Delmas – Culture, Sport and Recreation MEC, Ms Sibongile Manana officially unveiled a monument dedicated to the Delmas Treason Trials at the local magistrate’s court on March 3.
The Monument has been built at the precinct of the Delmas Magistrate’s Court to honour the memory of the trialists and to preserve the popular Delmas Trials. The Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation is working hard with its stakeholders in preserving history and heritage and it will use the National Liberation Heritage Route to achieve this objective.
The monument, erected at the public entrance of the court, features an anvil and hammer. The two symbols represent the mass movement – civic associations, women, youth, students, church and labour organisations and the armed struggle waged by the people against the apartheid regime. The anvil and the hammer monument capture the triumph of human rights and justice over the apartheid system. “Unite, Mobilise and Fight on! Between the anvil of united mass action and the hammer of the armed struggle, we shall crush apartheid,” reads the inscription on the monument. These words were said by Nelson Mandela in 1976.
Inside the court, two plaques are mounted at the courtrooms were the Delmas Four and 22 Trialists were tried in the 1980s. The Delmas 22 Treason Trial ran from 1985 to 1989 making it one of the longest trials in judiciary history of the country. The trialists were Frank Chikane, Popo Molefe, Mosiuoa Lekota, Mabuya Baleka, Oupa Hlomoka, Tebogo Moselane, Mohapi More, Gcinumuzi Malindi, Morake Mokoena, Tsietsi Mphuti, Naphtali Nkopane, Tebello Ramakgula, Bavumile Vilakazi, Sekwati Mokoena, Simon Nkoli, Pelamotse Thlopane, Serame Hlanyane, Thomas Manthata, Hlabeng Matlole, Maxala Vilakazi and Thabiso Ratsomo.
The Delmas Four Treason Trialists were Frans Masango (deceased), Jabu Masina, Neo Potsane and Joseph Makhura who were tried in Court C.
Revered legal eagle, Adv George Bizos, who represented the Delmas 22 during the trial graced the unveiling of the monument with his presence.