The Little Rivonia Trial was a South African
apartheid-era court case in which several members of the armed resistance organization
Umkhonto we Sizwe faced charges of
sabotage. The accused were:
Laloo Chiba,
Dave Kitson,
Mac Maharaj,
John Matthews and
Wilton Mkwayi. A confederate of theirs,
Lionel Gay turned state witness, and in return, the prosecution dropped the charges against him.
Judge
W. G. Boshoff presided over the November to December 1964 trial, with
human rights lawyer George Bizos one of the advocates appearing for the defence. All the accused were found guilty. Maharaj's legal representatives were expecting that he would receive the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for his Central Committee membership of the
South African Communist Party, a banned organization at the time. During the sentencing phase Mkwayi would simply say in his defence: "My Lord, I am a professional agitator". Mkwayi received a
life sentence; Kitson twenty years; Chiba eighteen years; Matthews fifteen years and Maharaj twelve years. While Kitson and Matthews (both white), were imprisoned in
Pretoria Central Prison and joined
Denis Goldberg and for Mkwayi, Maharaj and Chiba joined
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
,
Govan Mbeki,
Walter Sisulu, and other prominent
African National Congress members for
hard labour at the famous
Robben Island quarry.
The releases
* In 1976,
Mac Maharaj was released from custody of Apartheid government after serving 12 years in the
Robben Island prison.
* In 1979,
John Matthews, a white South African Communist,
was released after serving his 15 year sentence at
Pretoria Central Prison.
In 1997, years after his release, Matthews received three long service MK medals from then Deputy Minister of Defence,
Ronnie Kasrils.
Matthews eventually succumbed to cancer at the age of 85.
[https://www.africabookclub.com/book-review-walking-on-air-%E2%80%93-the-story-of-anc-activist-john-edward-matthews-by-colleen-matthews/]
* In 1982,
Laloo Chiba was released from custody of Apartheid government after serving 18 years in the
Robben Island prison but he was rearrested in 1985 to 1986 without a trial.
* In 1984, 11 May;
Dave Kitson, a white British Communist who served in the High Command of uMkhonto weSizwe,
was released after being in
prison since 1964.
He afterwards moved back to his native home of
London, England.
He later died in 2010.
* In 1989, 15 October;
Wilton Mkwayi was released from custody of Apartheid government after spending 25 years in
Robben Island and
Pollsmoor Prison; and his release which also included five
Rivonia Trialists:
Ahmed Kathrada,
Raymond Mhlaba,
Andrew Mlangeni,
Elias Motsoaledi and
Walter Sisulu after spending 26 years each,
Oscar Mpetha after spending more than 6 years, and the co-founder and former leader of the
Pan Africanist Congress Jafta Masemola after he also spent 27 years in prison.
See also
*
List of massacres in South Africa
*
Rivonia Trial
*
1956 Treason Trial
The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956.
The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not gu ...
*
1964 in South Africa
Poems referencing apartheid
*"
Nothing's Changed" by
Tatamkhulu Afrika
*"Still Standing" by
Athol Williams aka AE Ballakisten in ''Heap of Stones''
*"Mandela and I" by
Athol Williams aka AE Ballakisten in ''Heap of Stones''
*"Leaders Great" by Mayihlome Tshwete
References
{{Political history of South Africa
Events associated with apartheid
1964 in South African law
Trials in South Africa