Completed Trials
Dibate
Oben DIBATE (28), from Bloemfontein, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment by the Welkom Regional Court in early October in spite of medical evidence about the adverse effect of a prison term on his life span. He suffers from the HIV virus and because of his condition was kept in isolation while awaiting trial. Defence counsel had asked for a wholly suspended sentence for Dibate who admitted undergoing military training for the ANC after joining the organisation in 1982. However, only half of the five year sentence was suspended. His lawyers said they would request that he be allowed to serve the term in a hospital.
Dyams and Ndesi
A trial in the Humansdorp Regional Court ended in August with sentences of seven years each for the two accused. Mvuzo Given DYAMS (22) and Christopher Sandile NDESI (23), respectively from Zwide and Soweto townships in Port Elizabeth, both admitted undergoing military training for the ANC and infiltrating the country. They pleaded guilty to charges of terrorism.
Both men were formerly members of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) and Ndesi told the court he was forced to leave the country by the presence of soldiers in the townships, who entered school premises, assaulting and shooting students.
Maliti
A young man who was left severely brain-damaged by an injury sustained after his arrest was sentenced to a prison term of five years for terrorism on 13 October. Nana Robert MALITI (22) was arrested in Crossroads in October 1988, while allegedly in possession of a limpet mine near to where the Minister of Law and Order was opening a new police station. He subsequently underwent brain surgery and is now mentally retarded. In December 1988 police said they were investigating Maliti's statements that he had been assaulted while in custody.
Maliti was first charged under the Explosives Act but this charge was withdrawn in December after he had been transferred to detention under the Internal Security Act. In April he was granted bail and in July he pleaded not guilty to a main charge of terrorism under the Internal Security Act and alternative charges of possessing a limpet mine and a banned publication — a copy of Umsebenzi, an SACP journal, allegedly found under his bed.
Mandoyi
Vusumuzi Wellington MANDOYI (29) was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on 2 October after conviction for terrorism and belonging to an unlawful organisation, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).
Mandoyi allegedly left South Africa in 1978 and returned a decade later, after undergoing military training, to establish cells in Natalspruit. He was said to have carried out a hand grenade attack in August 1988 which injured a police constable. Three unnamed state witnesses who were described as former PAC members testified against Mandoyi, as did Sidney Nhlapho, an alleged accomplice. The Johannesburg magistrate hearing the case ordered the release from detention of one of the three and Nhlapho, and said they would be granted immunity from prosecution. The principal evidence against Mandoyi came from the statement he made during detention which was contested by the defence but ruled admissible.
Mhlongo and others
Two ANC combatants, Welcome Vukane MHLONGO (28) of Chesterville and Nkosinathi Lancelot MAZIBUKO (22) of KwaMashu, refused legal representation in the Durban Regional Court in August and claimed prisoner-of-war status in terms of the Geneva Conventions. A third accused, Ntombentle Charity MAZIBUKO (26), pleaded not guilty to contravening the Internal Security Act by acting as an ANC courier.
The two men were alleged to have undergone military training in 1987 and to have returned with the aim of killing Inkatha and Kwazulu bantustan officials. Evidence for this was given by two unidentified state witnesses who claimed to have trained with them.
Mhlongo and Mazibuko were arrested after a limpet mine placed in Pietermaritzburg in August 1988 failed to explode. They were accused of smuggling arms and ammunition into the country along with leaflets about the rent boycott.
Ntombentle Mazibuko's lawyer called for her acquittal, saying that the State had not proved that she reported to the ANC during four trips she made to Swaziland. However, she was sentenced to two years imprisonment. Mhlongo, said to be the head of the anti-Inkatha unit, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment while Nkosinathi Mazibuko received seven years.
Mokati
On 22 September the Rand Supreme Court sentenced Edward Theise MOKATI (22) to 14 years imprisonment after convicting him of treason. Mokati was arrested in September 1988 after being identified by a police informant.
Mokati, from Thabong, Welkom, allegedly left South Africa in 1986 and underwent military training for the ANC in Angola. After his return in August 1987 he was active for a year and carried out two armed actions — on an electricity sub-station in Naledi and at a bus station in Johannesburg. Nineteen people were injured in the bus station blast, three of whom were admitted to hospital.
Mokati seems to have been convicted mainly on the basis of a statement he made after arrest. Explosives were found at the house in Moletsane, Soweto, where he was staying and he was videoed while demonstrating the use of weapons.
A police officer admitted in his evidence that Mokati had a black eye when he was handed over to him shortly after his arrest. However, he omitted to note the injury in his report as he 'was not concerned with the private life of the accused.'
Pityana and others
Eleven Eastern Cape residents were sentenced in the Kenton-on-Sea Regional Court in September after a trial lasting 18 months. The defendants included Lizo Grant PITYANA (42), former vice-president of the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO), and two prominent activists, Lauretta Pinky MENGEZELELI (35) from New Brighton and Vuyo KWINANA (52) from Uitenhage.
They first appeared in court in March 1988 after some months in detention under the Internal Security Act. Five others were then released when charges were dropped: Mlungisi KWINANA, Michael Mpumelelo GCINANI, Zamile Lolo MAQANDA, Tamsanqa Gordon MKONGI and Eunice Nomangesi MATROSE.
The accused faced five charges of terrorism plus alternative ones of attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and harrowing guerrillas. The main charge alleged they had endangered the security of the state between May and June 1987. Specific incidents mentioned included armed attacks on municipal police at Kwazakhele in June 1987 and on members of the SAP at Zwide in July. Other charges involved importing and possessing weaponry and ammunition.
The lengthy trial, which was delayed partly by the resignation and replacement of the defence legal team, concluded on 8 September. All were convicted on the main charge of 'terrorism' and acquitted of attempted murder and malicious damage to property. Pityana Mengezeleli and Mzolisi Goodman DYASI (36) received effective terms of two years for helping known members of the ANC; Kwinana and Mawonga Anthony WILLEM (30) got three years for aiding and abetting the same. The most severe sentences were passed on the six defendants, who as alleged members of the ANC, participated in a number of armed actions between April and December 1987. Linda Layton FIBI (33), Gunyazile Godfrey MARUBUNGWANA (25) and Zuko Headman ADAM (30) each received 16 years while Sabelo Lennox MATOMANE (30) and Solomzi James LIWENDE (24) received 15 years each and Toto Bongani MASIZA (30) was sentenced to thirteen and a half years. On 22 November Pityana was released on bail pending an appeal.
