The regime's determination to make maximum use of the courts as a means of repression is causing adjustments in trial procedures as they adapt to the strain placed on the legal system
The Minister of Law and Order said in June that between the proclamation of the State of Emergency, on 12 June 1986, and the end of May this year, 2,165 emergency detainees had been charged. The charges covered a wide variety of offences under the Internal Security Act such as 'terrorism' and 'subversion' as well as common law charges of treason, sedition, murder, public violence and others. Although this figure represented only a small proportion of those detained under the Emergency (estimated at some 30,000) it added a further pressure on the courts. The figure excludes the vast majority of those charged with public order offences who are not held in detention but arrested under the Criminal Procedure Act. A further 95 people detained in the same period under the Internal Security Act were also charged, according to the Minister.
Many of the trials represented by these figures are likely to be long and politically significant as the regime seeks to link legal structures directly with the activities of banned organisations. Forthcoming trials include that of Moses Mayekiso, general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers, who is charged with treason for his involvement with community organisations and the creation of street committees in Alexandra, and of Sister Bernard Ncube and the leadership of the Krugersdorp Residents Organisation for aiming at 'establishing their own civic authority to govern the townships of Kagiso and Munsieville'. Another treason trial already underway is examining the role of people's courts in Alexandra and the trial of nineteen UDF and AZAPO leaders arising out of the Vaal uprising in September 1984 is now continuing in the Pretoria Supreme Court almost two years after it began in Delmas.
In July the press reported that there would be special sittings of the Supreme Court in addition to the normal Circuit Court hearings. The announcement came from Don Brunette, Attorney General in the Transvaal, who was quoted as saying 'the interest of the public in the trial in a particular area is paramount'. His decision referred to a number of forthcoming trials of alleged combatants charged with responsibility for landmine explosions in the Northern and Eastern Transvaal and the Lowveld. Sittings would be held, for instance, in Ermelo and Messina 'to prevent disruption of the Circuit Court rolls'.
At a special Supreme Court sitting in Messina on 3 August Mthetheleli Zephania MNCUBE (27) and Mzondereli Euclid NONDULA (24) appeared on charges including 10 counts of murder and 24 of attempted murder. They had received only one and a half hours of advice from a pro deo lawyer. The charges arose principally from landmine blasts in Messina in late 1985. The case was postponed to 19 October after lawyers obtained by the men's families managed to get an adjournment to prepare the case.
In another instance Nhlanhla Jeffrey MADONSELA (25) is a defendant in three separate trials in Nelspruit for armed struggle activities, the most serious of which accuses him of seven murders following landmine explosions. A member of the security branch has admitted he recorded in the police occurrence book that Madonsela had no injuries although he knew this was untrue.
Another trial in the Piet Retief Circuit Court involves Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim and others on charges of treason and attempted murder. Ebrahim's lawyers challenged the court's right to try him, saying he had been kidnapped from Swaziland by government agents and handed over to the Security Branch in Pretoria. An affidavit by Ebrahim provided convincing evidence of links between the police and those who had abducted him. Nevertheless, Justice Daniels ruled that even if Ebrahim 'had been captured in violation of international law and the seizure was by the South African state or with its connivance, that would not impair the jurisdiction of the court' to try him.
Special court sittings are also being held in other regions, notably the Eastern Cape, where a number of murder trials arising out of mass protest are being handled in this way. Holding such trials in the townships demonstrates to the residents in a very direct way the consequences of opposition to apartheid.
Another change in legal practice was introduced in September with the tabling of the Supreme Court Amendment Bill which would allow petitions for leave to appeal to be dealt with by only two Appeal Court judges rather than the three who decide the matter now. Any difference of opinion would be referred to the Chief Justice or another judge of the Appellate Division.
## DLAMINI AND OTHERS A trial in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court in July and August was consistently interrupted when state witnesses refused to testify against the accused. The trial was marked by a spirit of resistance and freedom songs were frequently sung.
Zenele Terence DLAMINI (23) of Kwa-Mashu, Moses Jabulani MKHIZE (31) of Mpumalanga, Hammarsdale, and Zanele Zenith NGUBANE (19) a schoolgirl from Sobantu pleaded not guilty under the Internal Security Act to charges of 'terrorism' in connection with a number of actions in Natal between August and October 1986. Dlamini was said to have left South Africa in 1983, undergone military training in Angola in 1984 and returned with arms and ammunition in July 1986. He was charged with enlisting the help of Ngubane and training others in the use of arms and hand grenades. He was said to have tried to form these trainees into a group to perform acts of 'terrorism' and to have incited them to throw hand grenades. Mkhize, a member of the Textile and Allied Workers Union, was charged with accommodating, providing transport for and otherwise assisting Dlamini.
The prosecution's attempts to prove the charges were temporarily thwarted on the opening day of the trial, 13 July, by an unnamed witness of 16 years who refused to testify. The boy, who had been held since October 1986, was sentenced to a further two years in custody. Magistrate F. Heuer said that the youth's sympathy for 'black people ... fighting for their rights' was not sufficient reason for him to be excused from giving evidence.
The following day a teacher from Sobantu, Lungisane KUNENE (31), was sentenced to three years to which he responded with a cry of 'Long live the spirit of no compromise'. In spite of the magistrate's hope that these sentences would act as a deterrent to future witnesses at least four more of them were subsequently found guilty of refusing to testify. Only one further sentence is known, that of a Sobantu schoolboy Michael Sibusiso XABA (18), on 27 July. Xaba, who had also been in custody since October 1986, was reported as saying that testifying would be 'contrary to his upbringing and in conflict with what his family had believed in for many years'. Xaba's uncle (presumably Ndoda Anthony Xaba) is serving a life sentence on Robben Island and his sister is in exile. He is the cousin of the defendant, Ngubane. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
On 28 July charges were dropped against Ngubane on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence. However, a month later her co-accused were both convicted. Dlamini was found to have carried out three attacks - two against the police and military occupation of Sobantu. On 13 August 1986 he threw a hand grenade into a caravan used by the South African Police and the following month he attacked a building at the Kwezi Secondary School which was being used as a temporary barracks by the SADF. He was also found guilty of inciting others to attack SAP personnel who would be present at a service in Sobantu in late 1986 to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the killing by police of local schoolboy Graham Radebe.
On 25 August Dlamini was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment while Mkhize received six years. Mkhize was convicted of allowing Dlamini to stay at his house and use it to store grenades and as a venue for discussions with other people interested in furthering the aims of the ANC. He was also said to have driven Dlamini during one attack.
## MAKAPE AND ZWANE Two members of the ANC's armed wing were sentenced to long prison terms in the Johannesburg Regional Court on 17 August after being convicted under the Terrorism and Internal Security Acts. Solomon Moloi MAKAPE (34) and Theodore Vuzimusi Bigboy ZWANE (36) originally pleaded not guilty but changed their pleas after an unnamed witness identified them as Umkhonto we Sizwe officers he had known in Angola. The witness was described as 'a former ANC trainee now working as a security policeman'.
The men were detained in October 1986 in the Bophuthatswana bantustan and handed over, seemingly without formal extradition, to the Security Branch for trial in the Transvaal.
Following their change of plea little evidence was led. The men were detained with guns, hand grenades and ammunition after entering South Africa to reconnoitre houses in the Northern Transvaal suitable for accommodating ANC members. They lost contact with a third comrade, Viva Mkhondo, and were awaiting further instructions at the time of their arrest.
Both accused gave evidence in mitigation outlining their reasons for leaving South Africa in 1976 and their subsequent decision to join the ANC's armed wing. Makape, from Soweto, had worked at various times on farms and mines, two sectors of employment known for their harsh conditions. In spite of an education interrupted by financial problems he completed Standard 8 exams by correspondence and worked as a trainee nurse. At first he thought of pursuing medical studies abroad but changed his mind after contact with the ANC. Zwane, of Katlehong, told of his personal experience of forced removal and the difficulties in getting employment due to job reservation.
Makape was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment while Zwane, who had more firearms in his possession when arrested, received a 12 year term.
