Item Belt 11d - DB - William Frederick Lee, Frans Joseph Rabie, Lieutenant William Petrus van Wyk

Description

At the close of the previous day’s proceedings Judge De Wet informed both councils that he would not be sitting for this afternoon’s session and thus would close proceedings at the lunchtime adjournment. On this day the state called its final witness, Lieut. Van Wyk, who had been the senior investigating officer in charge of the Rivonia case – including the raids of Liliesleaf Farm, Travallyn and Mountain View. Other witnesses called on this day the two interpreters would had been used throughout the Rivonia trial so far, as well as a Warrant Officer who gave evidence on an additional act of sabotage left out of his original evidence-in-chief.
After the testimony of Lieut. Van Wyk, Dr Yutar gave a summary to the court of the five witnesses the defence still needed to be recalled for cross-examination. Mr Berrange stressed that the defence council had a huge amount of preparation to get through before they could cross-examine these witnesses and asked if court could be resumed a short while after 10:00am tomorrow morning if necessary. Judge De Wet acknowledged the mammoth task the defence faced and agreed to Mr Berrange’s request adding that he would like the defence to dispose of the witnesses who had come from distant places before those from Johannesburg.
Witnesses Called
147th State Witness: Warrant Officer Hendrick Johannes Weyers – Greys. (Recalled).
Further examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
W/O Weyers was recalled by the state in order to give evidence in regard to the sabotage act listed as Item No.183 in Annexure B. On 12th April, 1963, W/O Weyers and D/Sgt Van Wyk investigated the scene of a dynamite explosion at the Fordsburg Post Office in Johannesburg. Only four sticks of dynamite were detonated and the officers found 18 sticks of additional dynamite with two fuses and detonators connected to them – all placed in a cardboard shoe box. D/Sgt Van Wyk took possession of the articles found and W/O Weyers added that this was the same post office mentioned in Item No.20.
No cross-examination.
85th State Witness: Joe Katz – Managing Director, Ace Auto Electricians. (Recalled).
Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
Joe Kats had previously given evidence in regard to repairs which had been done on a Kombi for which he issued the invoice handed in as Exhibit AG. Mr Berrange simply asked Joe Katz to clarify the timeline of this occurrence. Joe Katz identified the specific Kombi in Exhibit B and said that the vehicle was handed to him on 8th July and was returned on the 11th July, 1963, once he had done the work of removing and stripping the engine. Up to the time when it was handed back over to Mr William it was in Joe Katz’s possession in his garage the entire time.
No re-examination.
172nd State Witness: William Frederick Lee – Interpreter.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
William Lee was a sworn interpretation who had been the primary interpreter used during the Rivonia Trial. Dr Yutar asked William Lee to refer back to a document he had been shown previously alleged to have been a copy of a broadcast made by Accused No.2, Walter Sisulu, in a number of languages. William Lee explained that the document was mostly in English but also featured a section which was written first in isiXhosa and then repeated in Sesotho. William Lee gave the court the following English translation of that particular section of the broadcast: “Africans, this is the African National Congress speaking through its own canal [or channel] over the air, Radio Liberation”.
William Lee continued to explain that below this extract was an English section which could be understood as a version or interpretation of the extract in isiXhosa and Sesotho. He then read this English extract to the court, “This is the radio of the African National Congress calling you from underground in South Africa”, but noted that the phrase Radio Liberation had not been used and where he had used the word “canal” they used “underground”.
The second translation of certain isiXhosa and Sesotho phrases William Lee provide was, by his own admission, meaningless in English. The translation was “Let them come back from those in whose possession they have been”. William Lee said that it was idiomatic language and had to be understood in terms of the fact that, according to William Lee:
It is a custom of the Bantu, of all tribes My Lord, if I had a large number of cattle and I had relatives or friends who had no cattle at all then I could give them, say a couple of cows or a couple of oxen that they can take into their possession and use as if those animals were their own. For any period of time, it could be years. And whenever I require that stock back again, then that stock has got to be returned to me with its progeny complete, and animals that had died in the meantime were written off. But I get back what I gave them originally, except those that died, plus the progeny.
Judge De Wet summarise that the idea was “give back what I have allowed you to use in the meantime” and William Lee explained that the phase which lost its meaning in being translated into English can actually be interpreted in the following way:
Let we get our land back which has been in the possession of other people up till now.
The last phrases in isiXhosa and Sesotho appearing on this document were interpreted as “Get up and stand on your feet. All countries are with us – now you can see how this day is been looked upon by all the countries in the world”. Finally at the very end of the document William Lee translated a phrase as “Join up young men, the time has arrived”.
Having concluded the discussion of Exhibit R.60 Dr Yutar then turned William Lee’s attention to the confusion in translation which had arisen during the examination of John Singani concerning the phrase “mealie meal”. William Lee stated that the correct translation of the phrase used by the witness, “Mgubo”, was a noun meaning something that had been ground into a powder or meal substance.
Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
Mr Berrange’s first comment to the court was “My learned friend knows how to pronounce Amandla now” to which William Lee and the women operating the dictabelt recorder both gave a polite little laugh. Under cross-examination William Lee said that the mistake the translator from the Eastern Cape in regard to the word mealie meal was very understandable and an easy one to make. Mr Berrange said that he was not actually concerned with this aspect of John Singani’s evidence. Rather Mr Berrange recalled that in his evidence-in-chief John Singani had said “they had a carton and a plastic bag” and then the witness confirmed again that there had been only one carton. Mr Berrange continued that under cross-examination John Singani then said that he remembered one carton but “the other things I’m not sure of”.  When the witness was recalled he then gave a description of a number of other things after being told by Dr Yutar to “try and remember” and it was after that that the witness said the phase interpreted as mealie meal.
Mr Berrange then asked if there was such a word in the isiXhosa language (apologizing for not being able to do the correct click in pronunciation of the word Xhosa) as Mgoku? William Lee said there is no such word by Ngoku meant “now”. The word Mgegque/Ngegque was also put to William Lee by Mr Berrange and the interpreter said he had no idea what this could mean. The word Mdlobomgela/Mdlobongela was said to men wild men or barbarians but he would not use the word oppressed people or henchmen as a translation. In closing Mr Berrange informed Judge De Wet that although this witness had stated at the outset that his translations were open to correction by the accused, Mr Berrange had just been handed a note instructing him that the accused had found the translations given by William Lee very satisfactory.
No re-examination.
173rd State Witness: Frans Joseph Rabie – Interpreter.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
Frans Rabie was also a sworn interpreter and was asked first to refer to Exhibits T.43 and T.45 which were both documents for which Frans Rabie had made written translations which he read out to the court. The first document was a report of a meeting of branches in Cape Town and their dissatisfaction with the nature of the struggle and how they could try and revive branches and members. The second document was a letter dated 28th November, 1963, which seemed to relate to the meeting and report discussed above.
No cross-examination.
Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
174th State Witness: Lieutenant Willem Petrus Van Wyk – Security Branch, Johannesburg.
Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.
Dr Yutar informed the court that he was please to say that this was the last witness he would be calling for the state.
Lieut. Van Wyk had been the officer in charge of the investigations of the Rivonia case, the Benjamin Ramotsi case as well as the the Ben Turok case. Lieut. Van Wyk had also been a member of the so-called Sabotage Squad set up by the Security Branch. Dr Yutar first asked Lieut. Van Wyk, in regard to the evidence of D/Sgt van Zyl during which he had been present in court, if he could account for the initials which appeared in the pocket book. Lieut. Van Wyk explained that the standard method was that an officer’s pocket book was used as a service record which could be initialled by a superior at any time the officer was on duty. Lieut. Van Wyk also claimed that D/Sgt van Zyl was perfectly entitled to make notes at the back of his pocket book. The only condition was that the person writing in the back of the book then had to proceed in a reverse direction.
Thereafter Dr Yutar turned attention to the raid of Rivonia on 11th July, 1963. Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that the police had received certain information, from a person whose name he could not mention, which had led to their decision to raid Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. Lieut. Van Wyk explained that in his office prior to the raid in he told all of the officers who had been selected to join the raid that W/O Dirker and W/O Kennedy were in charge of handling articles and documents found on the premises and that if they found anything they should stand by it and wait for W/O Dirker to arrive at which point he may or may not request that they assist in the search. Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that he had told each member what his duties were and the above information so as to avoid any confusion at the scene.
Thereafter Lieut. Van Wyk provided a detailed description of what he had seen and done during the raid of Liliesleaf Farm. Lieut. Van Wyk had been the first to run into the main house where he saw Solomon in the kitchen when W/O Dirker entered behind him. Further inside the main house Lieut. Van Wyk saw Accused No.3, Denis Goldberg, sitting in the lounge and had assumed that he was Arthur Goldreich. When Lieut. Van Wyk returned outside Accused Nos. 2, 4, 5, and 6 had been detained with some of the accused sitting with certain servants in the back of the van and others standing outside with other members of the force. W/O Dirker searched Walter Sisulu and retrieved a document from his person which was Exhibit R.232 which corresponded with Exhibit T.80. Bob Hepple was also outside the van according to Lieut. Van Wyk.
Lieut. Van Wyk then busied himself with the organisation of food, transport and other administrative issues. Dr Yutar then asked Lieut. Van Wyk what he knew of each of the accused at the time of their arrest. Lieut. Van Wyk described the appearance of Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada and told the court that when he first saw Ahmed Kathrada on the day of the raid he said, “who is this white person?” Ahmed Kathrada had apparently laughed at this remark and it was only then that Lieut. Van Wyk realised who he really was. According to Lieut. Van Wyk Ahmed Kathrada’s laughter was followed by the comment “do you like my new look?”
Lieut. Van Wyk had arrested Hazel Goldreich when she arrived later that evening. It was after that time that he acted on information which led him to the discovery of wires buried four inches underground behind the outbuildings. Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that the ground was very hard suggesting that the wires had been there for a significant period of time and described a number of photos taken of these wires on 23rd of August, 1963.
Dr Yutar then asked Lieut. Van Wyk to give certain information in regard to the Benjamin Ramotsi and Ben Turok cases. Lieut. Van Wyk explained that Benjamin Ramosti had not turned up for his trial in Port Elizabeth in which he was charged in relation to the sabotage act listed as Item No.19 in Annexure B. This had been the occasion on which Peter Molefe had been killed. Lieut. Van Wyk added that Benjamin Ramotsi had been injured at the time when he disappeared. In regard to the trial of Benjamin Turok, Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that he had been charged in his capacity as the Secretary of the Congress of Democrats and sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Dr Yutar then turned to the acts of sabotage investigated by Lieut. Van Wyk as part of the Security Branch’s Sabotage Squad. Lieut. Van Wyk first gave evidence of his discovery of a number of pamphlets said have been issued by Umkhonto we Sizwe, one of which was submitted as Exhibit AD. Thereafter, Lieut. Van Wyk gave evidence of the following acts of sabotage he had been involved in investigating, as listed as Items in Annexure B:
Item No.9: On 9th October, 1961, dynamite had been placed in an inspection pit between Leeukop and Johannesburg causing several telephone cables to break.
Item No.20: On 16th December, 1961, a home-made bomb exploded inside the Central Road Post Office in Fordsburg causing the doors and windows of the building to shatter.
Item No.23: On the same night as that above, a dynamite explosion in the offices of the Peri-Urban District Board in Kliptown which had broken all the windows and damaged the walls.
Item No.22: Also on the 16th/17th December, 1961, a chemical bomb was placed against the door of the Phirima Post Office in Orlando West causing a black grease stain on the door.
Item No.24: Also on the 16th/17th December, 1961, a chemical bomb exploded in the Bantu Affairs Office in Carr Street, Fordsburg, which caused damage to the building.
Item No.25: Also on the 16th/17th December, 1961, a chemical bomb exploded in the Bantu Administration Office in Market Street, Ferreirastown, which caused damage to the building.
Item No.28: On 18th December, 1961, dynamite exploded in the office of the Superintendent in Zone 3, Meadowlands.
Item No.35: At some point between 7th and 19th February, 1962, a chemical bomb was placed inside a drawer of a Commissioner’s desk on the first floor of the Rissik Street Post Office Building which hosted the Native Divorce Court. A small explosion took place and destroyed certain documents in the drawer. Ben Turok had been arrested in connection with this act of sabotage.
Item No.115: On 5th December, 1962, dynamite exploded damaging the concrete base of an electric pylon at Diepkloof, Orlando.
Item No.168: On 26th February, 1963, dynamite exploded yet again in a Post Office inspection pit near Leeukop causing damage to telephone cables.
Item No.180: On 22nd March, 1963, another dynamite explosion took place in the Bantu Administration Office in Market Street, Ferreirastown, which caused damage to the building. Paul Cruywagen was already at the scene when Lieut. Van Wyk arrived to investigate.
Cross-examination by Mr Berrange.
Mr Berrange first asked for clarity in regard to the practice of writing in the back of police pocket books after which he turned his attention to details regarding the raid of Rivonia. Mr Berrange summarised the version of events he had described during his evidence-in-chief of the raid including where he had gone, who he had spoken with and what he had seen. Mr Berrange then turned his attention to the 36 acts of sabotage Lieut. Van Wyk claimed to have knowledge about. Mr Berrange confirmed that the only injuries or deaths involved in all of these had been in regard to Peter Molefe and Benjamin Ramotsi.
Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that there was only one other act of sabotage he investigated which had been committed by members of Poqo, the military wing of the PAC. Mr Berrange suggested that the NCL were also involved in acts of sabotage but Lieut. Van Wyk said he only knew of the ANC. Mr Berrange insisted that Lieut. Van Wyk must have at least read about the acts of sabotage committed by the NCL in newspapers and, as a member of the Sabotage Squad, would have been interested in investigating them. Lieut. Van Wyk said that he would have investigated a matter of sabotage if it had been reported in a newspaper.
Mr Berrange said that on 21st December, 1961. The Rand Daily Mail’s front page carried a report of time-bombs exploding in various places. Lieut. Van Wyk said he could not recall it but he must have read this and the second report published by the Daily Mail on the following day which announced that the NCL had taken responsibility of certain acts of sabotage. Mr Berrange drew the clear distinction between the struggle for liberation and the National Liberation Movement which was associated with the ANC. Lieut. Van Wyk said that he had not been stationed in Johannesburg in that time and was not involved in investigating these reports. Furthermore, he claimed that he had not been significantly involved in investigating the activities of Poqo on 9th and 10th April, 1963, during which there was talk of killing police officers and raiding police stations.
Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that he was concerned with the arrest of 38 black men who had been arrested in connection with a petrol bomb explosion. Five of these 38 people were shown to have been members of Poqo and were found guilty. Mr Berrange then recalled the incident when a mine worker placed sticks of dynamite on a railway line to try and convince police he had found evidence of an attempted sabotage attack and was sentences to 21 months imprisonment. Lieut. Van Wyk said that he could not recall this incident.
Another Daily Mail on 29th November, 1962, carried a report claiming that they had received a phone call from a women the night before saying that the explosion at Putfontein was the work of the NIC before putting the phone down. Lieut. Van Wyk said that this could have been so.
Finally, Mr Berrange asked Lieut. Van Wyk if he had been the first person to enter the lounge in the main house at Rivonia. Lieut. Van Wyk said that Denis Goldberg was in the lounge and another officer who had evidently seen him and moved off into other rooms in the house. Lieut. Van Wyk said that he did not search any rooms at Rivonia.
Cross-examination by Mr Coaker.
Lieut. Van Wyk stated that he had left D/Sgt Van Rensburg in charge of the whole aspect of the investigation concerning the firm James Kantor and Partners and could not say exactly which employees at the firm the police had taken statements from. Lieut. Van Wyk would not admit that he had interviewed Dr Fine or Mrs Behrman at the police station in Johannesburg but did concede that he had had some conversations with Dr Fine there. After being pressed for further details by Mr Coaker, Lieut. Van Wyk admitted that he had been present when Dr Yutar had interviewed both of these people together.
Mr Coaker put it to Lieut. Van Wyk that in this interview Dr Fine and Mrs Behrman told Dr Yutar that they had asked James Kantor to assist them in making arrangements to fetch the Goldreich children from Liliesleaf Farm on 12th July, 1963. Lieut. Van Wyk hesitated for a long time and then said that he recalled the two mentioning James Kantor's name and that that wanted to go to the farm but he could not say that he remembered it as Mr Coaker had suggested. Furthermore, Lieut. Van Wyk stated that he could not deny that James Kantor may have arrived at the farm in the same car as Dr Fine and Mrs Behrman on the 12th. Lieut. Van Wyk did not know if any written statements had been taken from either of them.
Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that he saw James Kantor at one stage on the 12th when he heard W/O Dirker warning him not to stand around as Lieut. Van Wyk was walking past. Mr Coaker put it to Lieut. Van Wyk that Enid, the woman who had spent the night with the children, was actually not meant to be on duty that night. Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that he had not been involved in the arrangements to have the children removed but he had seen Dr Fine at some point during that morning. Lieut. Van Wyk could not recall seeing Mrs Behrman or any other woman there nor could he comment on who had asked to use the telephone in the main house.
Lieut. Van Wyk could not say how long James Kantor, Dr Fine or Mrs Behrman had been at Liliesleaf Farm on the 12th and could not recall seeing Mrs Arenstein there either. Lieut. Van Wyk could give no information in regard to how many cars had been present at the farm that day either but could confirm that he had stationed uniformed officers at the entrance to the property. Lieut. Van Wyk did not speak to James Kantor and had only seen standing at the back of the main house.
Re-examination by Dr Yutar.
Under re-examination Lieut. Van Wyk claimed that Hazel Goldreich had arrived later on the evening of the raid with her friend Mrs Furman and the children. According to Lieut. Van Wyk Hazel Goldreich was the only person who demanded to see a warrant and because of her aggressive attitude she was detained. Dr Yutar then asked if Lieut. Van Wyk if, prior to the interview Dr Yutar conducted with Dr Fine and Mrs Behrman, he had received any information regarding these two people. Without disclosing his source Lieut. Van Wyk stated that such information had definitely been given. And clarified that Mrs Arenstein was Arthur Goldreich's sister who he claimed had a connection with the police officer in Marshall Plan, Greef.
In closing Lieut. Van Wyk stated that he had heard Dr Yutar tell the court that the defence were welcome to call Dr Fine and Mrs Behrman as witnesses if they wished to do so.
No further cross-examination.
Sources
Dictabelts: (Vol.52/4B/10d) (Vol.52/5A/11d) (Vol.52/5A/12d) (Vol.52/5A/13d).
Percy Yutar Papers:
Handwritten notes from the prosecution for 27th February, 1964 (Ms.385/36/7).
Wits Historical Papers:
O – O50 Notes of State Witnesses evidence (AD1844.A10).
Key Words
Police Witnesses, Sabotage, Mr Williams, Denis Goldberg, Court Interpreters, Final State Witness, Rivonia Raid, Benjamin Ramotsi, Ben Turok, Sabotage Squad.