4 Apartheid Foes Get Shorter Sentences Than Expected

Four prominent anti-apartheid activists convicted of treason last month in South Africa’s longest political trial received surprisingly short prison terms Thursday from a judge who said he “would rather err on the side of leniency.” The sentences ranged from 6 years to 12 years.

But they were sharply criticized by civil rights activists, who contend that the defendants, three of whom were leaders of the country’s largest anti-apartheid group, should never have been brought to trial in the first place.

“Even though the sentences are not as harsh as many people feared they would be, the judgment in this case is regrettable because of its grave implications for those committed to pursuing political change through peaceful means,” the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria said in a statement after the sentencing.

The embassy praised the activists as “men of good will, working peacefully for a non-racial, democratic South Africa.”

12 Years for Publicist

Patrick (Terror) Lekota, publicist for the United Democratic Front, received the largest penalty of 12 years in prison. Popo Molefe, 36, the front’s national secretary, and Moses Chikane, 40, of the Transvaal provincial branch, received 10-year terms.

Judge Kees van Dijkhorst, who presided over the three-year trial, sentenced a fourth man, Thomas Manthata, a 48-year-old church field worker, to six years on his treason conviction.

Six others convicted of terrorism in the trial received suspended sentences with conditions that prohibit them from talking to journalists, attending meetings or participating in politics for two years. A seventh activist received a five-year sentence for terrorism.

Under South African law, Van Dijkhorst could have sentenced all 11 men to death on those charges.

After the sentencing, the activists, wearing red carnations in their lapels, raised clenched fists in salute to the packed Pretoria courtroom. Supporters shouted “Viva UDF!” and as the men were led to their cells they joined the crowd in singing “Nkosi Sikelele Afrika” (God Bless Africa), an unofficial anthem of the anti-apartheid movement.

Dozens of security policemen in plainclothes watched the scene from above the gallery. Many more uniformed officers and army vehicles blocked off Church Square outside, where a quiet crowd of about 200 had gathered.

The trial began in the farming town of Delmas in 1985 and concluded Nov. 18 in the Palace of Justice courtroom here where black nationalist leader Nelson R. Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1964.

Many political analysts considered this trial, which set out to define the legal limits of anti-apartheid protest in South Africa, the most important since Mandela’s, and it gained international prominence.

The state accused the 2-million-member United Democratic Front, which counts Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu among its supporters, of staging protests that led directly to countrywide riots in 1984-86. The front was among two dozen organizations barred from all political activities by the government earlier this year.

Seeking suspended sentences for the men, defense lawyers had elicited testimony this week from respected white leaders in the anti-apartheid movement, including novelist Nadine Gordimer and former Progressive Federal Party leader Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, who expressed their support for the front as well as for the African National Congress.

Judge Van Dijkhorst said he was not swayed by those witnesses, but rather by “the leadership potential” of the defendants.

“They can in the future play a constructive role on the political scene, provided that they forswear the violent option and act within the law,” the judge said.

Johannesburg bureau assistant Gigi Maartens assisted in the preparation of this story.