Item Belt 186c - DB - Detective Sergeant Jacobus Arnoldus Stoffberg / Storrberg XD, Detective Sergeant Edward Cornelius Bouwer XD, Detective Sergeant Daniel Petrus Kruger  XD, Detective Sergeant Petrus Johannes Rael / Real XD, Detective Sergeant Wilhelm Dekker recalled XXD, Warrant Officer Pieter Henry Whitehead recalled XXD, Detective Sergeant Gideon Daniel van der Merwe recalled XXD, Detective Sergeant James Miller recalled XXD

Description

A significant portion of this day’s proceedings was taken up by Mr Coaker’s further examination of Geoffrey Cox, however, the majority of witnesses called were police officers who gave brief testimonies of single acts of sabotage they had been directly involved in investigating.

Witnesses Called

150th State Witness: Leonard Johannes Joubert – Electric Engine Driver, Braamfontein.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
On the 23rd February, 1963, Leonard Joubert had been driving a train with 14 passenger coaches attached to it from Johannesburg to Cape Town. When the train came near Randwater Station reduced his speed when he noticed something that looked like a square stone on the tracks. When Leonard Joubert reached the area with the object the train experienced a dramatic jerk causing 11 of the passenger coaches to derail.

Leonard Joubert explained that one of the rails had been loosened and raised above its usual height causing the derailment. He argued that the damage to the track could not have been the result of normal negligence on the part of gangers or other South African Railway employees. Furthermore, in all 26 years of Leonard Joubert’s experience as a train driver he had never experienced anything like this before.

Cross-examination reserved.

133rd State Witness: Geoffrey [Jeffrey] William Cox – Accountant, State Expert. (Recalled).
Further cross-examination by Mr Coaker.
Mr Coaker informed Geoffrey Cox that his intention was to continue taking him through the details of the group of 200 files Mr Coaker had extracted from those of the firm James Kantor and Partners. Roughly half an hour into this day’s cross-examination of Geoffrey Cox, Mr Coaker informed the witness that he was “trying to be fair” by showing him “both the good instances and the bad” and was “not trying to make a particular selection, one way or the other” when examining his 200 file sample group. Mr Coaker was able to make several important claims for James Kantor’s case in Geoffrey Cox’s examination of these files. One important observation was that it was not uncommon for client files in the firm of James Kantor and Partners to have original receipts pinned inside them. Another important observation was that the filling-in of the section on cheques labelled “RE:” was not normal practice in the firm. This was not for any dubious reason but merely because such information was often redundant.

Having gone through many of these sample files, Mr Coaker then told the court that he intended to go through each of the accounts Geoffrey Cox dealt with during his examination-in-chief. Mr Coaker began with the file of Vivian Ezra and Geoffrey Cox examined all of the cheques, receipts and notes within. In relation to Vivian Ezra’s file, Mr Coaker explained “My Lord the suggestion I am making is this: that the one receipt may have been issued for R2,600 in cash, other receipts were doubtless issued for other transactions and at the end of the days transactions the monies for banking the following morning were tallied in this fashion”. The person who had initialled the tally for these monies was Harold Wolpe.

Mr Coaker then led Geoffrey Cox through a number of examples in the file of Vivian Ezra in which the “RE:” column on certain cheques had been left black for obvious commercial reasons. Having dealt with the file of Vivian Ezra, Mr Coaker turned Geoffrey Cox’s attention to the file of Julius First. Mr Coaker asked Geoffrey Cox to recall the comment he had made, that the account of Albert Luthuli looked “almost like a banking account, rather than an attorney’s account”, and suggested that the same could be said of the Julius First account at the firm. Geoffrey Cox agreed that this was the case and that it seemed as though the firm had given Julius First a facility to transfer money from one place to several other places. Mr Coaker asked if this did not give the appearance of a poor man who did not have his own banking account and was given this account to use as a substitute by the firm. Geoffrey Cox said he found it highly unlikely that a man who had received R14, 000 on one occasion did not have his own banking account.

At that point Judge De Wet intervened and told Geoffrey Cox that the court was aware from other evidence that Julius First did not in fact have his own banking account. Judge De Wet went on to state that it appeared that all the evidence concerning his activities indicated that he had operated through a building society and not a bank. Judge De Wet then went on to say “I don’t want to waste your time. This is really simply a loan of a firm’s banking account to Mr. First for one day, isn’t it?” Geoffrey Cox responded that this was the case and agreed that, far from there being any sinister reason for all this, it was most likely that “Mr First said I’m due to receive some money, would you be good enough to receive it for me and disburse it for me?” – And the firm had done so.

Later on Geoffrey Cox informed the court that he had attributed the initials J.K. to James Kantor on information that had been given to him by D/Sgt Van Rensburg who had provided him with the documents to be examined. Mr Coaker went on to examine the accounts of Albert Luthuli and Walter Sisulu in some detail. It was during the discussion of matters regarding the payment of bail from the account of Walter Sisulu that court was adjourned and the witness stepped down.

Further cross-examination reserved.

150th State Witness: Leonard Johannes Joubert – Electric Engine Driver. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Fischer.
Leonard Joubert began his cross-examination by explaining that he had only been driving electric trains for three years. Leonard Joubert stated that he did not know who the foreman or the ganger stationed at Randwater were. Mr Fischer established that Leonard Joubert had not personally examined the damaged portion of rail and had been shown the bolts and other loose connections in the nearby vicinity by investigating police officers at the scene.

No re-examination.

151st State Witness: Reverend Douglas Crawford – Minister, Cape Town.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
Rev. Crawford stayed in Mowbrey, Cape Town, and gave evidence of poster circulars he received in the post during 1961. One of these circulars was submitted as Exhibit CN and Rev. Crawford explained that he had destroyed one or two other similar posters he had received within the next 12 months. The poster was headed “Story of the Communist Party” and discussed the nature of the Party 40 years since its establishment in South Africa.

No cross-examination.

152nd State Witness: Detective Sergeant Wilhelm Dekker – Security Branch, Paarl.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Dekker gave evidence concerning an alleged sabotage act committed in Paarl on 15th November, 1962, listed as Item 83 in Annexure B. D/Sgt Dekker claimed that next to the Post Office he had found a brandy bottle with matches and cotton wool doused in petrol inside. The bottle had not been set alight. On the same night he claimed to have seen three slogans painted on walls with the phrases “Join the ANC”, “Hang Vorster” and “Free Nelson Mandela”.

Cross-examination reserved.

153rd State Witness: Warrant Officer Pieter Henry Whitehead – SAP, Cape Town.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
W/O Whitehead was called to give evidence in regard to Item No.108 of Annexure B. On 28th November, 1962, a telephone cable on Goodwood Street, Cape Town, had been partially sawn off and left above the ground.

Cross-examination reserved.

154th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Gideon Daniel van der Merwe – SAP, Cape Town.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt van der Merwe was called to give evidence in regard to Item 156 of Annexure B. On 11th February, 1963, D/Sgt van der Merwe found that the railway line had been tampered with and a manhole cover had been placed on portion of the line used by passenger trains from Cape Town and South Field.

Cross-examination reserved.

155th State Witness: Detective Sergeant James S. H. Miller – SAR & H.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Miller gave evidence in regard to the investigation of Item No.163 of Annexure B. On 16th February, 1963, two sheets of iron and a 25 inch bold had been placed on the railway line at Pinelands Station.

Cross-examination reserved.

156th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Jacobus Arnoldus Stoffberg [Storrberg] – SAP, Paarl.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Stoffberg gave evidence in regard to Item No.166 of Annexure B. On 18th February, 1963, fire was set to a hardboard wall of a Bantu School in Langabuya Location, Paarl.

Cross-examination reserved.

157th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Edward Cornelius Bouwer – SAP, Cape Town.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Bouwer gave evidence in regard to Item No.171 of Annexure B. On 3rd March, 1963, fire was set to a hardboard wall of a Bantu School in Langabuya Location, Paarl. This was not the same school as that mentioned by D/Sgt Stoffberg.

Cross-examination reserved.

158th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Daniel Petrus Kruger – SAP, Johannesburg.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Kruger was called to give evidence in regard to Item 186 0f Annexure B. On 25th May, 1963, D/Sgt Kruger went to the Inspection Pit of the Post Office in Lower Houghton, Johannesburg, and found that about 900 telephone wires had been sawn off.

Cross-examination reserved.

159th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Petrus Johannes Real – Special Branch, Cape Town.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Real gave evidence in regard to a certain pamphlet he had found in Langa Location on 4th July, 1963. The pamphlet was submitted as Exhibit CO and D/Sgt Real claimed that it was the only one he kept of about a dozen copies which he had found. The pamphlet was headed “Vorster’s Law” and was issued by the Communist Party of South Africa on the same day D/Sgt Real had found it. The document provided a justification for the tactic of sabotage in response to the draconian “Nazis” laws of the Vorster administration as well as an explanation of communism and its aims.

Cross-examination reserved.

152nd State Witness: Detective Sergeant Wilhelm Dekker – Security Branch, Paarl. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Fischer.
D/Sgt Dekker admitted under cross-examination that eight acts of sabotage had been attributed to the PAC on 14th October, 1962, but he did was aware of what had been written in the report to which Mr Fischer was referring.

Re-examination by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Dekker could give no evidence regarding documents seized during the raid of Liliesleaf Farm, Rivonia.
153rd State Witness: Warrant Officer Pieter Henry Whitehead – SAP, Cape Town. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Fischer.
W/O Whitehead admitted under cross-examination that the damage done to the telephone cable in Goodwood Street could have been cut by anyone at any time, even a child could have done it.

No re-examination.

154th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Gideon Daniel van der Merwe – SAP, Cape Town. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Fischer.
D/Sgt van der Merwe confirmed that Lansdown was a Non-European residential area and confirmed that people were often drunk during the weekend and the damage could have been done then. D/Sgt van der Merwe said that the damage done would have required the person to have a crowbar and, depending on how many people were involved, it was unlikely that it could have been done by a drunk person.

No re-examination.

155th State Witness: Detective Sergeant James S. H. Miller – SAR & H. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Fischer.
D/Sgt Miller found 23 fish plates at the ganger’s cottage lying about 15 feet away in a neat stack. The other two he found were lying between the rails of the tracks. In those positions these fish plates were found, D/Sgt Miller confirmed, they couldn’t have done any damage.
No re-examination.
Court was adjourned until 10:00am on the following Monday.

Sources
Dictabelts: (Vol.52/2A/180c) (Vol.52/2A/181c) (Vol.52/2A/182c) (Vol.52/2A/183c) (Vol.52/2A/184c) (Vol.52/2A/185c) (Vol.52/2B/186c).
Percy Yutar Papers:
Handwritten notes from the prosecution for 21st February, 1964 (Ms.385/36/7).
Evidence of Geoffrey Cox (MS.385/5).
Wits Historical Papers:
L1 – L36 Notes of State Witnesses evidence (AD1844.A9.3).

Key Words
Police Witnesses, Train and Railways, Sabotage, James Kantor, Harold Wolpe, James Kantor and Partners, SACP Posters, Communist Pamphlets.