Political Prisoners of South Africa Documentation Project
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ELIAS MOTSOALEDI
Imprisoned for Life
(Original biographical information included with his bracelet in 1985)

            Elias Motsoaledi was tried in the Pretoria Supreme Court from October 1963 to June 1964 along with Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, and others in the ‘Rivonia Trial’.  He was charged under the Sabotage and Suppression of Communism Acts, with campaigning to overthrow the Government by violent revolution and with assisting in the armed invasion of the country by foreign troops.  The charge sheet listed 193 acts of sabotage allegedly carried out by persons recruited by the accused in their capacity as members of the High Command of Umkhonto We Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).  Umkhonto We Sizwe is the military wing of the ANC.

            Motsoaledi was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment which he is serving on Robben Island.

            During the trial, Motsoaledi said that he had been assaulted and tortured while in detention prior to trial.

            Motsoaledi was born in Sekhukhuniland.  He was unable to attend school beyond Standard VI due to poverty.  He took a succession of low-paid jobs and became involved in trade unionism, which was later to cost him job after job.  He became a member of the Communist Party and in 1948 joined the ANC.  He was later elected to the ANC provincial executive.  In 1949 he was elected chairman of the African Furniture, Mattress and Bedding Workers’ Union, and of the Transvaal Council of Non-European Trade Unions.  In 1952 he was detained for his part in the Campaign of Defiance Against Unjust Laws.  He was served with stringent banning orders while he was in the hospital recovering from tuberculosis.  He was detained for three months during the State of Emergency in 1960.  In 1963, he was again detained and kept in solitary confinement for 50 days.  He had joined Umkhonto We Sizwe at the end of 1962, and was a member of the technical committee of the Johannesburg Regional Command.

            Motsoaledi is married with seven children.  After attending the Rivonia trial, Motsoaledi’s wife was herself detained and held for 161 days.

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The source of this biographical information is International Defence and Aid Fund’s book, Prisoners of Apartheid, 1978.  We appreciate their permission to use this material.

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