The struggle hero and Rivonia triallist has died aged 87
Denis Goldberg and Andrew Mlangeni at Liliesleaf in 2014, the 50th anniversary of the Rivonia Trial.“Oh s**t,” thought Denis Goldberg as security police burst through the doors of Liliesleaf Farm, the ANC’s underground HQ in Rivonia.
The doctors expected him to go home and die, but Goldberg doesn’t do what’s expected of him. He returned to SA and, after intensive chemotherapy, the tumour shrank. On April 11, the Rivonia Trial’s “baby” turns 85. One by one, the triallists are, as Goldberg puts it, shuffling off to Buffalo. Ahmed Kathrada died last year, leaving Goldberg and 91-year-old Andrew Mlangeni the only surviving convicted trialists.
Goldberg is one of the least famous Rivonia triallists. While some like Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu are household names, others, like Goldberg, have drifted into the background. But he doesn’t mind. He’s one for the shadows, not the spotlight. Esme was active in the left-wing Modern Youth Society, and Goldberg attended meetings with her. They got married and had children, Hilary and David, and Goldberg threw himself headfirst into the anti-apartheid movement, getting involved in the Congress of Democrats and the Communist Party.After the Sharpeville massacre on March 21 1960, the government started smashing the opposition, outlawing political organisations and rounding up activists, including Goldberg and his mom.
He was MK’s Western Cape technical officer and his task was to find targets where simple technology could be used to damage railways, power lines and phone lines. He was tortured in detention. “It comes back at odd times. I took part in a seminar on torture and in the midst of delivering a paper, 40 years after the event, I broke down. It lies in wait at the back of your head. It does permanent damage ... I can’t talk about it.”Arena Holdings archive
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