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Memories of Mandela

- The British Museum,

Friday 13 January 2017

Good evening.

My personal memories of Nelson Mandela are mainly about his

leadership and indomitable courage in the 1963 Rivonia Trial.

For nine months, I and the other defence lawyers worked with

him almost every workday.

My first meeting with Nelson Mandela was in October 1963 in

the Interview Room at Pretoria Jail. I as the attorney for the

leaders of the banned ANC, and Bram Fischer, George Bizos

and Arthur Chaskalson who were the Advocates had just begun

our consultation with Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and the other

leaders of the ANC who had been arrested ninety days earlier at

the Rivonia Farm in Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela was not

present at the start of the consultation as he was already

imprisoned on Robben Island serving a five-year sentence under

the Suppression of Communism Act.

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However, ten minutes into the consultation the door of the

Interview Room suddenly was flung open and Nelson Mandela,

flown from Robben Island earlier in the morning, strode into the

room. Unlike the lawyers clothed in suits and the other

prisoners who wore their own awaiting trial clothes, Mandela

was clad in South African regulation prison garb for black

prisoners – short trousers, open-toed ill-made sandals and a

kahki open-necked shirt. He looked hollow cheeked and had

lost a great deal of weight. His manner however was as always

a friendly, confident leader adapting appropriately to any

challenges. After embracing his co-accused and the other

lawyers whom he already knew well, he in no way undeterred

by his short trousers, quite naturally took charge of the

consultation.

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We explained to them exactly how serious the charges were

against them. They were to be charged for attempting to

overthrow the State by violent revolution. Under the Sabotage

Act a person could be sentenced to death for throwing a stone

through a window with political intent. Accordingly, it was

clear that for the offence which Nelson Mandela and the others

were charged, death by hanging was almost inevitable if they

were found guilty.

Nelson Mandela and his co-accused did not seem phased about

this. They explained that their lives were of secondary

importance to the cause. They intended that their conduct in the

trial would inspire their followers until freedom for all was

achieved even if they were imprisoned or executed.

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They were not concerned with the legalities of the charge. They

were concerned with the politics. They readily admitted that

almost all of them had taken part in a political campaign which

was designed to bring about the overthrow of the Government.

They had no intention of denying these facts in the witness box.

In the light of Nelson Mandela’s instructions, the strategy for the

trial became clear. The Government intended the trial to be a

‘show trial’ aimed at discrediting the accused and all they stood

for. Nelson Mandela also intended it to be a ‘show trial’, but it

would be a trial which would show the world the justice of the

cause for which he and his co-accused were fighting, and they

would put the Government on trial in the Court of World

Opinion.

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On the day of the Trial, the Registrar of the Court read the

charge “Accused Number One – Nelson Mandela – how do you

plead to the indictments served upon you?” Mandela stood up

in the dock and clearly and calmly answered “The Government

should be in the dock, not me. I plead not guilty”. The other

accused followed the same approach all fully aware that if found

guilty the likely sentence would be death by hanging.

The prosecution case then began and five months later came to

an end.

The defence strategy, driven by Nelson Mandela, was that he

would speak from the dock outlining the evils of the apartheid

system and the reasons why the ANC after 50 years of non-

violent protest, which had achieved nothing other than more

oppressive legislation, had no alternative other than to resort to

violence against government institutions.

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After he had spoken Walter Sisulu and the other accused would

give evidence under oath of the appalling impact of the system

of apartheid on the lives of the non-white population.

A few days before the defence case began, Nelson Mandela

handed me his handwritten statement and asked me to have it

typed. This I did and distributed the typescript to the other

defence lawyers. It ended with his well known declaration that

he was prepared to die for his beliefs.

In consultation with Mandela and the other accused on the

proposed speech, we the defence lawyers, pointed out that it

could be taken by the Judge as an invitation to sentence him to

death and we tried to persuade him to leave it out. However, he

was not willing to do this so the speech was handed back to me

to be finally re-typed to take account of a few minor

amendments.

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I could not bear the thought of Mandela being hanged and

decided that on the re-typed version I would leave out the

“prepared to die” sentence and handed the re-typed speech back

to Mandela.

The next day I received a handwritten note from Mandela asking

for the sentence I had omitted to be put back with the addition of

the words “IF NEEDS BE”, it is an ideal for which I am

prepared to die.

On Monday 23 April 1964, Bram Fischer opening for the

defence outlined the defence case and ended “The defence case

my Lord, will commence with the statement from the dock by

Nelson Mandela who personally took part in the establishment

of Umkhonto, and who will be able to inform the Court of the

beginning of that organisation and of its history up to August

1962 when he was arrested.”

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The Courtroom was packed, divided into two sections – the one

for whites, the other for blacks. Armed police stood at every

door. Outside the Court in the Square the police dogs bayed and

solid lines of policemen scowled at the crowd of singing ANC

supporters.

Impeccably dressed in an elegant suit, tall and powerful, looking

every bit the leader that he was. Nelson Mandela began very

slowly and very quietly to read the statement which he had

prepared in a flat even voice. At no stage did he raise his voice

very much, or change from the slow, measured speech with

which he had started. Gradually as he spoke, the silence became

more and more profound until it seemed that no-one in the Court

dared move or breathe.

After two and a half hours, he ended:

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“Our struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the

African people, inspired by their own suffering and their own

experience, it is a struggle for the right to live. During my

lifetime, I dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people.

I fought against white domination and I fought against black

domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free

society in which all persons live together in harmony and with

equal opportunities.”

At this moment, he paused, a long pause, in which one could

hear a pin drop in the Court, and then looking squarely at the

Judge, he finished, “It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to

achieve,” and then dropping his voice very low, he added “but if

needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.

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Walter Sisulu then entered the witness box followed by the other

accused. All of them stood up brilliantly to cross-examination.

Walter’s evidence in a three-day cross-examination was

masterful.

At the end of the defence case Justice de Wet found all the

accused guilty, except for Rusty Bernstein who was discharged,

and adjourned the Court for sentence. The accused were then

sent back to Pretoria Jail where we went to consult with them

about leading evidence in mitigation of sentence. They were

calm, living now in the shadow of death. The strain and tension

was becoming almost unbearable, yet the only matter Nelson

Mandela and his co-accused wanted to discuss was how they

should behave in court when the death sentence was passed. We

told them that the Judge would ask the first accused, Nelson

Mandela, “Have you any reason why the death sentence should

not be passed?” Mandela decided that he would have a lot to

say.

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He would tell the Court that if they thought by sentencing him to

death this would oust the liberation movement, they were

wrong; that he was prepared to die for his believes and knew

that his death would be an inspiration to his people in their

struggle. We pointed out to him that such an address was hardly

designed to facilitate an appeal. His answer was simple. If

sentenced to death, he would not appeal. He thought that such

an appeal might be interpreted by their supporters as an act of

weakness.

At the adjournment, all the accused were all sentenced to life-

imprisonment.

Bram Fischer and I went to Robben Island to see Mandela and

the other accused about an appeal against their life

imprisonment sentences, which we recommended as there was

every prospect of getting an acquittal for Kathy Kathrada and

Raymond Mhlaba.

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However they had decided that an appeal would be seen by their

followers as a sign of weakness and they wanted their conduct to

be an inspiration to their followers.

Such was their solidarity with each other that a decision was

made that no appeal by any accused would be made.

It was Mandela’s leadership that saved his own life and those of

his co-accused. He was the leader of the other leaders of the

ANC and he treated all the accused as co-leaders. No important

decision was ever made without the agreement of all the

accused. Almost always when there was a discussion with

different views, Mandela would turn to Walter Sisulu who had

been his Mentor and say “Walter, what is your view on the

issue?” and he would listen very carefully and normally follow

Walter’s advice.

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Throughout the Trial Mandela remained calm, and although

angry at times at the behavior of the prosecution and the police,

would never raise his voice or in any way become emotional.

Such was his aura as a leader that even the prisoner officials

respected him and never dared to treat him in the way that they

treated non-white prisoners.

The solidarity of all the accused was incredible. The strain of

living together in the shadow of death ought to have been

impossible to deal with. There was never any friction amongst

the accused, they all supported one another and all looked up to

Mandela as their leader and followed his example.

When Mandela was released after 27 years and became

President of South Africa, I only saw him on a handful of

occasions. I particularly remember two such occasions.

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The one was when he was talking at a meeting in London, and

noticed me on the outskirts of the audience. With his

mischievous sense of humour, he loudly interrupted his speech

to say “Oh, I see Joel Joffe there, the man who sent me to jail for

27 years!”.

The other occasion was about two years before his death when

his memory and health was failing, he invited my wife and

myself to visit him at his home in Houghton. When I was about

to leave, he said to me “Joel, when you return to England, would

you please pass on my best wishes to Elizabeth”. I said

“Elizabeth who?” to which he responded “Elizabeth, the Queen”

and went on to say “When I first met her privately at

Buckingham Palace, she asked if she could call me Nelson and I

said yes. I than asked could I call her Elizabeth and she said

yes”. I explained that the Queen and I were not on visiting

terms but I would write to her sending his warm regards.

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In conclusion, I would mention that this book I have the copy of

the typescript of the speech which Mandela gave at his trial

which he signed and handed back to me. I also have the note

here which he sent me asking me to re-insert his willingness to

die. I also have the notes in his own handwriting of what he

would have said to the Judge if sentenced to death. They read:

“I meant everything I said. The blood of many patriots in this

country has been shed for democracy in conformity with

civilized standards.

If I must die, I declare to all that I will meet my fate like a man”.

Thank you