Description
With Mr Berrange having returned to court, this day began with the further cross-examination of Cyril Davids. As such, attention was placed fist on the Mamre Camp incident and Accused No.3, Denis Goldberg, in particular. Following the cross-examination and re-examination of Cyril Davids, the state calls English Tolo Mashiloane, the owner of the SK Building in Orland, for cross-examination.
The issue was raised as to whether or not English Mashiloane should be treated as an accomplice in the Rivonia Trial. Dr Yutar insisted that the state did not consider this witness to be an accomplice. However, despite Dr Yutar’s objections, Jude De Wet was satisfied that English Mashiloane was an accomplice, and he warned that English Mashiloane would only be released if his evidence was satisfactory. Judge De Wet acknowledged that this procedure should have taken place much earlier and faulted the state for not bringing it up at the outset of their examination-in-chief.
Throughout his cross-examination, English Mashiloane showed a clear reluctance to answer any questions put to him by Mr Berrange which were not obviously and directly related to the statement he made to the police.
Witnesses Called
16th State Witness: Cyril Davids – Mamre Camper. (Recalled).
Further cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
Cyril Davids was questioned, once again, and in detail, about his interrogation by Sgt Sauerman of the Security Branch. Cyril Davids claimed that this interrogation lasted one hour, which Mr Berrange argued was improbable considering the witness’s insistence that he had only stated that the Mamre Camp was for health and spiritual reasons and refused to answer any more questions. The witness then admitted that the conversation terminated after 5 or 10 minutes, thus it could not have taken an hour but he could not tell the court what happened for the remainder of that time.
Mr Berrange put it to the witness that the CPC (Coloured Peoples’ Congress) and the AYL (African Youth League) organised the Mamre Camp – to which Cyril Davids replied that he had no idea who were the organisers. Mr Berrange tells Cyril Davids that by discussing his sympathies with the CPC in his examination-in-chief, he “let the cat out of the bag” and indicated his knowledge that the CPC were involved in organising the camp. Thereafter Mr Berrange put the following to Cyril Davids:
“I want to put it to you Mr Davids that you knew, and you know perfectly well, that the purpose of this camp was a very simple one. It was to teach young members of the organisations, of all races, who have some political ideas in their heads, as they necessarily would have as being members of these organisations, the fundamentals of technical subjects and technology such as: electricity, the use of duplicators in case pamphlets needed to be taken out, motor engineering, even physical fitness which takes place in all camps – even boy scout camps, elements of first aid, and to give you some founding in political theory. That was the whole aim and object of this camp. I want to put it to you that you knew that perfectly well.”
Cyril Davids denied this statement by Mr Berrange; however, he conceded that it mirrored the statements he had given to police under interrogation on at least five or six occasions. The remainder of Mr Berrange’s cross-examination repeated much of the line of questioning put to the witness on the previous day, 17th December, 1963.
Re-examination by Dr Yutar.
Dr Yutar pursued only one point in his re-examination of Cyril Davids. That was his affiliation to the CPC. Cyril Davids downplays his relationship with the CPC, claiming that he was sympathetic to the organisation but he did not know of its political views. Cyril Davids also clarified that Denis Goldberg had seen him in attendance at certain functions of the CPC.
17th State Witness: English Tolo Mashiloane – Herbalist, Orlando. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Bizos.
Under cross-examination, English Mashiloane stated that he was a law abiding and loyal citizen of South Africa. It was only because Elias Motsoaledi was a cousin by marriage that English Mashiloane claimed to have agreed to allow banned organisations to hold meeting at his house. In fact, English Mashiloane tried to argue that Elias Motsoaledi had forced him, through persuasion and deception, to facilitate the transportation of young recruits out of the country.
Mr Bizos picked-up on a statement made in English Mashiloane’s examination-in-chief about when he discovered that these recruits were being trained to fight and kill “all the white people” in South Africa. English Mashiloane admitted that he had no ill feeling or anger towards white people in general. The vast majority of English Mashiloane’s cross-examination concerned his statements made to the court and police about the young men he witnessed as scholars and/or as soldiers being sent out of the country. Mr Bizos advanced the argument that it was only because the witness wanted to be released from detention that he had changed his statement to the police and told them that the scholars were, in fact, soldiers.
However, despite the doubt caste on this witness by Mr Bizos’ cross-examination, the defence was unable to prevent English Mashiloane’s testimony from firmly tying Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni to the transportation of guerrilla recruits, as well as the planning and execution of acts of sabotage. This was significant, as neither of these two men had been present at Liliesleaf Farm at the time of the Rivonia raid. Furthermore, English Mashiloane described Elias Motsoaledi as a person with a “smooth tongue”.
Cross-examination by Mr Chaskalson.
Following on from Mr Bizos, Mr Chaskalson cross-examined English Mashiloane about Accused No.10, Andrew Mlangeni. In questioning the witness about his identification of Andrew Mlangeni under police custody, and his interactions with Accused No.10 prior to his arrest, Mr Chaskalson put it to the witness that what he had stated was in fact untrue and the defence argued that Andrew Mlangeni was not in Johannesburg in 1962.
Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
Thereafter, Mr Berrange stood to cross-examine English Mashiloane. Mr Berrange asked, amongst other things, if English Mashiloane would have assisted in the transportation of recruits if he knew they were going to Ghana as soldiers. Mr Berrange is made to repeat this question no less than five times before being satisfied that the witness was not going to give an answer.
Court was adjourned before the re-examination of this witness by Dr Yutar could take place and resumed at 10:00am the following day.
Sources
Dictablets: (Vol.49/7A/96b) (Vol.49/7A/97b) (Vol.49/7A/98b) (Vol.49/7A/99b) (Vol.49/7A/100b) (Vol.49/7B/101b) (Vol.49/7B/102b) (Vol.49/7B/103b) (Vol.49/7B/104b) (Vol.49/7B/105b).
Percy Yutar Papers:
Evidence of Cyril Kenneth Davids (Ms.385/2).
WITS Historical Papers:
Defence Team’s record of Witnesses (AD1844.A6.3).
Evaluation of evidence: Cyril Davids (AD1844.Ba2).
Evaluation of evidence: Tolo Mashiloane (AD1844.Ba7).
Key Words
Key State Witnesses, Cyril Davids, English Tolo Mashiloane, Guerrilla Warfare, MK Recruits, Denis Goldberg, Sabotage, Police Interrogation.