60 years on, Rivonia Trial remembered as catalyst for constitutional democracy in South Africa

The late Denis Goldberg (left) and the late Andrew Mlangeni (right) sit in the courtroom of the Rivonia Trial. (Credit: Nick Stadlen, ‘Life is Wonderful’)

By Lerato Mutsila

13 Jun 2024

The landmark 1964 Rivonia Trial may have ended with the icons of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle being handed life sentences, but 60 years later, the historic sentencing is being celebrated as the moment that changed the course of South Africa’s history.

On 12 June 1964, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, Andrew Mlangeni and Dennis Goldberg walked into a courtroom in the Palace of Justice in Pretoria to be sentenced in “the trial that changed South Africa”, the Rivonia Trial.

Nelson Mandela (centre) during the Rivonia Trial in 1964. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sowetan Archive)

Former president Mandela and his co-accused managed to sidestep the death penalty and were sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island for sabotage.

Sixty years later, the same courtroom was filled with members of civil society, the judicial fraternity and the families of Sisulu, Kathrada, Motsoaledi and Mlangeni to commemorate the anniversary of the trial that set off a string of events that eventually ended apartheid and brought democracy and freedom from oppression to all South Africans.

rivionia trial The Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Judge Dunstan Mlambo, said the Rivonia Trial was a building block for South Africa’s constitutional democracy during his opening remarks at the 60th-anniversary commemoration of the trial at the Palace of Justice on Wednesday, 12 June 2024. (Photo: Supplied / RSA Judiciary)

The purpose of the commemoration, organised by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation on Wednesday, 12 June, was to reflect on the enormity of what happened in that courtroom 60 years ago, and the importance the Rivonia Trial holds for where South Africa is today, 30 years into the nation’s democracy, said Neeshan Balton, the executive director of the foundation.

Delivering the opening address, Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo said that the significance of historic events like the Rivonia Trial was being eroded, to the detriment of the youth.

“That trial was one of the building blocks that led to us having a Constitution… The Rivonia Trial was very important and very poignant,” Mlambo said.

rivionia trial Constitutional Court Justice Jody Kollapen said the Rivonia Trial should be remembered and reflected upon more often as it was an important part of South African history (Photo: Supplied / RSA Judiciary)

Delivering the keynote address, Constitutional Court Judge Jody Kollapen said that courtroom C in the Palace of Justice was a place deeply steeped in South African history.

“The pain and the anguish of those who sat in this court is probably reflected in this formidable building. In many respects, we are required to do more than simply gather here from time to time because it is part of the DNA of our society,” Kollapen said.

Kollapen recalled the day when Mandela and his co-accused were sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. Seven years old at the time, Kollapen said he had no inkling that what would happen in the courtroom would shape his life and many others in the country.

“I was then unaware of the heroic tasks of men and women who fought for my freedom and all our freedoms. Later, in the fullness of time, I would come to know them, I would come to respect them, I would come to admire them, and I would have the enormous privilege of being given the opportunity to make a contribution in the smallest of ways to the freedom and liberation of my country,” Kollapen said.

Violet Weinberg wishes Nelson Mandela’s wife, Winnie Mandela, well on 15 October 1962 for the upcoming Rivonia Trial. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger)

Rivonia triallists Denis Goldberg and Andrew Mlangeni are honoured at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology during a graduation ceremony on 11 April 2019 in Bellville, Cape Town. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)

Kollapen said that as the nation marked the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the Rivonia Trial, deep gratitude is owed to the trialists and their families because their struggle was not for the betterment of their own lives, but to build a better South Africa for all.

Kollapen noted that the apartheid government used the legal system to unjustly prosecute anybody who stood up against oppression, as was the case with the Rivonia trialists. While the courts before 1994 were important representatives of the bite of the apartheid state, today, they are important in representing everyone in South Africa and turning the Constitution into a living document, he said.

“The demand that places on courts and judicial officers is enormous because we took a decision to create a new and different society, one distinct from the one that we hoped we would leave behind. A society based on respect for each other and an understanding that we are committed to a society underpinned by the rule of law and the advancement of human rights and freedoms,” Kollapen said.

He said that while the law had made great strides in protecting the rights of all who lived in South Africa, the legal system was still plagued by unequal access to justice, exacerbated by inequality and poverty.

rivionia trial The family of apartheid struggle icon Walter Sisulu sat in the same dock as their father when he was sentenced to life imprisonment during the Rivonia Trial on 12 June 1964. (Photo: Supplied / RSA Judiciary)

rivionia trial The family of Andrew Mlangeni, who was arrested at Lilliesleaf Farm on 11 June 1963, alongside six other ANC leaders, sit in the same courtroom in which Motsaoledi was sentenced to life imprisonment during the Rivonia Trial. (Photo: Supplied / RSA Judiciary)

The families of Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni were not only present in the courtroom from where their loved ones were sent to prison, but also sat in the very dock in which the Struggle icons sat when they were sentenced.

Six decades later, the family members reflected on how the landmark trial affected their lives.

rivionia trial The late Denis Goldberg (left) and the late Andrew Mlangeni (right) sit in the courtroom of the Rivonia Trial. (Credit: Nick Stadlen, ‘Life is Wonderful’)

Andrew Mlangeni’s son, Sello, was only six years old when he and his family were forced into exile following his father’s arrest. “I call it involuntary exile. We were sent to live with my grandmother in Botswana. She could not take care of us. She often had to make her way into Rhodesia to find food for us,” Sello recounted.

Elias Motsoaledi’s son Kokai, who was born two months after Motsoaledi’s arrest, said he chose a very tricky period to come to Earth: “It was disastrous, a very difficult time in our lifetime. When you face times like that people think you have support, but people ran away because they did not want to be associated with the Rivonia Trialists.”

Kokai explained how many people in his community turned their backs on his family through fear of being prosecuted by the apartheid regime.

Representing the Sisulu family, Eleanor Sisulu, daughter-in-law of Walter and Albertina Sisulu, stressed the importance of reflecting on the Rivonia Trial as South Africa’s democracy matured. DM

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