Item Belt 65c - MP3 - Witnesses: Peter Peyise XD (continued), Detective Sergeant Johnathan du Preez

Description

This day began with the continued
examination-in-chief of D/Sgt Du Preez who gave evidence of 61 acts of sabotage
and violence committed in the Eastern Cape which he had investigated and
directly linked with the ANC and MK. Much time in court is taken by D/Sgt Du
Preez description of what was found at the scene of these attacks as well as
the known political affiliations of persons arrested in connection with them.

Following from D/Sgt Du Preez the
prosecution shifts attention away from the Eastern Cape and towards the
Travallyn property in Johannesburg. Dr Yutar calls a number of witnesses who
testified to the purchase and occupation of Travallyn by Accused No.3, Denis
Goldberg, operating under the alias of Charles Barnard. Dr Yutar also briefly
examines two police officers who had been responsible for lifting prints from
the Travallyn property and matching them with those of Denis Goldberg and
Accused No.7, Raymond Mhlaba. 

Following the examination of the two
finger print experts Dr Yutar takes the opportunity, whilst waiting for the
next state witness, to read a number of documents to the court which had been
found at the Travallyn property. However, by the time Dr Yutar was ready to
submit these exhibits his last state witness, W/O Erasmus had already stepped
down. As such, Dr Yutar handed in the documents found at Travallyn on the
understanding that these exhibits were submitted to the court subject to proper
proof at a later stage which, Dr Yutar specified, would come from D/Sgt Dirker.

Prior to Dr Yutar’s reading of these exhibits,
Judge De Wet granted permission for all of the Port Elizabeth witnesses,
including D/Sgt Du Preez and the interpreter, released until Thursday morning
at which time they would be cross-examined.

Witnesses Called

52nd
State Witness: Detective Sergeant Johnathan Du Preez – Port Elizabeth.
(Recalled).

Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar
continued.

Dr Yutar resumes his examination of
D/Sgt Du Preez precisely where he had left off on the previous day – that is
with the pamphlets purported to have been issued by the ANC submitted as
evidence to court. The exhibits dealt with by D/Sgt on this second day of his
examination-in-chief were as follows:

Exhibit VV entitled ‘Listen White Man’
which was sent through the post to the addresses of many prominent white
people.

Exhibit XX entitled ‘Our Struggle Now;
which was written in isiXhosa and found at a railway station and various other
locations in Port Elizabeth.

Exhibit YY entitled ‘The Voice of the
People’ which was also distributed in various locations and found by police in
December, 1963.

Following from the discussion of these
various pamphlets Dr Yutar turns his attention to the various acts of sabotage D/Sgt
Du Preez had been involved in investigating. Below is a short descriptive list
of some, but not all, of those acts of sabotage dealt with by D/Sgt Du Preez:

Item No.14: The bombing of an electric
sub-station on 16th December, 1961. D/Sgt Du Preez had found traces
of sand, a sugar packet, and plastic bottles at the scene when he inspected it
on the following day. Harold Strachan (identified as a member of the Congress
of Democrats), Govan Mbeki, and Joseph Jack were arrested in connection with
this act but only Harold Strachan was convicted whilst the other two were
acquitted.

Item No.15: The bombing of a second
electric sub-station on 16th December, 1961. As with Item No.14,
D/Sgt Du Preez found similar materials at the scene on the following day and
the arrests which took place were the same as those detailed above.

Item No.16: Bombing of the Bantu Labour
Office on 16th December, 1961. D/Sgt Du Preez visited the scene and
found that the door of the building had been blown to pieces. Remnants of tin,
bags, and other plastic materials were found.

In total D/Sgt Du Preez gave evidence
of 61 acts of sabotage in which he had been involved as an investigating
officer between 1961 and 1963. These included further bombings of government
buildings, beer halls, and private residences, as well as the cutting of
telephone poles and wires, amongst other things. D/Sgt Du Preez claimed that in
all instances in which petrol bombs had been used they had been made with white
port wine bottled.

According to D/Sgt Du Preez on 25th
January, 1963, he received information during a trip to Johannesburg which lead
to him and D/Sgt Kotze going to a location in Meadowlands where they dug into
the ground and found a coke tin with 60ft. of cortex and a few detonators
inside of it. Subsequently to this, D/Sgt Kotze made use of a mine detector and
discovered tins which had been painted black and later showed these to D/Sgt Du
Preez. After this occasion D/Sgt Du Preez was instructed to prepare a list of
all known MK members and handed it over to Captain Geldenhuye who was the
officer in charge of the Security Police of the Eastern Cape. On 17th
July, 1963, all of those named on this list were arrested.

Among those arrested on 17th
July, 1963, was a known MK member Jacob Sikundla who had been found in
possession of three pangas at the time of his arrest. In addition to this both
Joseph Nati and Benson Fihla had been found in a house with a grain bag with
nine white port wine bottles, charcoal in tins, rubber gloves, and other items used
in acts of sabotage. On 31st July, 1963, D/Sgt Du Preez went to the
house of Wilson Betwayo and found large quantities of gunpowder, sulphuric
acid, aluminium powder, and more. On the same day he went to Benson Fihla’s
house and found flowers of sulphur, charcoal, saltpetre, and other chemicals
used for manufacturing explosives.

Dr Yutar asked D/Sgt Du Preez what he
knew about the arrest of Titus Jobo in Livingstone, Rhodesia, as he was
attempting to leave the Republic. D/Sgt Du Preez stated that he had visited
Titus Jobo in Leeukop Prison and made him try on a jacket which he had found on
the scene of Bantu Sergeant Hamilton’s house which had been attacked in 1962.
Although Titus Jobo denied all knowledge of the jacket, when D/Sgt Du Preez
made him put it on, he found that it was a good fit.

In closing his examination-in-chief Dr
Yutar asks D/Sgt Du Preez to give details of a number of other people from the
Port Elizabeth area who had been arrested and identified as members of the MK
involved in acts of sabotage or attempts to leave the country for military
training.

Cross-examination was reserved until
Thursday 6th February, 1964.

53rd
State Witness: George Findlay – Father of Mrs J Smit, Travallyn owner.

Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.

George Findlay was the father of Mrs J
Smit who had owned the Travallyn property prior to Accused No.3, Denis
Goldberg, who purchased the property under the alias Charles Barnard. George
Findlay held power of attorney for his daughter and as such was empowered to
sell the property. George Findlay’s Estate Agent was contacted by Charles
Barnard and on 1st July, 1963, Charles Barnard took up occupation at
Travallyn.

Aside from the occasional visit to the
property to collect rent, George Findlay did not have very many interactions
with Charles Barnard. However, on the evening of the 6th of August,
1963, George Findlay and his wife were out and noticed that a side window had
been broken at the Travallyn property when they drove past. George Findlay went
inside the house and found the fridge open and pots and pan scattered around
the place. In a small desk drawer he came across many of what he thought were
political documents.

Having found these papers he decided to
take them to a friend’s house and seek advice as to what to do about them. On
his friends advice that these were dangerous documents he got in touch with the
police and made a report. George Findlay took the police to the property and
showed them the room and the desk in which he had found the documents.

Cross-examination reserved.

54th
State Witness: Heine Sleigh – Estate Agent, Johannesburg.

Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.

Heine Sleigh was the Estate agent who
was approached by Accused No.3, Denis Goldberg, operating under the alias of
Charles Barnard, in May, 1963, about purchasing the Travallyn property. He told
Heine Sleigh that he was interested in using the property to try modern methods
of battery system based poultry farming which made use of prefabricated steel
sheds. There were two aspects of Heine Sleigh’s interaction with Charles
Barnard which he felt were odd.

Firstly, Charles Barnard refused to
give him an address or phone number insisting that he was staying with friends
who would not like him to be “phoned or visited” there. Secondly, when they
were drawing up the Deed of Sale (Exhibit No.22), Heine Sleigh told Charles
Barnard that he could most likely get the property for a cheaper price. Heine
Sleigh said that Charles Barnard was the only client he had ever had that said
he did not want any dispute and would prefer to simply pay the full price.

Cross-examination reserved.

55th
State Witness: Robert Lowery – Clerk, Aladdin Lighting.

Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.

Robert Lowery was yet another witness
for the state who gave evidence concerning the purchase of certain materials by
Mr Don Williams, aka Denis Goldberg, in Johannesburg. In this instance Mr
Williams had bought parts for a light box from Robert Lowery on 2nd
July, 1963. The address given by Mr Williams for the transaction receipt was
No.11 Park Lane, Parktown.

Robert Lowery tentatively suggests that
the third man sitting in the dock, Denis Goldberg, could have been Mr Don
Williams who had a slight beard and no glasses at the time the witness had
interacted with him.

No cross-examination.

56th
State Witness: Andries Mhlongo – Labourer, Travallyn.

Examination-in-chief by Dr Yutar.

Andries Mhlongo had been an employed at
a general labourer at Travallyn by Mr Findlay since March, 1963. When the
property was bought by Charles Barnard his employment at Travallyn was
terminated. The only interaction Andries Mhlongo had with Charles Barnard was
over a few days whilst Charles Barnard was moving in to the property. Andries
Mhlongo helped Charles Barnard move two tables, a bed, and a few other items
into the house before leaving the property for good on the 3rd of
July, 1963.

 Andries Mhlongo was confident that he would be
able to point out Charles Barnard if he was present in the courtroom. However,
he was unable to recognised Denis Goldberg in the dock and was only about to
identify photograph D.3 of Annexure D.

Cross-examination reserved.

57th
State Witness: Warrant Officer Jan Van Rensburg – Fingerprint Expert.

Examination-in-chief by Mr Krog.

W/O Van Rensburg went to Travallyn in
August 1963 to examine the property for finger prints. On the day that W/O Van
Rensburg went to Travallyn he was already in possession of sets of finger
prints of Accused No.3, Denis Goldberg (Exhibit EEE), and Accused No.7, Raymond
Mhlaba (Exhibit HHH). With these sample sets W/O Van Rensburg was able to
identify several matches with prints he lifted from Travallyn directly linking
both Denis Goldberg and Raymond Mhlaba to items on the property.

In closing W/O Van Rensburg told the
court that he had eight years’ worth of experience as an officer in the Finger
Print Department of the SAP.

Cross-examination reserved.

58th
State Witness: Warrant Officer Nicolas Erasmus – Fingerprint Expert.

Examination-in-chief by Mr Krog

W/O Erasmus was the officer who had
created the finger print sets (Exhibits EEE and HHH) of Denis Goldberg and
Raymond Mhlaba and handed them to W/O Van Rensburg.

No cross-examination.

Dr Yutar hands in and reads to the
court the following documents, subject to proof at a later stage, which he
claims will come from W/O Dirker:

Exhibit T.14: Letter written by N.T.B.
to Dear Booth dated 25th April, 1963.

Exhibit
T.15: An annexure to Exhibit T.14, which was letter from Christian Action to
Walter Sisulu.

Exhibit
T.16: Letter by Thunder, to Dear O.R. dated 2nd May, 1963.

Exhibit
T.17: Letter by Thunder to Dear O.R. dated 12th May, 1963.

Exhibit
T.18: Letter addressed to “Dear Friend” 15th May, 1963

Exhibit
T.19: Letter: Dear Gambu – Jones 17th May, 1963

Exhibit
T.20: Letter: Dear Booth – M.T.B. 21st May, 1963

Exhibit
T21: Letter handwritten and copy: My dear uncle, 22nd May ‘63

Exhibit
T.22: Letter: Dear Booth – M.T.B. Jack Molobile 23rd May 1963

Exhibit
T.23: Letter: Dear O.R. – Jones 24th May 1963

Exhibit
T.24: Letter – handwritten – ‘Friends’ 28th May 1963

Exhibit
T.25: Letter Dear O.R. – ‘Thunder’ 30th May 1963

Exhibit
T.26: Letter Dear O.R. – ‘Thunder’ 13th June 1963

Exhibit
T.27: Letter Dear Friend 19th June 1963. NO COPY GIVEN TO US

Exhibit T.28:
Letter Dear O.R. – ‘Thunder’ 28th June 1963

Exhibit T.29: Circular TO ALL REGIONS &
BRANCHES Not dated (25.4.63)

In the main these letters all concerned
the sending of recruits out of the Republic to other African states or
universities overseas. They gave detail of the allocation of groups of recruits
to be sent from some provinces in South Africa as well as the preparations for
receiving these groups, referred to as “parcels”, by the organisation operating
outside of South Africa. Many of the letters were also descriptions of the
repressive conditions political activists faced in South Africa under the 90day
detention law and pleas for assistance, both monetary and political, from
organisations outside of the Republic. Some of the letters also included
instructions, justifications, and comments on the struggle against the
government within South Africa.

All of these documents submitted by Dr
Yutar on this day provided solid proof that the Travallyn property purchased by
Denis Goldberg was connected with the conspiracy in regard to sending people
outside of the Republic to receive military training. However, it is important
to note that recruits were always referred to as students or parcels in these
letters.

After the last document of the above
listed batch was submitted Judge De Wet adjourned until Monday morning.

Sources

Dictablets:    (Vol.50/11A/66c)
(Vol.50/11A/67c) (Vol.50/11A/68c) (Vol.50/11A/69c) (Vol.50/11A/70c)
(Vol.50/11B/71c) (Vol.50/11B/72c) (Vol.50/11B/73c) (Vol.50/11B/74c).

Percy
Yutar Papers:

Handwritten
notes from the prosecution for 31st January, 1964 (Ms.385/36/7).

Evidence of
Johnathan Du Preez (Ms.385/4).

WITS
Historical Papers:

G1 – G105:
Evidence includes that by police detectives, and other State witnesses
(AD1844.A8.1).

Evidence: J
du Preez (AD1844.A14.2)

Evidence: J
du Preez (AD1844.A13.5)

Analysis of
evidence: Det. Sgt Du Preez (AD1844.A18.12).

Key Words

Denis
Goldberg, Travallyn, Police Witness, Exhibits handed in, ANC correspondence.