the manuscpit of the recording of the Rivonia Trial. (continued)

NELSON MANDELA: By the time I left Ethiopia, the first South African recruits had not yet reached that country, and Canadian soldiers, as far as I am aware, receive training in the United Kingdom. This being the fact, and my understanding, I could not possibly have thought of telling the Regional Command that the Emperor of Ethiopia thought our trainees were better than the Canadians. C. These statements therefore are sheer invention unless they were suggested to act by someone wishing to create a false picture. D. I did tell him of financial support received in Ethiopia and in other parts of Africa. I certainly did not tell him that certain African states had promised us one per cent of the their budgets. This suggestion of donating one per cent never arose during my visit. It arose for the first time, as far as I am aware, at the conference in May 1963, by which time I had been in jail for ten months. Despite X's alleged failure to remember this, I did speak of scholarships promised in Ethiopia. Such general education of our people has always, as I have pointed out, been an important aspect of our plans. F. [sic] I did tell them I had travelled through Africa, and had been received by a number of heads of state, mentioning them all by name. I also told them of President Ben Bella's invitation to me to go to Oujda, where I met officers of the Algerian Army, including their Commander-in-Chief, Colonel Boumédienne. I also said that the Algerians had promised assistance with training and arms. But I certainly did not say they must hide the fact that they were communists, because I did not know whether they were communists or not.

What I did say was that no communist should use his position in Umkhonto for communist propaganda, neither in South Africa nor beyond the borders, because unity of purpose was essential for achieving freedom. What we aimed at was a vote for all, and on this basis we could appeal to all social groups in South Africa, and expect the maximum support from the African State. X denies this, but I could not have suggested any other than the true objective, nor could there have been any possible reason for hiding it. G. It was in this context that I discussed New Age and its criticism of the Egyptian Government. In speaking of my visit to Egypt, I said that my visit had coincided with that of Marshal Tito, and that I had not been able to wait until General Nasser was free to interview me. I said that the officials, whom I had seen, had expressed criticism of articles appearing in New Age which had dealt with General Nasser's attacks on communism, but that I had told them that New Age did not necessarily express the policy of our movement, and that I will take up this complaint with New Age, and try and use my influence to change their line because, it was not our duty to say in what manner any state should achieve its freedom. H. I told the Regional Committee that I had not visited Cuba, but that I had met that country's ambassadors in Egypt, Morocco and Ghana. I spoke of the warm affection with which I was received at these embassies, and that we were offered all forms of assistance including scholarships for our youth.

In dealing with the question of white and Asian recruits, I did say that as Cuba was a multiracial country, it would be logical to send such persons to this country, as these recruits would fit in more easily there than with black soldiers in African states. I. But I never discussed [inaudible name] at the meeting, for the simple reason that I did not know him until I heard his name mentioned by X in this case. On my return to Tanganyika, after touring the African continent, I met about thirty South African young men who were on their way to Ethiopia for training. I addressed them on discipline and good behaviour while abroad. [inaudible name] may have been amongst these young men, but in any event, if he was, this must have been before he visited any African state other than Tanganyika, and in Tanganyika he would not have starved or been in difficulties, since our office there would have looked after him. It would be absurd to suggest that the South African office in Dar es Salaam would discriminate against him on the ground that he was a communist. J. Of course I referred to Umkhonto we Sizwe, but it cannot be true to say that they heard from me for the first time that this was the name, or that it was a military wing of the ANC, a phrase much used by the State in this trial.

A proclamation had been issued by Umkhonto on the 6th of December 1961, announcing the existence of the body, and its name had been known for seven months before the time of this meeting. And I have certainly never referred to it as the military wing of the ANC. I always regarded it as a separate organisation, and endeavoured to keep it as such. K. I did tell them that the activities of Umkhonto might go through two phases, namely acts of sabotage, and possible guerrilla warfare if that became necessary. I dealt with the problems relating to each phase, but I did not say that people were scouting out areas suitable for guerrilla warfare, because no such thing was being done at the time, at that time. I stressed, just as he said, that the most important thing was to study our history, our own history, and our own situation. We must of course study the experiences of other countries also, and in doing so we must study not only the cases where revolutions were victorious, but also cases where revolutions were defeated.

But I did not discuss the training of people in East Germany as testified to by X. I.[sic] I did not produce any photograph in Spark [?] or New Age as testified to by X. These photos were only published on the 21st of February 1963, after I was in jail. While referring to X's evidence there is one other fact that I want to mention. X said that the sabotage which was committed on the 15th of October 1962 was in protest against my convictions, and that the decision to commit such sabotage had been taken between the date of conviction and the date of sentence. He also said that the sabotage was held over for a few days because it was thought that the police would be on their watch on the day that I was sentenced. All this must be untrue. I was convicted, my lord, on the 7th of November 1962, and was sentenced on the same day to five years' imprisonment with hard labour. The sabotage in October 1962 could therefore not have had anything to do with my conviction and sentence. [.....]

My lord, I wish now to turn to certain general allegations made in this case by the State, but before doing so I wish to revert to certain occurrences said by witnesses to have happened in Port Elizabeth and East London. I am referring to the bombing of private houses of pro-Government persons during December - during September, October and November 1962. I do not know what justification there was for these acts, nor what provocation had been given, but if what I have said already is accepted, then it is clear that these acts had nothing to do with the carrying out of the policy of Umkhonto. One of the chief allegations in the indictment is that the ANC was a party to a general conspiracy to commit sabotage. I have already explained why this is incorrect, but how externally there was a departure from the original principle laid down by the ANC. There have of course my lord been overlapping of functions internally as well, because there is a difference between a resolution adopted in the atmosphere of a committee room, and the concrete difficulties that arise in the field of practical activity. At a later stage the position was further affected by bannings and house arrests, and by persons leaving the country to take up political work abroad. This led to individuals having to do work in different capacities, but though this may have blurred the distinction between Umkhonto and the ANC, it by no means abolished that distinction. Great care was taken to keep the activities of the two organisations in South Africa distinct. The ANC remained a mass political body of Africans only, carrying on the type of political works they had conducted prior to 1961. Umkhonto remained a small organisation, recruiting its members from different races and organisations, and trying to achieve its own particular objects.

The fact that members of Umkhonto recruited from the ANC, and the fact that persons served both organisations, like Solomon Mbanjwa, did not in our view change the nature of the ANC or give it a policy of violence. This overlapping of officers, however, was more the exception than the rule. This is why, my lord, persons such as X and Z, who were on the original command of their respective areas, did not participate in any of the ANC committees or activities, and why people such as Bennett Mashiyana and Reginald Ndubi did not hear of sabotage at their ANC meetings. [pause] [.....] Another of the allegations in the indictment is that Rivonia was the headquarters of Umkhonto. This is not true of the time when I was there. I was told of course, and knew, that certain of the activities of the Communist Party were carried on there, but this was no reason, as I shall presently explain, why I should not use the place. I came there in the following manner. A. As already indicated, early in April 1961 I went underground to organise the May general strike.

My work entailed travelling throughout the country, living now in African townships, then in country villages, and again in cities. During the second half of the year I started visiting the Parktown home of Mr Arthur Goldreich, where I used to meet my family privately. Although I had no direct political association with him, I had known Mr Goldreich socially since 1958. B. In October Mr Goldreich informed me that he was moving out of town, and offered me a hiding place there. A few days thereafter he arranged for Mr Michael Harmel, another co-conspirator in this case, to take me to Rivonia. I naturally found Rivonia an ideal place for the man who leads the life of an outlaw. Up to that time I had been compelled to live indoors during the daytime and could only venture out under cover of darkness. But at Liliesleaf I could live differently, and work far more efficiently. C. For obvious reasons I had to disguise myself, and I assumed the fictitious name of David. In December Mr Goldreich and his family also moved in. I stayed there my lord, until I went abroad on the 11th of January 1962. As already indicated, I returned in July 1962 and was arrested in Natal on the 5th of August. D. Up to the time of my arrest, Liliesleaf Farm was the headquarters of neither the African National Congress nor Umkhonto.

With the exception of myself, none of the officials or members of these bodies lived there. No meetings of the governing bodies were ever held there, and no activities connected with them were either organised or directed from there. On numerous occasions during my stay at Liliesleaf Farm I met both the Executive Committee of the ANC as well as the National High Command, but such meetings were held elsewhere and not on the farm. E. While staying at Liliesleaf Farm I frequently visited Mr Goldreich in the main house, and he also paid me visits in my rooms. We had numerous political discussions covering a variety of subjects. We discussed ideological and practical questions, the Congress Alliance, Umkhonto and his activities generally, and his experience as a soldier in the Palmach, the military wing of Haganah. Haganah was the political authority of the Jewish National Movement in Palestine. F. Because of what I had got to know of Mr Goldreich, I recommended on my return to South Africa that he should be recruited to Umkhonto. I do not know of my personal knowledge whether this was done. G. Before I went on my tour of Africa, I lived in the room marked twelve on Exhibit A. On my return in July 1962 I lived in the thatched cottage.

The evidence of Josef Mashifane that I lived in room number twelve during the period that he was there at the farm is incorrect. Another of the allegations made by the State is that the aims and objects of the ANC and the Communist Party are the same. I wish to deal with this and with my own political position. The allegation as to the ANC is false. This is an old allegation which was disproved at the Treason Trial, and which has again reared its head, but since the allegation has been made again, I shall deal with it as well as with the relationship between the ANC and the Communist Party and Umkhonto and that party. [pause] [.....] The ideological creed of the ANC is, and always has been, a creed of African nationalism. It is not the concept of African nationalism expressed in the cry, 'Drive the white men into the sea'. The African nationalism for which the ANC stands is the concept of freedom and fulfilment for the African people in their own land. The most important political document ever adopted by the ANC is the Freedom Charter. It is by no means a blueprint for a socialist State. It calls for redistribution, but not nationalisation, of land.

It provides for nationalisations of mines, banks and monopoly industries, because monopolies, big monopolies are owned by one race only, and without such nationalisation racial domination would be perpetuated despite the spread of political power. It would be a hollow gesture to repeal the Gold Law prohibitions against Africans, when all gold mines are owned by European companies. In this respect, the ANC's policy corresponds with the old policies of the present Nationalist Party, which for many years has as part of its programme the nationalisation of the gold mines, which at that time were controlled by foreign capital. Under the Freedom Charter, nationalisation would take place in an economy based on private enterprise. The realisation of the Freedom Charter would open up fresh fields for a prosperous African population of all classes, including the middle class. The ANC has never at any period of its history advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my recollection, ever condemned capitalist society. [pause] [.....] As far as the Communist Party is concerned, and if I understand its policy correctly, it stands for the establishment of a State based on the principles of Marxism.

Although it is prepared to work for the Freedom Charter, as a short-term solution to the problems created by white supremacy, it regards the Freedom Charter as the beginning and not the end of its programme. The ANC, unlike the Communist Party, admitted Africans only as members. Its chief goal was and is for the African people to win unity and full political rights. The Communist Party's main aim, on the other hand, was to remove the capitalists and to replace them with a working-class government. The Communist Party sought to emphasise class distinctions, whilst the ANC seeks to harmonise them. This is my lord a vital distinction. [pause] It is true that there has often been close co-operation between the ANC and the Communist Party, but co-operation is merely proof of a common goal, in this case the removal of white supremacy, and is not proof of a complete community of interests. My lord, the history of the world is full of similar examples. Perhaps the most striking illustration is to be found in the co-operation between Great Britain, the United States of America and the Soviet Union in the fight against Hitler. Nobody but Hitler would have dared to suggest that such co-operation turned Churchill or Roosevelt into communists, or communist tools, or that Britain and America were working to bring about a communist world. My lord, I give these illustrations because they are relevant to the allegation that our sabotage was a communist plot, or the work of so-called agitators, because my lord, another instance of such co-operation is to be found precisely in Umkhonto.

Shortly after Umkhonto was constituted I was informed by some of its members that the Communist Party would support Umkhonto. And this then occurred. At a later stage the support was made openly. [pause] I believe that Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements. Thus communists my lord have played an important role in the freedom struggles fought in countries such as Malaya, Algeria and Indonesia, yet none of those states today are communist countries. Similarly, in the underground resistance movements which sprung up in Europe during the last world war, communists played an important role. Even General Chiang Kai-Shek, today one of the bitterest enemies of communism, fought together with the communists against the ruling class in the struggle which led to his assumption of power in China in the 1930s. This pattern of co-operation between communists and non-communists has been repeated in the National Liberation Movement of South Africa. Prior to the banning of the Communist Party, joint campaigns involving the Communist Party and the Congress Movement were accepted practice. African communists could and did become members of the ANC, and some served on the national, provincial and local committees.

Amongst those who served on the National Executive are Albert Nzula, a former Secretary of the Communist Party. Another former secretary, Edwin Mofutsanyana and J.B. Marks, former members of the central committee of the Communist Party. [.....] I joined the ANC in 1944, and in 1952 I became Transvaal President and Deputy National President. In my younger days I held the view that the policy of admitting communists to the ANC, and the close co-operation which existed at times on specific issues between the ANC and the Communist Party, would lead to a watering-down of the concept of African nationalism. At that stage I was a member of the African National Congress Youth League, and was one of a group which moved for the expulsion of communists from the ANC. This proposal was heavily defeated, and amongst those who voted against the proposal were some of the most conservative sections of African political opinion. They defended the policy on the ground that from its inception the ANC was formed and built up, not as a political party with one school of political thought, but as a parliament of the African people, accommodating people of various political views, convictions, all united by the common goal of national liberation. I was eventually won over to this point of view, and I have upheld it ever since.

It is perhaps difficult for white South Africans, with an ingrained prejudice against communism, to understand why experienced African politicians so readily accept communists as their friends. But to us the reason is obvious. Theoretical differences among those fighting against oppression are a luxury which cannot be afforded. What is more, for many decades communists were the only political group in South Africa who were prepared to treat Africans as human beings and as their equal; who were prepared to eat with us, talk with us, live with us, and work with us. They were the only political group which was prepared to work with the Africans for the attainment of political rights and a stake in society. Because of this, there are many Africans who today tend to equate freedom with communism. They are supported in this belief by a legislature which brands all exponents of democratic government and African freedom, as communists, and bans many of them who are not communists, under the Suppression of Communism Act. Although my lord, I am not a communist, and I have never been a member of the Communist Party, I myself have been banned, have been named under that pernicious Act, because of the role I played in the Defiance Campaign.

I have also been banned and convicted under that Act. [pause] [.....] It is not only in internal politics that we count communists as amongst those who support our cause. In the international field, communist countries have always come to our aid. In the United Nations and other countries of the world, the communist bloc has supported the Afro-Asian struggle against colonialism, and often feels more sympathetic to our plight than some of the Western powers. Although there is a universal condemnation of apartheid, the communist bloc speaks out against it with a louder voice than most of the Western world. In these circumstances it would take a brash young politician such as I was in 1949 to proclaim that the communists are our enemies.

JUSTICE DE WET: Well, we'd better...time for the court to... [break in recording] [.....]

NELSON MANDELA: My lord, I wish now to turn to my own position. I have denied that I am a communist, and I think in the circumstances I am obliged to state exactly what my political beliefs are in order to explain what my position in Umkhonto was, and what my attitude towards the use of force is. I have always regarded myself in the first place as an African patriot. After all, I was born in Umtata forty-six years ago. My guardian was my cousin, who was the acting paramount chief of Tembuland, and I am related both to Sabata Dalindyebo, the present paramount chief, and to Kaizer Matanzima, the Chief Minister for the Transkei. Today I am attracted by the idea of a classless society, an attraction which springs in part from Marxist reading, and in part from my admiration of the structure and organisation of early African societies in this country. The land, then the main means of production, belonged to the tribe. There was no rich or poor, and there was no exploitation. It is true, as I have already stated, that I have been influenced by Marxist thought, but this is also true of many of the leaders of the new independent states.

Such widely different persons as Gandhi, Nehru, Nkrumah, and Nasser, all acknowledge this fact. We all accept the need for some sort of socialism to enable our people to catch up with the advanced countries of the world, and to overcome the legacy of extreme poverty, but this does not mean we are Marxists. Indeed my lord, for my own part, I believe it is open to debate whether the Communist Party has any specific role to play at this particular stage of our political struggle. The basic task at the present moment is the removal of race discrimination and the attainment of democratic rights on the basis of the Freedom Charter and of struggle which can bear to be led by a strong ANC. In so far my lord as that party furthers this task, I welcome its assistance. I realise that it is one of the main means by which people of all races can be drawn into our struggle. But from my reading of Marxist literature and from conversations with Marxists, I have gained the impression that communists regard the parliamentary system of the West as undemocratic and reactionary. But, on the contrary, I am an admirer of such a system. The Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights, the Bill of Rights, are documents which are held in veneration by democrats throughout the world. I have great respect for British political institutions, and for the country's system of justice.

I regard the British Parliament as the most democratic institution the world, and the independence and impartiality of its judiciary never fail to arouse my admiration. The American Congress, that country's doctrine of separation of powers, as well as the independence of its judiciary, arouse in me similar sentiments. I have been influenced in my thinking by both West and East. All this has led me to feel that in my search for a political formula I should be absolutely impartial and objective; I should tie myself to no particular system of society other than that of socialism. I must leave myself free to borrow the best from West and from the East. [.....] I wish now to deal with some of the exhibits. [pause] Many of the exhibits are in my handwriting. It has always been my custom to reduce to writing the material which I have been studying. Exhibit R20, 21 and 22 are lectures drafted in my own hand, but they are not my original work. They came to be written in the following circumstances. For several years on [inaudible] I worked very closely on ANC matters, and who occupied senior positions, both in the ANC and the Communist Party, had been trying to get me to join the Communist Party. I had had many debates with him on the role which the Communist Party can play at this stage of our struggle, and I advanced to him the same views in regard to my political beliefs which I have described earlier in my statement. In order to convince me that I should join the Communist Party, he from time to time gave me Marxist literature to read, though I did not have, always find time to do this.

Each of us always stuck to our guns in our argument as to whether I should join the Communist Party. He maintained that on achieving freedom we would be unable to solve our problems of poverty and inequality without establishing a communist state. And we would require trained Marxists to do this. I maintained my attitude that no ideological differences should be introduced until freedom had been achieved. I saw him on several occasions at Liliesleaf Farm, and on one of the last of these occasions he was busy writing with books around him. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me that he was busy writing lectures for use in the Communist Party, and suggested that I should read them. There were several lectures in draft form. After I had done so, I told him that they seemed far too complicated for the ordinary reader.

JUSTICE DE WET: I didn't catch the name, who do you say this man is you were talking to?

NELSON MANDELA: I beg your pardon my lord?

JUSTICE DE WET: Who is the man you are referring to?

NELSON MANDELA: My lord, as a matter of principle...

JUSTICE DE WET: Oh no, I thought you had mentioned his name.

NELSON MANDELA: No, I didn't mention his name.

JUSTICE DE WET: Oh well, carry on then, yes.

NELSON MANDELA: And that was done deliberately.

JUSTICE DE WET: Yes, yes.

NELSON MANDELA: I was saying my lord, after I had read, I told him that they seemed far too complicated for the ordinary reader, in that the language was obtuse, and they are full of the usual communistic teachings and jargon. If the court will look at some of the standard works of Marxism, my point will be demonstrated. He felt it was impossible to simplify the language without losing the effect of what the author was trying to stress. I disagreed with it. And then he asked me to see whether I could re-draft the lectures in the simplified form suggested by me. I agreed to help him and set to work in an endeavour to do this. But I never finished the task, as I later became occupied with other practical work which was more important. I never again saw the unfinished manuscript until it was produced at this trial. I wish to state that it is not my handwriting which appears on Exhibit R23, which was obviously drafted by the person who prepared the lectures. [pause] [.....] My lord, there are certain exhibits which suggest that we received financial support from abroad, and I wish now to deal with this question. Our political struggle has always been financed from internal sources provided from funds raised by our own people and by our own supporters.

Whenever we had a special campaign, or an important political case, we received financial assistance from sympathetic individuals and organisations in the Western countries. We have never felt it necessary to go beyond these sources. But when in 1961 the Umkhonto was formed, and a new phase of struggle introduced, we realised that these events would make a heavy call on our slender resources, and that the scale of our activities would be hampered by lack of funds. One of my instructions as I went abroad in January 1962 was to raise funds from the African states. I must add that whilst abroad I had discussions with leaders of political movements in Africa, and discovered that almost every single one of them, in areas which had still not attained independence, had received all forms of assistance from the socialist countries as well as from the West, including that of financial support. I also discovered that some well-known African states, all of them non-communist, and even anti-communist, had received similar assistance. On my return to the Republic I made a strong recommendation to the ANC that we should not confine ourselves to Africa and the Western countries, but that we should also send a mission to the socialist countries to raise the funds which we so urgently needed. I have been told that after I was convicted, such a mission were sent. [pause] [.....]

As I understand the State case, and in particular the evidence of X, Umkhonto was the inspiration of the Communist Party, which sought by playing upon imaginary grievances to enrol the African people into an army which ostensibly was to fight for African freedom, but in reality was fighting for a communist state. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the suggestion is preposterous. Umkhonto was formed by Africans to further their struggle for freedom. Communists and others supported the movement, and we only wish that more sections of the community would join us. Our fight is against real and not imaginary hardships, or to use the language of the State Prosecutor, 'so-called hardships'. Basically my lord, we fight against two features which are the hallmarks of African life in South Africa, and which are entrenched by legislation which we seek to have repealed. These features are poverty and lack of human dignity. And we do not need communists or so-called 'agitators' to teach us about these things. South Africa is the richest country in Africa, and could be one of the richest countries in the world, but it is a land of extremes and remarkable contrasts.

The whites enjoy what may well be the highest standard of living in the world, while Africans live in poverty and misery. Forty per cent of the Africans live in hopelessly overcrowded and in some cases drought-stricken reserves, where soil erosion and the over-working of the soil make it impossible for them to live properly off the land. Thirty per cent are labourers, labour tenants and squatters on white farms, and work and live under conditions similar to those of the serfs of the Middle Ages. The other thirty per cent live in towns where they have developed economic and social habits which bring them closer in many respects to white standards, yet most Africans, even in this group, are impoverished by low incomes and the high cost of living. The highest paid and the most prosperous section of urban African life is in Johannesburg, yet their actual position is desperate. The latest figures were given on the 25th of March 1964 by Mr Carr, Manager of the Johannesburg Non-European Affairs Department. The poverty datum line for the average African family in Johannesburg, according to Mr Carr's department, is 42 rand 84 cents a month. He showed that the average monthly wage is 32 rand 24 cents, and that forty-six cent of all African families in Johannesburg do not earn enough to keep them going.

[.....] Poverty goes hand in hand with malnutrition and disease. The incidence of malnutrition and deficiency diseases is very high among Africans. Tuberculosis, pellagra, kwashiorkor, gastro-enteritis, and scurvy bring death and destruction of health. The incidence of infant mortality is one of the highest in the world. According to the Medical Officer of Health for Pretoria it is estimated that tuberculosis kills forty people a day, almost all Africans, and in 1961 there were 58,491 new cases reported. These diseases my lord, not only destroy the vital organs of the body, but they result in retarded mental conditions and lack of initiative and reduced powers of concentration. The secondary results of such conditions affect the whole community and the standard of work performed by Africans. The complaint of Africans, however, is not only that they are poor, and white are rich, but that the laws which are made by the whites are designed to preserve the situation. [.....] There are two ways to break out of poverty. The first is by formal education, and the second is by the worker acquiring a greater skill at his work, and thus higher wages. As far as Africans are concerned, both these avenues of advancement are deliberately curtailed by legislation.

I ask the court to remember that the present Government has always sought to hamper Africans in their search for education. One of their early acts after coming into power was to stop the subsidies for African school feeding. Many African children who attended schools depended on this supplement to their diet. This was a cruel act. There is compulsory education for all white children, at virtually no cost to their parents, be they rich or poor. Similar facilities are not provided for the African children, though there are some who receive such assistance. African children, however, generally have to pay more for their schooling than whites. According to figures quoted by the South African Institute of Race Relations in its 1963 journal, approximately forty per cent of African children in the age group between seven and fourteen do not attend school. For those who do attend school, the standards are vastly different from those afforded to white children. In 1960-61 the per capita government spending on African students at state-aided schools was estimated at 12 rand 46 cents. In the same years the per capita spending on white children in the Cape Province, which are the only figures available to me, was 144 rand 57 cents.

Although there are no figures available to me, it can be stated without doubt that the white children on whom 144 rand 57 cents per head was being spent, all came from wealthier homes than African children on whom 12 rand 46 cents per head was being spent. [pause] The quality of education is also different. According to the Bantu Educational Journal, only 5,660 African children in the whole of South Africa passed their junior certificate in 1962. And in that year only 362 passed matric. This is presumably consistent with the policy of Bantu education about which the present Prime Minister felt during the debate on the Bantu Education Bill in 1953, when he was Minister of Native Affairs, I quote: 'When I have control of native education, I will reform it so that natives will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for them. People who believe in equality are not desirable teachers for natives. When my Department controls native education, it will know for what class of higher education a native is fitted, and whether he will have a chance in life to use his knowledge.' Unquote. [.....]

The other main obstacle to the economic advancement of the African people is the industrial colour bar, under which all better-paid jobs, better jobs of industry, are reserved for whites only. Moreover, Africans in the unskilled and semi-skilled occupations which are offered them are not allowed to form trade unions which have recognition under the Industrial Conciliation Act. This means that strikes of African workers are illegal, and that they are denied the right of collective bargaining which is permitted to the better-paid white workers. The discrimination in the policy of successive South African governments towards African workers is demonstrated by the so-called 'civilised labour policy', under which sheltered unskilled government jobs are found for those white workers who cannot make the grade in industry at wages far, which far exceeded the earnings of the average African employee in industry. The Government often answers its critics by saying that Africans in South Africa are economically better off than the inhabitants of the other countries in Africa. I do not know whether this statement is true, and doubt whether any comparison can be made without having regard to the cost-of-living index in such countries.

But even if it is true, as far as African people are concerned, it is irrelevant. Our complaint is not that we are poor by comparison with people in other countries, but that we are poor by comparison with white people in our own country, and that we are prevented by legislation from altering this imbalance. [pause] [.....] The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of white supremacy. White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislation designed to preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion. Menial tasks in South Africa are invariably performed by Africans. When anything has to be carried, or cleaned, the white man will look around for an African to do it for him, whether the African is employed by him or not. Because of this sort of attitude, whites tend to regard Africans as a separate breed. They do not look upon them as people, with families of their own. They do not realise that we have emotions, that we fall in love, that we want to be with our wives and children, like white people want to be with theirs; that we want to earn enough money to support our families properly, to feed and clothe them and send them to school. And what houseboy, or garden boy, or labourer can ever hope to do this? Pass laws, which to the Africans are among the most hated pieces of legislation in South Africa, render any African liable to police surveillance at any time. I doubt whether there is a single African male in South Africa who has not at some stage had a brush with the police over his pass. Hundreds and thousands of Africans are thrown into jail each year under pass laws.

Even worse than this is the fact that pass laws keep husband and wife apart, and lead to the breakdown of family life. [.....] Poverty, and the breakdown of family life, have secondary effects. Children wander about the streets of the townships because they have no schools to go to, or no money to enable them to go to school, or no parents at home to see that they go to school, because both parents, if there be two, have to work to keep the family alive. This leads to the breakdown in moral standards, to an alarming rise in illegitimacy, and to growing violence which erupts not only politically but everywhere. Life in the townships is dangerous. There is not a day that goes by without somebody being stabbed or assaulted, and violence has crept out of the townships into the white living areas. People are afraid to walk alone in the streets after dark. House-breakings and robberies are increased, despite the fact that the death sentence can now be imposed for such offences.

Death sentences cannot cure the festering sore. [.....] The only cure is to alter the conditions under which Africans are forced to live, and to meet their [inaudible]. Africans want to be paid a living wage. Africans want to perform work which they are capable of doing, and not work which the Government declares them to be capable of. We want to be allowed to live well, to obtain work, and not be endorsed out of an area because we were not born there. We want to be allowed, and not to be obliged, to live in rented houses which we can never call our own. We want to be part of the general population and not confined to living in our ghettos. African men want to have their wives and children to live with them, where they work, and not to be forced into an unnatural existence in men's hostels. Our women want to be with their men folk and not to be left permanently widowed in the reserves. We want to be allowed out after eleven o'clock at night, and not to be confined to our rooms like little children.

We want to be allowed to travel in our own country and to seek work where we want to, and not where the Labour Bureau tells us to. We want a just share in the whole of South Africa. We want security and a stake in society. Above all my lord, we want equal political rights, because without them, our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy. But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division based on colour is entirely artificial, and when it disappears so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs, as it certainly must, it will not change that policy. [pause] [.....]

This then is what the ANC is fighting. Our struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live. [pause] During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. [pause]

JUSTICE DE WET: Yes Mr Fischer.

MR FISCHER: Call accused number two, Walter Sisulu.

JUSTICE DE WET: Yes.

Back