Item Belt 185c - MP3 - Geoffrey / Jeffrey William Cox XXD stands off, Leonard Johannes Joubert XD stands off XXD, Reverend Douglas Crawford XD stands off XXD, Detective Sergeant Wilhelm Dekker XD stands off XXD, Warren XD stands off XXD, Detective Sergeant Gideon Daniel van der Merwe XD stands off XXD, Detective Sergeant James Miller XD stands off XXD

Description

At the end of the previous day’s proceedings Dr Yutar had indicated a number of circulars, or leaflets, which he wished to have submitted to the court. Judge De Wet had warned Dr Yutar that these documents had to be properly submitted to the court or else he would ignore them in his ruling. Mr Berrange then said that he and his colleagues from the defence council would allow these leaflets to be submitted by consent – in other words without putting them in though a witness – in order to save Dr Yutar the trouble of calling witnesses back for Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

As the accountant Geoffrey Cox was not available in court on this day, his continued cross-examination was held over until Friday. However, the focus on the case against James Kantor was maintained with the re-calling of Ormond Fenn for cross-examination, the examination-in-chief of the officer who searched the firm’s offices, as well as the identification of James Kantor’s handwriting by D/Sgt Du Preez.

Witnesses Called

146th State Witness: Herman van Dyk - Inspector of Explosives.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
Herman van Dyk had been an explosives inspector since 1959 and had given evidence regarding explosives in a number of cases. In this case Herman van Dyk was called by Dr Yutar to give evidence regarding the explosives used in certain acts of sabotage which he had personally investigated. Those acts of sabotage testified to by Herman van Dyk, as listed in Annexure B, are detailed below:
Item No.34: On 7th February, 1962, a chemical bomb was placed in a telephone booth in Donkin Street, Port Elizabeth, which exploded and caused the door to tear apart and the roof to crack.
Item No.45: On 26th August, 1962, loaded blasting cartridges were placed on the outer-legs of an electric power pylon about two miles away from Putfontein Police Station, Benoni District. One blast exploded and caused R5, 000 worth of damage. Exhibits BZ(1) and BZ(2) were photographs of this particular pylon and the damage done there.
Item No.46: On 2nd September, 1962, a dynamite explosion took place in the office of the Bantu Resettlement Board in Orlando East. Herman van Dyk knew these offices as those which deal with Influx Control issues.
Item No.69: On 7th October, 1962, the concrete base of an electric pylon in Noordgesig, Johannesburg, was damaged by a dynamite explosion. Exhibits CD(1) – CD(5) were photographs relating to the attack on this pylon handed in by Herman van Dyk.
Item No.70: Also on 7th October, a chemical bomb exploded and damaged a Sasol petrol deposit tank in Langlaagte, Johannesburg.
Item No.71: On the same night as above, the concrete base of an electric pylon in Alexandra, Johannesburg, was damaged by a dynamite explosion.
Item No.72: On the same night, a dynamite explosion destroyed the base of a series of electric power line poles at the Johannesburg Municipal Power Station, Orlando.
Item No.82: On 15th October, 1962, a drum with an explosion strapped on top of it was placed against a transformer at a sub-power plant at the Railway Bridge in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The explosion damaged pipes causing oil to leak out and start a fire. Over R40, 000 damage had been caused.
Item No.104: On 19th November, 1962, a dynamite explosion destroyed one leg of a Railway Bridge Mast in Cliffdale, Durban.
Item No.107: On 28th November, 1962, two outside legs of an electric pylon on a farm in Petit, Police District Benoni, were blown off with a dynamite explosion causing the whole tower to topple over and damage the adjourning power lines surrounding it.
Item No.124: On 10th December, 1962, a dynamite explosion caused considerable damage to the roof and walls of an uninhabited dwelling in the Indian township, Laudium.
Item No.135: On 8th January, 1963, a portion of the main railway line between Umgababa and Karridene was damaged by a dynamite explosion about 23 miles from Durban.

Cross-examination reserved.

147th State Witness: Warrant Officer Hendrick Johannes Weyers – Grays.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
W/O Weyers had been personally involved in the investigation of the scene of an act of sabotage listed as Item No.169 in Annexure B. On 1st March, 1963, W/O Weyers found two pieces of fuse coming down from a telephone pole on Rifle Range Road, Booysens, Johannesburg, as well as a number of dynamite cartridges attacked to the telephone cables with rope and insulation. Thereafter, W/O Weyers and the other investigating officers called Senior Inspector of Explosives, Mr Cruywagen, who then arrived at the scene.

No cross-examination.

148th State Witness: Bantu Constable Leonard Fungela – SAP, Orlando.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
B/C Fungela gave evidence concerning the attempted sabotage attack on his home in Dube Location, Johannesburg, on 10th April, 1963. B/C Fungela claimed that on the night of the incident his wife and five children had been in their four room house in Dube when he received a report that something had happened. When he returned home he found that a bottle containing petrol with a rag stuffed in it was lying in the dining room of his home near a broken window. His wife and children were there and unharmed. B/C Fungela testified that his officers took possession of the bottle.

Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
B/C Fungela stated that he had arrested many people in his 18 year career with the police in Orlando. According to B/C Fungela the people he arrested were mostly pass-breakers, murders and housebreakers. Many of these people had gone to jail but B/C Fungela admitted that some had also not been convicted. Mr Berrange asked B/C Fungela what time he had left his house on the day in question. B/C Fungela said that he could not recall what time he had left to go on duty but he was sure that he had received the report at 9:00pm.

Mr Berrange then asked B/C Fungela if he knew that “a lot of trouble” had been caused by members of the PAC during the period of 8th to 10th April, 1963, and that many people had been arrested for being in possession of petrol bombs. B/C Fungela said that he knew about it and he had heard about it.

Re-examination by Dr Yutar.
Dr Yutar confirmed with B/C Fungela, as a point of departure for re-examination, that in his 18 years’ experience this was the first time he had personally been involved in an incident involving a petrol bomb. Dr Yutar asked B/C Fungela to clarify what he claimed to know about “the trouble” concerning the PAC during this time. B/C Fungela reiterated that the trouble he had heard of in relation to the PAC was that they had been arrested but nothing in particular.

No further cross-examination.

146th State Witness: Herman van Wyk - Inspector of Explosives. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
Herman van Wyk’s cross-examination by Mr Berrange was brief. During the cross-examination Mr Berrange established that the dynamite which was used in all instances had the standard size used for normal blasting operations. Thereafter, Mr Berrange confirmed with Herman van Wyk that different techniques and materials had been used for damaging power pylons.

Once again Judge De Wet displayed a clear enthusiasm for the technicalities of the various detonators, timers and explosive materials used in the cases investigated by Herman van Wyk.

Re-examination by Dr Yutar.
Under re-examination Dr Yutar stated put it to Herman van Wyk that Mr Berrange had suggested that there had been different techniques used to damage power pylons, but he had not led Herman van Wyk to provide an explanation. Therefore, Dr Yuatr asked if this was a correct analysis of the mode of sabotage employed in these instances. Herman van Wyk stated that they were variations of the same technique.

No further cross-examination.

95th State Witness: Ormond Fenn – Auditor, Navian (Pty) Ltd. (Recalled).
Further cross-examination by Mr Coaker.
The first question put to Ormond Fenn was in regard to his occupation as an accountant for the firm James Kantor and Partners at the time when Joel Joffe was a partner in the film and Harold Wolpe was only at the level of an articled clerk. Mr Coaker asked if James Kantor had ever displayed interest in or knowledge of the firm’s books to Ormond Fenn, to which the witness replied that he had not. Thereafter Mr Coaker asked if Ormond Fenn had ever had any communication with James Kantor in regard to his audit of Navian (Pty) Ltd. Once again Ormond Fenn said that James Kantor had had no involvement in his audit of Navian.

Ormond Fenn confirmed that by the time Harold Wolpe was made a partner at the firm he had installed a new mechanical bookkeeping system. Ormond Fenn said that he could not claim that James Kantor had any understanding of how this new system worked and, “when I did broach the subject with him, he always referred me to Mr Wolpe”. Ormond Fenn went on to state that in his time spent working in the offices of the firm he never saw James Kantor going into the offices of Harold Wolpe or the accounting department. Furthermore, Ormond Fenn agreed that it was possible that James Kantor, “to have been deceived by his staff, or cheated by them, without realising it”.

Mr Coaker then turned attention to the legally required examination of the firm’s books which Ormond Fenn had completed annually since 1961. Mr Coaker asked if Ormond Fenn had seen “anything in the books that you found was suspicious, or that you found you ought to draw to the attention of the Law Society” or to the attention of James Kantor as senior partner of the firm. Ormond Fenn replied that he had found no such suspicious entries or omissions in his examinations of the firm’s books. In concluding his cross-examination Mr Coaker led Ormond Fenn to reiterate that James Kantor was obviously busy when in the offices of the firm and that one could not simply walk into his office and expect a meeting. Furthermore Ormond Fenn stated that James Kantor appeared to trust Harold Wolpe completely and was never seen checking up on his partner’s clients or other affairs.

Re-examination by Dr Yutar.

Dr Yutar began by reminding Judge De Wet that this witness had not been questioned by him at all in relation to matters affecting James Kantor’s offices because Mr Coaker had been absent from court. As such Dr Yutar was permitted to put one or two questions to the witness before addressing those matters raised during cross-examination.

Dr Yutar referred to the notes Ormond Fenn had made on Exhibits AK and AL, which were the statements of Liabilities and of Incomes and Expenditure for Navain (Pty) Ltd. One important extract from these notes made by Ormond Fenn in regard to the purchase and rent of Liliesleaf Farm in regard to the account of Navian read as follows:

I feel sure that I have not been given all the information that should have been given to me. Due to the complete lack of information I feel that the above Income and Expenditure Account does not represent a true statement of the operations of the company for the period under review.

Having established that Ormond Fenn had found issues with the reason certain paidments were made out of the Navain account Dr Yutar turned his attention to certain matters raised under cross-examination by Mr Berrange. Dr Yutar asked Ormond Fenn about the legal position in regard to a Trust Account of an Attoney’s firm. Ormond Fenn answered that the position was that a sufficient amount of money had to be available in the trust account in order for the firm to be able to pau all the trust creditors in full.

Dr Yutar then turned attention to the file of Navian and the statement for the months of March, 1962, to January, 1963, in particular. The file and its supporting cheques were submitted to the court as Exhibit CL. Dr Yutar asked Ormond Fenn about the first cheque which was made out to Rivonia Utility Supplies which a receipt made payable to Mr Jacobson of Navian (Pty) Ltd. Ormond Fenn asked Harold Wolpe who Mr Jacobson was but was just told that Harold Wolpe would contact Mr Jacobson by phone. Ormond Fenn said the matter must have been cleared up between the two men because paid the amount of R7.60 out of the account. Dr Yutar asked why it was that Ormond Fenn had queried this small amount of money but not the cash cheque drawn from the account of A. Letele which was for R1, 000.30.

Ormond Fenn Maintained that it appeared to him that the A. Letele account was in order. Even when Dr Yutar made Ormond Fenn look at the file cover which had no written instructions on it, Ormond Fenn maintained that this was not suspicious as the instructions were probably given verbally. A short while after this point Dr Yutar was once again berated by Judge De Wet for attempting to cross-examine his own witness. This frustrated Dr Yutar because he could not get a concession from Ormond Fenn that as the firm’s accountant he had had seen all the books of the firm.

In closing Dr Yutar confirmed that the handwriting of Harold Wolpe and James Kantor appeared on the cash cheque handed in as Exhibit K.19.

No further cross-examination.

149th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Karl Petrus Frederik Jansen Van Rensburg – Grays.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Van Rensburg had searched the offices of the firm James Kantor and Partners on 6th August, 1963, and took possession of a number of articles. On 21st August, 1963, D/Sgt Van Rensburg arrested James Kantor at his house and took possession of further books and records found there. D/Sgt Van Rensburg prepared a list of the documents and articles he had taken possession of and made a selection of them available to Geoffrey Cox who had been appointed as an accounting expert by the state to examine these documents.

D/Sgt Van Rensburg explained that at the offices of the firm Mr Makda, the bookkeeper and all other staff members present helped D/Sgt Van Rensburg to collect the documents he was looking for. D/Sgt Van Rensburg had identified certain files he was interested in taking possession of from the index of files kept by the firm. In particular he wanted to find the file of J. Rosenberg but this file could not be find by himself or the firm’s employees.

D/Sgt Van Rensburg claimed that when he arrested James Kantor he asked him where Harold Wolpe and Arthur Goldreich were. According to D/Sgt Van Rensburg James Kantor had expressed the hope that these people would manage to escape the country. On 28th August, 1963, when newspapers had reported the escape of Arthur Goldreich and Harold Wolpe, D/Sgt Van Rensburg saw James Kantor in his cell at Marshall Square and joked with him about his previous comment. D/Sgt Van Rensburg deduced that James Kantor had not seen the newspaper reports and said that he was obviously relieved when D/Sgt Van Rensburg told him the news that the two had arrived in Lobatse. D/Sgt Van Rensburg recalled James Kantor saying something to the effect of “Thank God or Heavens”. D/Sgt Van Rensburg also recalled mentioning the young constable Greef who had been bribed in the process of the prison break and D/Sgt Van Rensburg said that it was foolish of him to have acted on the promise of Arthur Goldreich and Harold Wolpe. To this James Kantor purportedly responded that he was sure that Greef would be paid the R2, 000 he was promised.

Cross-examination reserved.

18th State Witness: Detective Sergeant Petrus Johannes Du Preez – Handwriting Expert. (Recalled).
Further examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
D/Sgt Du Preez was recalled to complete the identification of documents in the writing of other accused and co-conspirators in the trial aside from those of Arthur Goldreich and Accused No.1, Nelson Mandela, which had already evidenced in his previous examination-in-chief. Dr Yutar stated that for the benefit of James Kantor’s council he would begin with a number of cheques in connection with the firm James Kantor and Partners. The cheques dealt with by D/Sgt Du Preez were Exhibits K.9, K.12, K.13, K.14, K.15, K.17, K.18, K.19, K.28, K.30, K.31, K.34, K.35, and K.50. On all of the cheques marked K.12 to K.35 the name James Kantor had been written first before the crossing had been cancelled or was signed by Harold Wolpe.

In K.19 D/Sgt Du Preez identified the word “cash” as having been in the handwriting of James Kantor and he established this from two samples of his writing – letters written to Mrs Kantor in London – which were loaned to D/Sgt Du Preez by D/Sgt Van Rensburg.

Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
Mr Berrange asked D/Sgt Du Preez to look at the pocket book of D/Sgt van Zyl which had been handed in to the court. On page 76 of the pocket book the word “Dennis” had been written at the top and D/Sgt Du Preez confirmed that the ink in which it had been written seemed different from the ink used on the rest of the page. On page 62, halfway down the middle of the page, appear the time “9:10 near middag” was also written in a different coloured ink which match the ink appearing on the top of page 63. Judge de Wet and Mr Berrange shared a laughing moment in which both commented on their wish to give “expert opinion” on this matter but could not.

D/Sgt Du Preez was then ordered to make a study of this pocket book before standing down. The court was then adjourned until 10:00am the following morning.

Sources

Dictabelts: (Vol.51/11B/175c) (Vol.52/1A/176c) (Vol.52/1A/177c) (Vol.52/1A/178c) (Vol.52/1A/179c) (Vol.52/1A/EMPTY).
Percy Yutar Papers:
Handwritten notes from the prosecution for 20th February, 1964 (Ms.385/36/7).
Evidence of Ormond Fenn (MS.385/5).
Evidence of Van Rensburg (MS.385/5).
Wits Historical Papers:
L1 – L36 Notes of State Witnesses evidence (AD1844.A9.3).
Extract of Evidence: D Fenn (AD1844.A17.10).
Annexure B to the Indictment (AD1844.A2.3.3).
Extract of Evidence: KPF Jansen van Rensburg (AD1844.A17.11).

Key Words
Explosives, Sabotage, Johannesburg, Durban, James Kantor and Partners, Navian (Pty) Ltd, Harold Wolpe, James Kantor, Handwriting.