On 1 August the Heidelberg Regional Court sentenced two ANC members who pleaded guilty to leaving the country illegally and joining the organisation. Mongezi TSHONGWENI and Vusi THABETHE told similar stories of being harassed by police for their activities in youth and community organisations.
Both men are aged 25 years, come from the East Rand and left South Africa in June 1986. Tshongweni, although living in Kateghong and active in the local branch of the East Rand People's Organisation, was regarded by apartheid as a Transkei 'citizen'. He faced employment difficulties on account of this. In 1985 he was detained just before he was due to start at university in Lesotho. According to a psychologist his detention left him depressed and disoriented. Evidence for Thabethe, a member of the Tsakane Youth Organisation, drew attention to his family's overcrowded living conditions and his attempts to continue his education in spite of police harassment.
The two originally faced 'four charges: leaving the country illegally, joining a banned organisation, the ANC, furthering its aims and recruiting for it. When the trial began in July they pleaded guilty to the first two charges and the last two were dropped. They were each sentenced to an effective term of four and a half years.
