At the beginning of February Robert John MCBRIDE (23) and Greta Margaret APELGREN (30) went on trial in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court amid tight security. Brown paper covered all the windows, armed guards patrolled and all visitors to the public gallery had to submit to body searches. McBride, a student teacher, and Apelgren, a social worker with the Durban Child Welfare Society, faced charges of murder, attempted murder and 'terrorism' arising out of the ANC's armed struggle. In spite of an early appeal by defence counsel for all evidence to be heard in open court a degree of secrecy surrounded the case. The bulk of the evidence against the two defendants came from former associates held in detention and persuaded to testify in return for immunity from prosecution.
The two main charges arose from the daring release of captured ANC combatant Gordon Webster from Edendale hospital in May 1986, and a bomb explosion in Marine Parade, Durban the following month in which three women died. McBride submitted an affidavit to the court in which he admitted helping Webster to escape, sheltering him and subsequently taking him to Botswana. He also admitted shooting at an armed policeman whom he thought was going to shoot him. Two police-men guarding Webster who suffered minor wounds in the escape told of hiding while the patient was wheeled out of the ward by McBride and his father. A state witness admitted under cross-examination that nurses and other people at the hospital cheered and encouraged the McBrides in their task.
McBride denied shooting hospital guard Mlungisi Buthelezi who was killed during the escape and the judge accepted that there was no evidence before the court which linked him directly with that offence. So as to help the court to decide on McBride's role, Justice Shearer agreed to a defence request that evidence be taken from Gordon Webster. Defence and prosecution lawyers travelled to London where Webster testified before a commission specially constituted in accordance with the procedure allowed for in the Criminal Procedure Act.
Three alleged accomplices gave evidence – Mr A, B and C. Mr B admitted co-operating with the police in order to avoid imprisonment while Mr C said that he feared being hanged – he had participated in both Webster's escape and the Marine Parade bombing. Another witness also giving evidence after the duress of a long period in detention was Apelgren's younger sister, Jeanette. She had been held since the first day of the current emergency, 12 June, first as an emergency detainee and later under the Internal Security Act. She described herself as a supporter of the ANC's goals but an opponent of violence. Her evidence linked McBride to an explosive device planted in the Pinetown Parkade car park in May 1986 and also described trips to Botswana with the defendants and Webster.
McBride gave evidence in his own defence and refuted many aspects of the evidence, especially that of Mr C who had been accused by defence counsel of minimising his own role in the Marine Parade bombing. He conceded that he had done so because he was frightened that people injured in the blast might take revenge on him. McBride said that he planned the explosion in protest at the State of Emergency imposed two days earlier. He wanted a massive explosion which would be too big for the authorities to conceal and first chose a hyperama in West Street, Durban, which had plate glass windows. He agreed that at the time he was not concerned about possible loss of life but maintained that the eventual target, opposite the veranda of Magoo's Bar, was the choice of Mr C. Under cross-examination Mr C admitted suggesting a hotel as a target, saying he did so to impress McBride and because he was angry at the State of Emergency and what the police were doing. In the rest of his evidence he sought to show that he had only carried out armed actions out of fear of McBride and desire for monetary reward.
McBride said he felt 'bad' and 'scared' after the bombing because he had ignored the ANC policy of avoiding civilian casualties. He believed he had 'gone beyond the confines of the organisation.' He stated that Apelgren, who had saved the men a parking space outside the hotel, did not know about the car bomb until after it had been set. He denied that she belonged to a combatant unit. Apelgren herself did not give evidence.
Evidence in mitigation concentrated on the deplorable conditions in Durban's Coloured townships of Wentworth and Austerville which had contributed to the defendants' politicisation. McBride told of being on the SRC at Bechet Teacher Training College which held a boycott in 1985 to protest that in the 30 years since its opening it had never had a permanent building while an equivalent white facility was half empty.
When judgement was delivered on 7 April Apelgren was acquitted on all counts relating to the promenade bombing when the judge ruled that there was no evidence she knew of the plan beforehand. Her reaction was 'consistent with shock, perhaps horror'. She was also acquitted of the murder and attempted murder charges but was later sentenced to five years (of which all but 21 months was suspended) for assisting in Webster's escape and reconnoitring targets for action.
On 13 April McBride was sentenced to death three times for the Marine Parade bombing. He was also given a total of 82 years' imprisonment for various acts of sabotage and for the part he played in the rescue of Webster. He was acquitted of Buthelezi's murder. The sentence was delivered by a majority verdict — one assessor dissented and in a minority judgement found that there were extenuating circumstances which reduced his moral blame-worthiness. One reason given was that McBride's original intention had been the destruction of property, not murder, but his accomplice turned state witness, Mr C, had persuaded him to change his target. At the end of the trial the judge refused to grant immunity from prosecution to Mr C.
McBride was granted leave to appeal and his lawyers declared they would do everything possible to save his life as the Marine Parade bombing was 'out of character'. Apelgren's brother said McBride saw himself as 'a soldier, fighting for his people. The Trojan horse incident and the Langa killings had a deep effect on him. He saw the State of Emergency as a declaration of war on his people
