MANGOPE Robert MANGOPE (30) of Kagiso, Krugerdorp, a member of the Azanian National Youth Unity (AZANYU), was sentenced in October to six years' imprisonment for arms offences. He was sentenced to two years for the possession of three Scorpion machine pistols and a further four years for supplying them to others. He was also convicted of possessing 153 live 7.65mm bullets. Both charges were apparently under the Arms and Ammunition Act.
In evidence, Mangope said that he had obtained the pistols from a man known as 'Churchill' and later gave them to two other people to hide. In July another resident of Kagiso, Velile Churchill LUVUNO (32), was found unfit to stand trial and was declared a State President's patient. A psychiatric report described him as schizophrenic and incapable of following court proceedings. It said he could not have appreciated the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the alleged offences. A month earlier Luvuno, who had been in detention since October 1986, had been referred to Sterkfontein hospital for observation after being charged with 'terrorism'. He was described as having had a history of mental illness since 1978 and said to have been in the care of the Johannesburg district surgeon between December and March.
MASEKO AND OTHERS Three alleged ANC combatants were each sentenced to eight years' imprisonment in the Rustenburg Regional Court in October after pleading guilty to a charge of 'terrorism'. James MASEKO (23), Samuel MAHOPE (25) and Ben MOKGOSI (28) were detained near Zeerust in 1986. It was alleged they were on a mission to recruit people for military training and to supply arms, ammunition and explosives.
The men initially pleaded not guilty to undergoing military training and possessing and hiding weapons which would be used to commit acts of 'terrorism' and sabotage. They lodged a plea of guilty to 'terrorism' after hearing the evidence of an unnamed state witness. No other details were available.
NTUNYA Noble Kamohelo NTUNYA (25) was sentenced to eight years and six months imprisonment in the Transkei Supreme Court on 16 September for possessing explosives. The explosives were discovered in May 1986 on premises belonging to Ntunya's sister in the Maluti township after he led police to the site. Ntunya may well have been in detention since that time. He denied possession of the explosives – 10 hand grenades, two mini-limpet mines and 14 detonators – saying he had been given something to store by his brother. He said he had no knowledge of the nature of explosives or how to operate them and had never intended to injure people or property. Ntunya's lawyer gave notice of appeal against both the conviction and sentence handed down by Justice Beck.
QUMZA AND HOKO The East London Regional Court imprisoned two men in early November for activities in support of the ANC's armed struggle. Mthunzi Bereng QUMZA (24) was found guilty of being an ANC combatant and Madoda Elvis HOKO (26) was convicted of assisting and harbouring Qumza and another trained man. A third accused, Hoko's brother Andile, aged 28, was acquitted.
The men were all detained in January 1987. The Hoko brothers appeared in court alone in May, with Qumza joining them in August. The essence of the defence case for the Hoko brothers was that they had assisted Qumza, whom they had last seen in 1981, without knowing he had undergone military training in the intervening period. In December 1986 and again in January 1987 they arranged accommodation for him and another alleged combatant named Eddie. Both brothers said they had only made statements under duress. Andile Hoko's statement was subsequently ruled inadmissible whilst Madoda Hoko's was accepted as evidence against him.
Qumza admitted that he had undergone military training for the ANC, but the defence argued that this was unsupported by any independent evidence and could not be used against the Hoko brothers. According to the evidence 'Eddie' was also detained in January but it is not known what has happened to him since.
On 2 November Qumza was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for undergoing military training and returning to South Africa to establish a safe house to train local people in politics and the use of explosives. Madoda Hoko was sentenced to four years for harbouring and otherwise assisting him.
RADEBE An appeal hearing in the Rand Supreme Court gave the first report of the imprisonment of Jabulani RADEBE for smuggling landmines into South Africa. He had earlier pleaded guilty to possessing two landmines, two hand grenades and ammunition. It was said he joined the ANC while on holiday in Swaziland in 1984 and was later asked to hide the weapons. He was sentenced to 10 years which was reduced to seven on appeal.
SIGCU AND WAQU Two men were convicted of sabotage in the Butterworth Regional Court in the Transkei bantustan in July for allegedly conspiring to burn down the house of an Ezibeleni town councillor. Sindiso SIGCU (22) and Mcebisi WAQU (28) were each sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Two others, Madoana MOSHOESHOE (31) and Emmet SIMAYI (26) were acquitted. Ezibeleni is a township which serves Queenstown but is situated within the boundaries of the bantustan.
Sigcu and Waqu were alleged to have met at the house of Fikile GWADANA in December 1985 to plan the action. A number of witnesses, including the Superintendent of Komani Hospital, refuted the state evidence that such a meeting could have taken place but this was rejected by the magistrate. He was quoted as saying 'although the evidence given by state witnesses did not correspond completely' he was 'prepared to accept it'. Press reports at the time said that a crowd burnt the house to the ground, causing damage but no injuries.
Gwadana is presently on trial in the East London Regional Court charged with causing an explosion at a shopping centre in Queenstown.
TSHIKILA AND MATIWANE Xolisile TSHIKILA (28) and Joseph Kwanele MATIWANE (28) were convicted of 'terrorism' in the Kenton-on-Sea Regional Court in September after pleading guilty to a charge under the Internal Security Act. The two men from Port Elizabeth first appeared in court in May when they were also charged with illegally possessing arms and ammunition in Uitenhage in December 1986.
Tshikila, an ANC member who described himself as a freedom-fighter, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. He admitted joining the ANC, undergoing military training abroad and returning to South Africa with the aim of destroying a power station in De Aar, although he was arrested before doing this. The alleged offences occurred between November 1981 and December 1986.
Matiwane, of New Brighton, received a sentence of four years and two months for harbouring Tshikila. It was reported that the judge regarded his role in furthering the aims of the ANC in a serious light, saying it was people such as he who made it possible for 'terrorists' to reach their goals.
