Description
This day’s proceedings were taken up by Mr Fischer’s continued examination-in-chief and, to a far larger extent, by Dr Yutar’s cross-examination of Govan Mbeki. Mr Fischer made some important clarifications to the court regarding the distinctions between members of the ANC and members of MK by leading Govan Mbeki to discuss the different names used for each group and the vastly different work each carried out for their respective organisations. Attention was then placed on the document Operation Mayibuye and the series of National High Command meetings in which this proposal was discussed. Mr Fischer also dealt extensively with the evidence of Bruno Mtolo before concluding his examination-in-chief of Govan Mbeki. Dr Yutar thereafter began his cross-examination with an immediate focus on the accusations Govan Mbeki had made against the Security Branch police. The prosecutor then went on to deal with certain biographical information and Govan Mbeki’s early political career.
Dr Yutar then went on to lead Govan Mbeki in regard to the formation of MK and some of the evidence state witnesses from Port Elizabeth had given against him – in particular the accusation that Govan Mbeki was the contact person between the MK Regional Commands in Port Elizabeth and East London as well as the National High Command in Johannesburg.
Govan Mbeki’s Evidence
Further examination-in-chief by Mr Fischer.
Mr Fischer began his examination-in-chief of Govan Mbeki on this day by clarifying three matters. The first was that the members of MK were known as recruits or trainees and never as volunteers. The second was that in the past it had taken long periods of time, more than a year in some cases, for organisations in the National Liberation Movement to prepare for major campaigns. Govan Mbeki emphasised that this was in part due to the extensive consultations which were required to take place between the various organisations in the Congress Alliance. The third and final matter Mr Fischer sort to clarify at the outset had to do with Govan Mbeki’s evidence given on Wednesday to the effect that the ANC was not dominated by the SACP or vice versa. In this regard Mr Fischer asked how members of the Communist Party functioned as part of the NLM. Govan Mbeki explained that communists could only express their influence in the NLM as individuals or as members of organisations comprising the Congress Alliance but not on behalf of the SACP.
Thereafter Mr Fischer proposed to move quickly through certain events starting with the meeting of the National High Command (with Walter Sisulu) in which Arthur Goldreich had presented the document Operation Mayibuye and argued in favour of its adoption by the NHC. Govan Mbeki explained that it was decided at this meeting that a logistics committee should be set up, with Arthur Goldreich as its chairman, in order to investigate the feasibility of Operation Mayibuye in terms of cost, time-frame, and implementation. It was about a week later that Govan Mbeki and Walter Sisulu reported to the ANC Secretariat what had been discussed and proposed in the meeting of the NHC. Govan Mbeki described this meeting as follows:
There were diverse views. There were some people in the National Secretariat who felt that it was correct to go over to guerrilla warfare, and yet others were of a different opinion. They argued that means of protest, there were still available means of protest other than resorting to guerrilla warfare, and in addition they expressed the view that they doubted if the thing was possible at all, was feasible at all.
The National Secretariat demanded further details on the feasibility of this plan to be provided because, as Govan Mbeki explained, “It could not even begin to call a meeting of the National Executive without having anything to place before it”. Mr Fischer then asked Govan Mbeki what changes took place at this time in regard to the working being done by the ANC. Govan Mbeki explained that:
The National Secretariat decided that the organisational work of the ANC should be stepped up in order to ensure that the plans which had been launched as from the beginning of the year, could be carried out, I am referring to the anti-pass plan. It was decided that somebody should be sent to the Eastern Cape to advise the Ad Hoc Committee to step up its organisational activity. And in addition we should write to Natal to call up Solomon Mbanjwa to come for the same purpose.
Govan Mbeki continued to say that although Solomon Mbanjwa was called up to Johannesburg, in order to discuss the organisation of the ANC in the rural areas of Natal, it was Bruno Mtolo who showed up at Rivonia instead. Wanting to deal with the evidence of Mr X later, Mr Fischer asked Govan Mbeki to discuss instead the next meeting of the NHC. This was the meeting was intended to be the one in which the Logistics Committee presented the studies it had conducted into the various aspects of the feasibility of Operation Mayibuye. These studies were not ready in time, however, and Walter Sisulu was told not to bother attending the meeting. In the meeting Arthur Goldreich presented only one study which he called the Housing Report and Govan Mbeki explained that:
This report was turned down by the National High Command on the grounds that he had recommended that a house or a place had been found where local manufacture for Umkhonto could be done. But then the National High Command said “you were never given the instructions to seek for a place for that purpose”, because it was evident that was already related to Operation Mayibuye, but instructions were given to him to proceed with the purchase of the property - I am referring to Travallyn. Secondly, I think a few days before this meeting of the National High Command Mr Goldreich brought to me a roneod copy of what was referred to here as Speakers Notes, as well as a syllabus, or a guide for lecturers… And after going through both the guide and the lectures I realised the lectures were terribly biased towards Operation Mayibuye, and I therefore raised this matter with the National High Command which decided that the lectures should not be distributed at all.
After discussing the work done by Arthur Goldreich and others in relation to Operation Mayibuye, and the report on Production Requirements which was presented by Arthur Goldreich in the following meeting of the NHC, Govan Mbeki explained that arrangements were made for a meeting of the ANC Secretariat to take place on 11th July, 1963. At this meeting the document Operation Mayibuye would be presented to the Secretariat and the plan detailed therein discussed in full for the first time. As a result of these plans Govan Mbeki had arranged with “Arthur Goldreich, in whose possession the document was, that he should make it available to me on the 11th”.
Mr Fischer then shifted attention to Govan Mbeki’s knowledge of and relationship with Accused No.3, Denis Goldberg. Govan Mbeki had known Denis Goldberg as a member of the COD for many years and told the court that Arthur Goldreich informed him that whilst Denis Goldberg was preparing to immigrate with his family to England he was conducting investigations for the Logistics and Technical Departments set up by the NHC and was instructed to go through with the purchase of Travallyn. Govan Mbeki explained that Denis Goldberg had taken charge of the Travallyn property and had driven himself, Raymond Mhlaba and Walter Sisulu to the Rivonia property shortly after 2pm on the day of the police raid. Mr Fischer then went on to ask questions regarding Govan Mbeki’s relationship with Raymond Mhlaba. Govan Mbeki said that he had worked with Raymond Mhlaba for many years in the Eastern Cape and that it was he who had told Raymond Mhlaba about Operation Mayibuye and the fact that it was due to be discussed in the meeting of the National Secretariat.
Govan Mbeki described in detail what he could recall of his and Raymond Mhlaba’s movements as soon as they arrived at Liliesleaf Farm, with particular attention paid to his locating of the Operation Mayibuye document, and what took place in the Thatched Cottage moments before the police arrived. Govan Mbeki admitted that he was the first one who had tried to escape through the back window before Mr Fischer turned to deal with “a few specific matters arising from the evidence of the state”. In dealing with these matters Govan Mbeki denied that he had ever been involved in digging furrows for the erection of radio masts at Rivonia and claimed that the testing of radio equipment at Rivonia and no actual broadcasting had taken place. Thereafter he dined Abel Mtembu’s evidence to the effect that he had instructed him to go and meet trainees arriving from Durban as well as a number of points from the evidence of Bruno Mtolo.
Much time was spent by Mr Fischer going through Bruno Mtolo’s evidence and Govan Mbeki not only denied all of the matters put to him in this regard but he also explained why the evidence given by Bruno Mtolo could not have been true in several regards. Govan Mbeki insisted that Bruno Mtolo’s evidence that he (Govan Mbeki) told him that the Ad Hoc Committees of the ANC in various provinces would find the money for the airfares sending MK trainees abroad for military training was “ridiculous”. One of the key issues disputed by Govan Mbeki in regard to Bruno Mtolo’s evidence was the latter’s claim that Barney Desai had escaped from Cape Town and sought assistance in Durban from the Regional Command. Govan Mbeki stated that:
No, it could not make sense. Mr Desai was a member of the Coloured People’s Congress, and if he was on the run, as I understand he was on the run at some time. He is out of the country now. If he was on the sun, and was in difficulties, he would certain' have sought the assistance of either the Natal Indian Congress, or the African National Congress in Durban, not Umkhonto. I don’t see how he would have been able to find members of Umkhonto.
Govan Mbeki went on to discuss in detail exactly what he had said to Bruno Mtolo at Rivonia before Judge De Wet called for the tea-time adjournment, following which, Mr Fischer asked why Govan Mbeki had not discussed Operation Mayibuye at all with Bruno Mtolo – despite the contrary claim having been made by the state witness. Govan Mbeki explained that the reason he did not mention it was because the plan had not been decided upon and thus he was not in a position to raise it with Bruno Mtolo. Following more discussion of Mr X’s evidence attention was turned by Mr Fischer to the evidence given by state witnesses Piet Coetzee and John Tshingane which was also dined and denounced as lies by Govan Mbeki. Mr Fischer told Govan Mbeki, “Mr Mbeki, you will no doubt be asked why these people might have told lies about you” but without waiting for a response added, “While you were in detention, were you offered any rewards” and “were any threats made to you?” After Govan Mbeki replied:
I was told if I gave information it would be made worthwhile for me, that the Government would… I would get the protection of the police, that the Government would pay me for the service, and that whatever information I gave would not be used against me, but would be used against others, and that it would not be disclosed that the information came from me. Then when I persistently refused to reply, I was told that the Pretoria Goal was evidently very comfortable, and that I would be transferred by the Special Branch, who had also chosen the Pretoria Gaol for me, I would be transferred to some other place where the climate would be more suitable for me to speak.
Govan Mbeki clarified that the investigating officer in question was not present in the courtroom before Mr Fischer moved on to deal with one or two more issues before concluding his examination-in-chief. One of these issues was Govan Mbeki’s knowledge of and relationship with Accused Nos.9 and 10, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni, both of whom Govan Mbeki claimed he did not know personally before this trial. The final matter dealt with by Mr Fischer was the reason why objections had been taken against the description of ANC committees as High Commands in the Eastern Cape. Govan Mbeki explained that this was because “the word High Command seemed to have a military connotation” after which Mr Fischer announced that he had no further questions.
Cross-examination by Dr Yutar.
Dr Yutar began his cross-examination by immediately picking up on the accusations Govan Mbeki had made against the police. The prosecutor demanded that Govan Mbeki give the names of the officers whom he had accused of making threats and offering him rewards during interrogation sessions. Govan Mbeki said that it had been Sergeant van Zyl of Johannesburg accompanies by Mr van Tonder – both of whom were not in court nor had they been called as state witnesses. Dr Yutar stated:
You were then known as a gentleman who had a triple capacity: a member of the ANC, a member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe, and a member of the Communist Party. Are you seriously suggesting that the police would try and bargain with you of all people?
Govan Mbeki responded, “Why wouldn’t they bargain with me? Am I not a human being because I am a Communist, or a member of MK?” Dr Yutar ignored Govan Mbeki’s comments and suggested that the allegations he made now against the police were “nothing but a tissue of lies from beginning to end”. Govan Mbeki denied the state’s suggestion and after some brief further discussion Dr Yutar said:
I want to remind you that this court is trying issues of sabotage and other offences, and it is not a court of enquiry into grievances of the Bantu. So I hope you will forgive me if I don’t even attempt to challenge the correctness of some of you complaints.
Despite this statement Dr Yutar did deal “in passing” with two points which he raised in order to challenge the “correctness” of some of the complaints of poverty and structural unemployment suffered by black people in South Africa put forward by the defence. Firstly, Dr Yutar asked “if the lot of the Bantu in this country is as black as you paint it” why was it that over a million people from other African states (even newly independent African states) were trying “by all manner of means” to enter and reside in South Africa. Govan Mbeki stated that it was purely because of the comparative strength of the South African economy which drew Africans from across the continent into its borders and that “However low wages may be in South Africa, they are still something better than the wages they were getting” and the employment opportunities they had available to them in other parts of the continent.
Thereafter Dr Yutar then suggested that “although we have not yet reached Mr Bernstein’s Communistic Utopia, we have got in this country free medical services for the Bantu, haven’t we?” Govan Mbeki asked where in South Africa there was free medical care for Africans. Dr Yutar mentioned Baragwaneth Hospital in Johannesburg where Africans only had to pay an entrance fee of one crown to get access to best facilities, equipment and staff “in the Southern Hemisphere” free of charge. Govan Mbeki simply said “That doesn’t make it free”. Dr Yutar’s responded “Not free?” after which he continued to try and get Govan Mbeki to concede that the apartheid government had in fact provided many benefits for black South Africans. Govan Mbeki rejected this and challenged Dr Yutar to list the so-called benefits black Africans were receiving under apartheid. Dr Yutar did not respond to the challenge and moved on to ask Govan Mbeki about his children.
Govan Mbeki explained that he had one daughter and two sons. Dr Yutar was only interested in Govan Mbeki’s one son Thabo Mbeki who had left the country illegally and gone to England in 1962. Having confirmed this about his son Dr Yutar then stated, after a brief pause, “By the way you have given your evidence here in a very calm, quiet voice. To make certain that I was listening to the same person I had your tape played back – Exhibit R.153. You don’t always speak that way, do you? You can raise your voice?” Govan Mbeki answered that he raised his voice when the situation required it – as had been the case in his tape recording. Dr Yutar went even further, drawing on Exhibit R.209, and argued that Govan Mbeki had been “ruthless” in the political speeches he gave around the country. In response to this Govan Mbeki said “I exposed the truth, and exposed what was the hardships of the African. If you call that ruthless, speaking the truth, then I was ruthless”.
Dr Yutar then went on to discuss Govan Mbeki’s position as a reporter and local editor for New Age in Port Elizabeth from 1955 until it was banned in November, 1962. This matter was not dealt with for long and its seems that Dr Yutar merely wanted Govan Mbeki to concede that “as far as the events of the Eastern Province were concerned, New Age would not report anything that was untrue, because you were on the spot”. Govan Mbeki partially agreed by saying that no newspaper would intentionally print information which was untrue. Dr Yutar then moved his attention to Govan Mbeki’s membership to the Communist Party in Port Elizabeth from November, 1961, and asked which specific group Govan Mbeki had been part of.
Govan Mbeki refused to give then names of the other people in his specific group and claimed that, whilst he assumed that other SACP groups were active in the Eastern Cape, he claimed to have no knowledge of them. Dr Yutar asked why it was that Govan Mbeki was so willing to mention Arthur Goldreich’s name and incriminate him so deeply but was unwilling to do so in regard to anyone else. Govan Mbeki said that mentioning Arthur Goldreich’s name was necessary for the defence to explain its case but would not offer any further comment on individuals in the SACP. As such, Dr Yutar began to lead Govan Mbeki through the sequence of events spanning the time he was served House Arrest orders in Johannesburg and went underground at Liliesleaf Farm in April, 1963. Govan Mbeki refused to give the names of the places where Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada had been in hiding prior to the time they came to Rivonia as well as the name of the person who drove him to Rivonia to go into hiding there.
Govan Mbeki explained that the reason he was known as Dlamini sometimes was because it was his clan name. Dr Yutar asked if Pedro was Ahmed Kathrada’s clan name too but Govan Mbeki replied that it was not and explained that Pedro was merely a pseudonym. Thereafter, Dr Yutar asked a series of four carefully worded questions – to which Govan Mbeki responded “yes” each time – and said:
Well Mbeki I have now put to you, in very brief form, the four charges against you, and you have replied yes to all. Can you tell his lordship why you pleaded not guilty to the four counts?
Govan Mbeki answered:
I did not plead guilty to the four counts for the simple reason that, firstly, I felt I should come and explain from here, under oath, some of the reasons that led to my joining Umkhonto. And secondly for the simple reason that to plead guilty would, in my mind, indicate that there was a sense of moral guilt attached to it, and I do not accept that there is any moral guilt attached to my actions.
Dr Yutar at first rejected Govan Mbeki’s suggestion of moral guilt and insisted that “legal guilt” was what was at issue here. However, soon after he changed track and asked if Govan Mbeki did not “feel morally responsible for that poor Bantu girl in Port Elizabeth who was burned to death?” Govan Mbeki said that he had never given instructions for the bombing of a house which was not a symbol of apartheid and thus did not feel morally guilty as a result of what took place. Dr Yutar continued along this line by asking if Govan Mbeki felt morally responsible for the death of Peter Molefe and the two people who had been killed as a result of the ANC’s policy to “liquidate those people that it regarded as traitors”. Govan Mbeki denied the suggestion that it was ANC policy to murder traitors and told Dr Yutar that the leaflet which D/Sgt Card had claimed was issued by the ANC and advocated this policy was incorrect (if it in fact said so because Dr Yutar did not have it with him in court to show Govan Mbeki and the defence had chosen not to cross-examine this state witness).
Eventually Dr Yutar said “Alright, let us forget about moral guilt” and stated:
Having now admitted, after you have made some political speeches now and then, that you were on the National High Command that had committed sabotage, that further acts of sabotage had been conspired to be committed, that you had furthered the aims of Communism and that you and your colleagues solicited money both here and abroad in order to advance those campaigns, do you now plead guilty?
When Govan Mbeki answered that he would not be pleading guilty Dr Yutar informed him that “there are at least 13 documents that directly implicate you and 24 witnesses who testify against you” and indicated that he would be dealing with each of these documents and witnesses’ evidence individually. Dr Yutar began with Exhibit T.35, which Govan Mbeki had already indicated in his evidence-in-chief he would refuse to answer questions in relation to every single detail therein, and which he claimed was intended for the National Executive of the ANC. Govan Mbeki was not even prepared to divulge the reasons why he would refuse to answer certain questions in regard to this document. Dr Yutar then asked if Govan Mbeki was going to suggest that all 24 witnesses who had associated him with acts of sabotage in Port Elizabeth had “all entered into an unholy alliance to testify falsely against you?” Govan Mbeki said that he would answer that question when Dr Yutar dealt with each witness individually as he had suggested he would do.
Dr Yutar said “You will answer that one now” and forced Govan Mbeki to state clearly that he was alleging that such evidence by state witnesses was false. Thereafter, Dr Yutar did not go on to deal with the documents and evidence in turn as he had indicated he was going to do presently. Instead he asked Govan Mbeki about the political affiliations of Arthur Goldreich whom he described as having been “buddies” with Govan Mbeki since the latter’s arrival at Rivonia in April, 1963. Govan Mbeki stated that from his discussions with Arthur Goldreich he believed him to be a Marxist which and told Dr Yutar that it was “not correct to tie up Communism with Marxism”. Govan Mbeki explained himself by drawing on the example of the Labour Party in England which “call themselves Marxist Socialists, but they are not Communists”.
Dr Yutar then asked “if you won’t admit that he was a Communist, was he in any way associated with the ANC?” to which Govan Mbeki replied “He was not” but did concede that he was associated to MK through the position he held as a member of its Technical Committee. In response to a call for clarification by Judge De Wet, Govan Mbeki explained that members of the Technical Committee were not necessarily members of the National High Command. Dr Yutar named Govan Mbeki and Nelson Mandela as members of the MK NHC which were already known by this court and then proceeded to point down the line of accused sitting in the dock, making Govan Mbeki comment on the association (or lack thereof) each had with MK. Accused No.3, Denis Goldberg, was admitted by Govan Mbeki to have assisted Arthur Goldreich in doing work for the Logistics Committee but was not himself a member of any MK group. When Govan Mbeki claimed that Accused No.6, Lionel Bernstein, was not associated with MK, Dr Yutar began to read extensively from Exhibit R.94 and asked “if Bernstein had nothing to do with MK what was he checking a document referring to a movement of which he knew nothing and was not a member?”
Govan Mbeki shrugged off this question by stating, “It happens often – the newspaper which you are associated with may ask you to check up on information which it has…” Dr Yutar told Govan Mbeki that he did not want to argue and moved on to deal with Exhibit R.121(b) which was a document headed “The Revolutionary Way Out” and was a statement issued by the Central Committee of the SACP and distributed throughout the country. Throughout Dr Yutar’s reading of this document Govan Mbeki maintained that it was not intended to incite people into violent means of struggle and that the idea it expressed – that an impasse had in fact already been reached in South Africa rendering all non-violent forms of struggle useless – was incorrect. At this stage Judge De Wet called for the lunchtime adjournment.
Proceedings resumed after the lunchtime adjournment with a discussion between Judge De Wet and Dr Yutar about the relevance of certain questions put in cross-examination regarding Govan Mbeki’s interpretation of documents, after which, Dr Yutar asked Govan Mbeki if he and Denis Goldberg usually greeted each other as “comrade” like all members of the SACP. Govan Mbeki replied that he did not know Denis Goldberg as a SACP member but as a member of the COD. He went on to claim that the first time he had heard about Mamre Camp was at a party at Cardiff Marney’s house in Cape Town in January, 1963, from certain people (he would not name) who had been present there. Govan Mbeki explained:
I really did not go into details as to the purpose of the camp, but there was talk about the camp. Some of the people who had been there were bidden to just speak about what transpired at the Camp, but it did not strike me as anything out of the way really to investigate into.
Govan Mbeki claimed to have known nothing of guerrillas being trained at Mamre Camp prior to these court proceedings. When Dr Yutar asked him to discuss his knowledge of Solwandle Looksmart Ngudle, Govan Mbeki identified him as no more than an ANC member and an employee of New Age operating in Cape Town. He refused to give the name of the leader of the MK Regional Command in Cape Town but conceded that such a body had existed. Shortly thereafter Dr Yutar said:
Oh yes, I am reminded by my learned colleague – you don’t have to worry about incriminating Looksmart, because he is dead… Committed suicide, or don’t you know that?
Govan Mbeki replied, “Alleged, yes. Alleged to have committed suicide” before Dr Yutar continued to say, “You see Looksmart preached, according to some of the witnesses, ‘Don’t talk if the police arrest you. Rather die than talk’”. Govan Mbeki recalled one document handed in to the court which showed instructions stating “don’t talk to the police” but added that he could not recall any evidence to the effect that MK had urged its members to commit suicide. After confirming that Govan Mbeki was refusing to say if Solwandle Looksmart Ngudle had been a member of the NHC or not Dr Yutar returned his attention to the political affiliations of the remaining accused in the dock.
The first questions Dr Yutar asked in regard to Raymond Mhlaba was if he was a member of MK and why he had gone on a secret mission for 14 months overseas. Govan Mbeki said that Raymond Mhlaba had not been a member of MK and said that, to his knowledge, Raymond Mhlaba had not gone overseas but refused to discuss the details of his ANC mission on the grounds that “It may incriminate him in some other charge that is not before this court”. After further discussion of Raymond Mhlaba’s secret ANC missions attention was brought to Harold Wolpe and his position in regard to MK. In response to Dr Yutar’s question of why Harold Wolpe had drawn up Exhibit R.1 (a code for MK) if he had not been a member of its National High Command? Govan Mbeki said, “My only explanation would be that Wolpe belonged to the Intelligence Committee, and was a friend of Mr Goldreich” but added that Harold Wolpe had been part of this Committee “long before Operation Mayibuye was ever thought of”. In light of this Dr Yutar said:
Look at R.1. You want the Court to believe that Operation Mayibuye was a pipe dream - look what he says here "Carrying out Orders." Can you explain to the Court how Wolpe came to draw up a Code of Discipline, a Disciplinary Code for the M.K. if he had nothing to do with M.K?
Govan Mbeki repeated his position:
As I say, Mr. Wolpe was a friend of Mr. Goldreich. And I would not have been surprised that he did a thing like this on the instructions possibly of Mr. Goldreich, who already had it in his mind that Operation Mayibuye would be accepted.
Govan Mbeki refused to answer the question as to whether or not there was an Indian member of the National High Command. When Govan Mbeki chose not to admit that Joe Slovo was a member of the NHC Dr Yutar asked why Govan Mbeki had not taken the oath, but affirmed, when before giving his evidence in court. Dr Yutar asked if this had something to do with his desire not to be bound by a religious oath or because he was a member of the SACP, to which Govan Mbeki replied, “Not because I am a member of the communist Party nor because I am not bound by the oath, but because in the course of time I did not accept the existence of a deity, that is all there is about it”. When Govan Mbeki stated that he had become an atheist long before he became a SACP member Dr Yutar returned his attention to Operation Mayibuye.
Dr Yutar quested Govan Mbeki extensively in regard to Operation Mayibuye. One of Dr Yutar’s suggestions was that the name Thabo, written under the heading External Planning Committee, was a reference to Govan Mbeki’s son but Govan Mbeki dealt with it by stating that the name there is more than likely a pseudonym, like all the others used in the document, than an open reference to Thabo Mbeki whom he claimed was in Basutoland (now Lesotho). A significant moment during Dr Yutar’s dealing with the personnel listed in Operation Mayibuye was when Judge De Wet interjected and said:
Before you leave the Personnel, what appears to me to be even more surprising about this, why, if Goldreich was simply the head of a sub-committee, why is his name not here?
In response to this Govan Mbeki answered, “It could possibly be among those pseudonyms my lord”. Dr Yutar then said, “In fact your last answer has caused so much consternation that I am being fired with suggestions on both sides! What was his pseudonym, Goldreich?” Govan Mbeki refused to answer the question and Dr Yutar spent a significant amount of time dealing in detail with the personal and committees named in Operation Mayibuye before indicating that he would return to deal further with this document on Monday. Thereafter, Dr Yutar returned attention to the formation of MK.
Govan Mbeki admitted that he first heard of the formation of MK in October/November, 1961, from “one of the sponsors of Umkhonto” who made a report to the effect that MK Units – in Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town – would be formed in order to embark on sabotage campaigns from 16th December onwards. The unidentified man told Govan Mbeki and others in this meeting in Port Elizabeth that the targets of these sabotage campaigns were to be the symbols of apartheid. Dr Yutar tried to corner Govan Mbeki by insisting that he had to admit to either having personally committed acts of sabotage or that the ANC and MK leaders left the “the rank and file” to carry out acts of sabotage whilst they stayed safely away. He added, “You can’t have it both ways” before Govan Mbeki replied “I can have it both ways” and tried to make his case. In this regard Govan Mbeki was, however, unsuccessful and eventually had to concede that acts of sabotage had been left to the “rank and file” and were not executed by members of the National High Command. Dr Yutar also got Govan Mbeki to concede that he could not name “a European Communist who had the courage to go and commit acts of sabotage in Port Elizabeth”.
Dr Yutar dealt with the investigations Govan Mbeki claimed to have made into the sabotage attacks carried out on people’s homes in the Eastern Cape in about September, 1962, which were not in accordance with MK policy. In this regard, Judge De Wet eventually interjected and asked:
If you are correct that the Umkhonto and the A.N.C. were kept quite separate, why did you have to enquire into irregular acts of sabotage? I agree that it was wrong and somebody ought to enquire into it, but why did you as a member of the ANC that had nothing to do with the Umkhonto, why did you have to enquire into this?
Govan Mbeki answered:
We knew that acts of sabotage were supposed to be committed by the Umkhonto, and to the extent that the Umkhonto had given an undertaking that it would place itself under the political guidance of the Congress Alliance and the ANC. We would naturally be interested to know if they' seem to go outside of the scope of their activities.
From Govan Mbeki’s answer Judge De Wet suggested that it was more a question of control than one of interest and drew the conclusion that in a matter such as this that the ANC National Executive would have contacted the National High Command of MK and instructed it to stop this kind of sabotage which was not authorised. Govan Mbeki conceded that it would have been the NEC of the ANC who would have brought issues such as the incorrect targeting of private homes in sabotage campaigns to the attention of the NHC of MK.
Moving his attention to the fourth charge Dr Yutar put it to Govan Mbeki that Dr Letele had received monies from outside South Africa which was used in furtherance of a campaign of sabotage in South Africa. Govan Mbeki refused to say anything in this regard and Dr Yutar, thereafter, moved on to deal with the accusation made by state witness Bennet Mashiyana that Govan Mbeki was the contact person between the MK Regional Commands in Port Elizabeth and East London. Govan Mbeki denied this and refused to identify any of the names put to him by Dr Yutar as people he knew to be part of MK. Dr Yutar went on to read extensively from the evidence given by taxi driver John Tshingane as well as, to a lesser extent, the evidence of Lilian Nade, Mr Jordaan, and Sikombuza Njikalane, before asking Govan Mbeki to “advance one single reason why any of them should be testifying falsely against you”. Govan Mbeki replied:
They were all in a similar situation, they had been detained under the 90 days law, and to get out they had to find this excuse, and they knew, all of them, that I had been charged together with Strachan. I suppose then I was the nearest, in their opinion. It would have been most likely that they would have been believed if they said I was responsible for those.
After a very short discussion of Harold Strachan’s conviction Judge De Wet called for court to be adjourned until 10:00am on Monday.
Sources
Dictabelts: (Vol.54/Belt 110e) (Vol.54/Belt 111e) (Vol.54/Belt 112e) (Vol.54/Belt 113e) (Vol.54/Belt 114e) (Vol.54/Belt 115e) (Vol.54/Belt 116e) (Vol.54/Belt 117e) (Vol.54/Belt 118e).
Percy Yutar Papers:
Handwritten notes from the prosecution for 8th May, 1964, (Ms.385/36/1).
File containing details about Accused Nos. 1-7: TS, Accused No.4 [Govan Mbeki] (MS.385/31/3/5).
Govan Mbeki [Acc.No.4] [Large sections missing, starts at p.331] (MS.385/8).
WITS Historical Papers:
Govan Mbeki’s Evidence (copy). (AD1844.A28.1).
Extract of Govan Mbeki’s Evidence (copy). (AD1844.A28.2).
Mbeki’s Personal Position. (AD1844.A30b12).
Notes made by Govan Mbeki regarding his interrogation while in detention. (AD1844.Bc1).
Key Words
Govan Mbeki, ANC Volunteers, MK Trainees, Arthur Goldreich, NHC, Operation Mayibuye, Port Elizabeth Regional Command, Sabotage, Bruno Mtolo, 90-day detention.