In August, six men appeared in the Port Elizabeth Supreme Court charged with murder in a trial which arose out of the death of a policeman in Motherwell in August 1985.
In the trial, the use of violence during interrogation was exposed when two of the defendants, Mongezi Eric BETA (21) and Nyamisile Bishimbishi PLAATJIES (20), said they had been assaulted by police officers and coerced into making statements. Beta said that he was beaten with sjamboks, canes and fists. His statement was supported by the evidence of the deputy chief magistrate of Port Elizabeth to whom Beta complained. The magistrate said Beta's buttocks were 'a mass of sjambok or cane weal marks'. Beta's father, Wilson, who was arrested with his son and who was himself sjambokked by the police, confirmed that he saw welts on his son's back. Plaatjies testified that he was beaten twice: first with a cane and then two days later, by being hit repeatedly on the chest with a piece of wood.
Justice Jansen ruled the statements they made to the police inadmissible. However, Beta was convicted of murder with extenuating circumstances and was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment on 12 September. Jansen noted that at the time of the offence Beta was only 16 and that the killing was not premeditated. The other defendants were acquitted.
In a trial in the Grahamstown Supreme Court in September, Vuyisile DABULA from Langa, Uitenhage, who was convicted in November 1986 and who is already serving 12 years for his part in two killings, was convicted of the murder of a man in January 1986. Dabula admitted being present at the incident but denied participating in the killing.
The court found that Dabula's relative youth, immaturity and lack of education at the time of the offence, together with his lesser role, were extenuating factors mitigating against the death sentence. A 20-year prison term was handed down. The judge decided that the sentences should not run concurrently: he will serve 32 years.
At a trial which ended in the Durban Supreme Court in October 1988, the practice of holding state witnesses in 'protective' custody was questioned. During judgment in the trial of 11 men acquitted of the murder of a bantustan councillor and his son, Justice Didcott criticised the provisions under the Criminal Procedure Act which deny all visits to detained witnesses without the consent of the Attorney-General, or someone delegated as his representative. His remarks followed the appearance of a 13-year-old prosecution witness who had been held in a police cell since his detention in April. During that time he had been allowed only three visits from his parents and had no access to school books.
On 7 November, Whitey SOLANI (20), a Cape Youth Congress member, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment following his conviction on charges of arson and attempted murder in the Cape Town Supreme Court. The charges arose out of a petrol-bomb attack on the home of a community councillor in July 1987. Four youths aged between 14 and 16 were also found guilty of arson and committed to a reformatory for two years.
Five men have appeared before a Cape Town Regional Magistrate charged with 'terrorism' and alternative charges of illegal possession of a petrol bomb, a firearm and ammunition. Jozua JOUBERT (67), Anwar MENTOOR (27), Nazeem ADAMS (25), Fadiel ADAMS (27) and Yunus ADAMS (30) pleaded not guilty.
In a statement to the court, Joubert declared that he was 'a fiery opponent of PW Botha and his regime' and could 'never forgive him for declaring District Six white'.
After being found guilty, Joubert admitted that he had planned to petrol-bomb an office. 'The continued State of Emergency frustrated me and I thought about committing violence. I spoke to some of my young friends and influenced them to see things my way,' he said. However, he and the four others decided against committing the offence but were arrested in possession of a petrol bomb as they walked away from the office.
Joubert was convicted of 'terrorism' and was sentenced to two years in prison in October. His four co-accused were found guilty of the illegal possession of a petrol bomb and were each jailed for one year.
In September, the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein reduced the sentence of Blackie QUANDU to three years. He had been imprisoned on 18 September 1985 for seven years for public violence. The sentences of two youths convicted with Quandu were set aside and their cases were referred back to the trial court for new evidence.
A conviction for culpable homicide and an eight-year sentence imposed on a Laaiplek man were set aside by the Cape Town Supreme Court on 24 October. Ralph CAROLUS was convicted in February 1988 in the Vredenburg Regional Court following the death of a police-man.
On 31 October the Pretoria Regional Court sentenced seven men to prison terms of between five and sixteen years for acts of 'terrorism' and alleged involvement with the PAC. The men, who first appeared in court in December 1986, were Mabatu Enoch ZULU (52), Siyabulela Ndoda GCANGA (26), Vincent Alson MATHUNJWA (29), Setsiba Paul MOHLOLO (29), Reverend Daniel NKOPODI (27), Achmed CASSIEM (41) and Yusuf PATEL (35).
The first four defendants were alleged to be PAC members and to have undergone military training in Egypt, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania while Nkopodi, an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister, was said to have acted as a courier, and helped people to enter South Africa. Cassiem and Patel, from Cape Town, are both members of the Islamic organisation, Qibla. The charges alleged that this group was contacted by the PAC about the supply of arms and aimed to overthrow the government by violent means.
Most press reports focused on attempts by the defence to have statements made by the accused while in detention ruled inadmissible. The defendants told of torture and assault by the police. Gcanga was beaten, kicked and tied, together with Mathunjwa, to an ant-infested tree. Police admitted assaulting Zulu, described as a former deputy commander of the PAC's military wing, after he allegedly tried to attack them with a hand-grenade. Although he lost consciousness during the assault, a district surgeon said his wounds were 'not serious'.
A number of unidentified witnesses gave evidence in camera, some of them former members of the PAC. However, one prospective witness, Abdul Aziz KADER (27), refused to testify. Kader who was hospitalised for psychiatric treatment during a period of 18 months' detention, was sentenced on 18 July to two years' imprisonment.
Zulu and Nkopodi were sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment, Gcanga to 12 years, Mohlolo to 10 years, Mathunjwa to seven years, Cassiem to six years and Patel to five years. Cassiem served a five-year prison sentence for sabotage from 1964-9 and was banned for a total of twelve years.
Eight members of the Alexandra Youth Congress (AYCO) held since June 1986 were acquitted of treason in the Rand Supreme Court in October but convicted of sedition. The charges related to events in Alexandra between April and June 1986. The state alleged that the accused conspired to render the township ungovernable and established their own organs of people's power to conduct the business of official structures. They allegedly conspired with the Alexandra Action Committee (AAC), the ANC, the UDF, and COSATU.
Most of the evidence concerned the running of 'people's courts'. The accused were detained at AYCO headquarters, which was allegedly also the venue for a court. Witnesses explained the working of the court and the youths' attempts to tackle community problems especially by means of an anti-crime campaign. Shebeens (drinking clubs) were to be restricted to those over 25 and their patrons regularly searched for offensive weapons. One witness told of how the 'comrades' encouraged him to increase the maintenance he paid for his child and also ensured that he paid it regularly.
The defence argued that the eight had set up organisations in the absence of the local authority, which had resigned. On 22 September Justice Grosskopf ruled that conspiracy between the accused and the ANC had not been proved, saying 'in my view a mere sympathiser may not necessarily be a conspirator'. In essence he found that their activities were 'seditious' and aimed at 'defying the authority of the state'. He found they acted as if they were a 'police force' if not 'magistrates and prosecutors'.
On 3 October Ashwell ZWANE (22), Vusi NGWENYA (22), David MAFUTHA (21) and Piet MOGANO (25) were each sentenced to eight years' imprisonment of which four years was conditionally suspended for five years. Andrew MAFUTHA (24), Arthur VILIKAZI (22) and Albert SEBOLA (24) each received six years with three years suspended. Philemon 'Chicks' PHALONGWANE, who could not be named for most of the proceedings as he was under 18, was given a four-year sentence, wholly suspended.
