As
the indictment alleges, the accused deliberately and maliciously
plotted and engineered the commission of acts of violence and
destruction
throughout the country.
The
planned purpose thereof was to bring about in the Republic of South
Africa
chaos, disorder and turmoil, which would be aggravated, according to
their
plan, by the operation of thousands of trained guerrilla warfare units
deployed
throughout the country at various vantage points. These would be joined
in the
various areas by local inhabitants as well as specially selected men
posted to
such areas. Their combined operations were planned to lead to
confusion,
violent insurrection and rebellion, followed, at the appropriate
juncture, by
an armed invasion of the country by military units of foreign powers.
In the midst of the resulting
chaos, turmoil and disorder, it was planned by the accused to set up a
provisional revolutionary government to take over the administration
and
control of this country...
In the main, the accused are
charged with two counts of sabotage.
Firstly,
the State alleges
that the accused, together with the other persons and associations
named in the
indictment, actually committed wrongful and willful acts,
namely: The recruitment of persons,
for instruction and training, both within and outside the Republic of South Africa,
in (a) the preparation,
manufacture and use of explosives— for the purpose of committing acts
of
violence and destruction in the aforesaid Republic, and (b) the art of warfare,
including guerrilla warfare, and military training generally— for the
purpose
of causing a violent revolution in the aforesaid Republic.
The State further alleges
that the accused are guilty of 153 acts of violence and destruction
(sabotage)
as particularized in the annexure attached to the indictment....
The
evidence on the first
count, will be briefly as follows: By the
latter half of 1961
the African National Congress had decided to embark upon a policy of
violence
and destruction a policy of sabotage in order to achieve their
political aims
and objectives. For this purpose they formed the Umkhonto We Sizwe (‘the
Spear of the Nation’), which was to be the military wing of the ANC.
This organization
was recruited from followers who were prepared, whatever the odds, to
die if
necessary in the execution of the acts of violence and destruction.
The Umkhonto
We Sizwe placed
itself under the political guidance of the ‘National Liberation
Movement...These
organizations, having
been banned, decided to go underground, for which purpose it was
absolutely
necessary for them to obtain suitable secluded premises from which to
direct
underground activities.
Michael Harmel, a Communist,
using the fictitious name of Jacobson, approached an estate agent for
just such
premises, adding that he needed them for his brother-in-law, who was a
sick
person and needed peace and quiet. Eventually, after rejecting a number
of
houses because they were too near neighbours, suitably secluded
premises were
found in July, 1961, at Rivonia: a large house with suitable
outbuildings,
standing in spacious grounds of more than twenty-eight acres.
A purchase price of R25,000
was agreed upon; RlO,000 to be paid forthwith, and the balance in three
equal
installments of R5,000 each. The brother-in-law
in
question was Vivian Ezra, who was neither sick nor in need of peace and
quiet.
Moreover, he was not in a financial position to buy any house, let
alone one
for R25,000....
The accused deliberately and maliciously plotted and engineered
the commission of acts of violence and destruction throughout the
country, directed against the offices and homes of municipal officials
as well as against all lines and manner of communications. The
planned purpose thereof was to bring about in the Republic of South
Africa chaos, disorder, and turmoil which would be aggravated,
according to their plan, by the operation of thousands of trained
guerilla warfare units deployed throughout the country at various
vantage points. These would be joined in various areas by local
inhabitants as well as specially selected men posted to such
areas. Their combined operations were planned to lead to
confusion, violent insurrection and rebellion, followed at the
appropriate juncture by armed invasion of the country by military units
of foreign powers. In the midst of the resulting chaos, turmoil
and disorder it was planned by the accused to set up a provisional
revolutionary government to take over the administration and control of
this country....
The extent
to which
the National High Command plotted their policy of sabotage...can be
gauged from their ‘production
requirements’— a program which they planned to complete in six
months. These
requirements, as the
documents prove, included 144 tons of ammonium nitrate, 21.6 tons of
aluminium
powder, and 15 tons of black powder. Without taking into account
the
explosives and detonators which the members of the sabotage squads
throughout
the country were enjoined by their leaders to steal from explosives
magazines
and various mines, the experts will say that the aforementioned
‘production
requirements’ constituted sufficient to blow up a town as extensive as
Johannesburg....
In conclusion it remains only to be said that the documents
and witnesses will reveal to the court that the accused together with
the other persons and associations named in the indictment had so
planned their campaign that the present year, 1963, was to be the year
of their liberation from the so-called yoke of the white man's
domination.
