taking civil action against the Minister of Law and Order for wrongful arrest and crimen injuria. (CT 26.6.86, 5.8.86; CP 10.8.86)
Lawyers defending township residents on charges arising from unrest were placed under a new constraint in August. The Defence Minister, General Magnus Malan, announced that he would deny them access to documents relating to the availability to the South African Defence Force of weapons, ammunition and unrest control equipment and their operational instructions. (CP 17.8.86)
The Minister of Justice, Kobie Coetsee, admitted that there had been 'a dramatic increase' (estimated at one-third by a local newspaper) in the workload of the courts in the Eastern Cape because of the 'extraordinary circumstances' arising from 'political upheaval.' According to the Attorney-General of the Eastern Cape, there were not enough courts or legal personnel, 'particularly judges and advocates', to cope. The Supreme Courts in Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth and East London were reinforced with three additional justices, the Attorney-General's office with three additional prosecutors and regional and local magistrates' courts with extra staff. (DD 11.7.86, 14.8.86)
In the Western Cape the Repression Monitoring Group (RMG) produced a report which showed that 'the courts are...being used to attain objectives that in the majority of cases bear little relation to the conviction of alleged perpetrators of "crime".' In a reference to restrictions imposed under the emergency regulations it added: 'The emergency, however, prevents us from stating what we see as the real reasons for these trends.'
The RMG's conclusion was based on an analysis of the fate of the 238 defendants assisted by its Relief Office since September 1985. Only 32 had been convicted, including eleven out of the 63 under the age of 18. This led the RMG to conclude also that 'a large number of juveniles are being arrested, charged and held for varying periods of imprisonment in circumstances where in 83.9 per cent of all cases it subsequently transpired that insufficient evidence existed to secure a conviction.' (RMG 10.8.86, 17.8.86; CT 21.8.86; Star 27.8.86)
JAIL SENTENCES
Early in September the Government's Bureau of Information began to increase details in its daily bulletins about sentences or people convicted of public violence, emphasising the severity of such sentences even in the case of juveniles. In its bulletin of 22 August, while claiming only sporadic outbreaks of unrest, the Bureau promised that 'a large number of court cases would be brought in the coming months,' 29 of them on the East Rand alone. On 3 September the Bureau claimed that in August 22 people - many of them under the age of 18 - were jailed for periods of up to 15 years for offences of public violence, assault, murder and possession of explosives. Press reports indicate that since the introduction of the present State of Emergency in June, 195 people have been sent to prison for unrest-related offences. (DD 23.8.86, 5.9.86; Star 27.8.86; CT 4.9.86)
MURDER TRIALS
In the two months to mid-September eleven trials involving charges of murder, attempted murder and culpable homicide were reported as completed in the press, while proceedings continued against 347 people, including at least 63 juveniles, in another 22 cases: nine in the Transvaal, six in the Eastern Cape, five in bantustans and two in the Western Cape.
After a three-day trial an unnamed 16 year old boy was jailed for 12 years on 20 August in the Port Elizabeth Supreme Court for his part in a 'necklacing' at Swartkops in October 1985. Few other details were reported. Twelve days earlier in the same court Butisi Damani MALEDI (21) and Mzimkulu SIMAMA (18) were each jailed for 14 years, a youth aged 15 for 12 years and another aged 17 for 10 years after being convicted of the killing of a teacher at Bongweni in April 1985. (CT 22.8.86; Star 4/9.9.86; DD 9.9.86)
In the Cape Town Supreme Court three men and a youth were convicted on 8 September of the murder of a community councillor, Patrick Marenene, in the Oudtshoorn township of Bridgton in November 1985. Patrick MANGINDA (23), Desmond MAJOLA (27), and Dickson MADIKANE (26) were all sentenced to death. Sentencing of the unnamed youth, aged 16 years, was postponed for a probation officer's report. One of the state witnesses was said by the defence to be a paid police informer who under cross-examination admitted testifying for the prosecution in at least one other case and earning money by dealing in drugs. (Star 6.8.86, S 6.8.86; CP 10.8.86)
Four men were fined and given suspended prison sentences of one year in the Benoni Regional Court on 12 August for the culpable homicide of a businessman and former mayor of Daveyton, Joseph Tau, who died after being assaulted in May. They were Daniel ZWANE, his younger brother Jerry, Michael MDAKANE and David MKHIZE. A fifth man was acquitted. (S 13.8.86)
In the case arising from the murder of a plainclothes policeman during a Muslim funeral at Salt River in September 1985, the State announced in the Cape Town Magistrates' Court that it was withdrawing charges against Adenaar BATCHELOR (30), Albert ALEXAN DER (32) and Adenaar BESTER (22) (FOCUS 62 p.9, CT 27.6.86)
EMERGENCY PROSECUTIONS
Amongst early prosecutions under the emergency regulations were two involving a total of 56 students from six Cape Town high schools. They were charged with contravening a regulation by being off school premises during school hours on 14 July. However, the charges against Cedderick CUPIDO (18), Peter KRUGER (20), Andre VAN DEN BERG (19) and 31 juveniles were dropped in the Bellville Magistrates' Court on 14 August and against Mark BOOYSEN (19), Colin SIEBRITZ (18) and 21 juveniles in the Goodwood Magistrates' Court on 19 August. (CT 17.7.86, 20.8.86; Cit 17.7.86)
Twenty one students, mostly women, from the University of KwaZulu appeared in the Mtunzini Magistrates' Court towards the end of July, following their detention on 16 June. There was no information about the charges they faced. They were released on bail of R500 and were due to reappear on 19 September (CP 27.7.86)
After 15 days in detention two University of Cape Town students, John ZACHARIDES and Arona DISON (a voluntary worker at the RMG's Relief Office), were due to appear in a Cape Town court on 29 July accused in connection with the distribution of UDF pamphlets. (RMG 27.7.86)
ACQUITTAL
A total of 346 people were reported to have been acquitted or otherwise released in 13 trials arising out or popular resistance. Among them were ten men, one woman and two minors accused of public violence shortly before police hidden in crates on a truck shot dead three children at Athlone in October 1985. They were acquitted in the Wynberg Regional Court on 8 August after the defence proved that there was no evidence that they threw stones or were even at the scene. (DD 9.8.86; GN 9.8.86)
