Rivonia Trial

The Rivonia Trial was an infamous trial which took place in South Africa in the 1960s, in which eight leaders of the African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to "ferment violent revolution".

It was named after Rivonia, the suburb of Johannesburg where the leaders had been arrested, with eight others, in July 1963.

The trial began on November 26, 1963, and ended on June 12, 1964, at which point all eight defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The trial was condemned by the United Nations Security Council, and led to their trying to get international sanctions imposed against the South African government.

List of defendants

• Nelson Mandela
• Walter Sisulu
• Govan Mbeki (father of Thabo Mbeki, now President of South Africa)
• Raymond Mhlaba
• Elias Motsoaledi
• Ahmed Kathrada
• Denis Goldberg
• ?

External link

• "The Rivonia Trial" - article by Sunder Katwala from The Observer, dated Sunday, February 11, 2001