The court proceedings at the Rivonia Trial were recorded by the State on dictabelt for which there is now no playback equipment. It was referred to during the argument on the second application to quash the indictment.
Because of this sort of attitude, whites tend to regard Africans as a separate breed. As a result of this decision, Umkhonto was formed in 1961, in November 1961. In order to explain these matters properly, I will have to explain what Umkhonto set out to achieve; what methods it prescribed for the achievement of these objects, and why these methods were chosen. Africans want to be paid a living wage. In 1960 the Government held a referendum which led to the establishment of the Republic. In the United Nations and other Councils of the world the communist bloc has supported the Afro-Asian struggle against colonialism and often seems to be more sympathetic to our plight than some of the Western powers. I deny that Umkhonto was responsible for a number of acts which clearly fell outside the policy of the organisation, but which have been charged in the indictment against us. By the time I left Ethiopia the first South African recruits had not yet reached that country. It was on this note that I left South Africa to proceed to Addis Ababa as a delegate of the ANC.
And how many more Sharpevilles could the country stand without violence and terror becoming the order of the day? I do not know of my personal knowledge whether this was done. The African National Congress was formed in 1912 to defend the rights of the African people which had been seriously curtailed by the South Africa Act, and which were then being threatened by the Native Land Act. And in Tanganyika he would not have starved or been in difficulties since our office there would have looked after him. The land, then the main means of production, belonged to the tribe. I must return however, My Lord to June 1961. Although it is prepared to work for the Freedom Charter, as a short term solution to the problems created by white supremacy, it regards the Freedom Charter as the beginning, and not the end, of its programme.
Africans want to perform work which they are capable of doing, and not work which the Government declares them to be capable o Africans want to be allowed to live where they obtain work, and not be endorsed out of an area because they were not born there. Haganah was the political authority of the Jewish National Movement in Palestine. "Police put on strict guard after Rand blast. I must return to June 1961.
I returned to South Africa and reported to my colleagues on the results of my trip. We believed in the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that "the will of the people shall be the basis of authority of the Government", and for us to accept the banning was equivalent to accepting the silencing of the African people for all time. But I did not discuss the training of people in East Germany as testified by "X". The first batch of recruits actually arrived in Tanganyika when I was passing through that country on my way back to South Africa. What we aimed at was the vote for all and on this basis we could appeal to all social groups in South Africa, and expect the maximum support from the African states. The other 30 per cent live in towns where they have developed economic and social habits which bring them closer in many respects to white standards. It must not be forgotten that by this time violence had, in fact, become a feature of the South African political scene. But the hard facts were that fifty years of non-violence had brought the African people nothing but more and more repressive legislation, and fewer and fewer rights. The affairs of Umkhonto were controlled and directed by a National High Command, which had powers of co-option and which could, and did, appoint Regional Commands. Nelson Mandela's statement from the dock at the opening of his trial on charges of sabotage, Supreme court of South Africa, Pretoria, April 20 1964 Just as Mandela did so successfully in South Africa, the foundation “aims to use the history, experience, values, vision and leadership of its Founder to provide a non-partisan platform for public discourse on important social issues, and in doing so, to contribute to policy decision-making.” The foundation hopes that by providing people and politics with the relevant tools, the public can have informed discussions that lead to justice and freedom for all.In 2000, a quarter of South African citizens between the ages of 15- and 45-years old tested positive for HIV/AIDS.
Tuberculosis, pellagra, kwashiorkor, gastro-enteritis, and scurvy bring death and destruction of health. Umkhonto was formed by Africans to further their struggle for freedom. There is not a day that goes by without somebody being stabbed or assaulted. Up to that time I had been compelled to live indoors during the daytime and could only venture out under cover of darkness. Mandela eventually received his law degree from the University of South Africa in 1989, during the last months of his imprisonment. Although I have never been a member of the Communist Party, I myself have been named under that pernicious Act because of the role I played in the Defiance Campaign. The initial plan was based on a careful analysis of the political and economic situation of our country.