n Ronnie Kasrils
Remembering an Apartheid freedom fighter When he died of cancer at 87 on April 29, Denis Goldberg was one of Nelson Mandela’s two surviving co-defendants in South Africa’s 1964 Rivonia Trial. The trial, and the raids that preceded it, decimated South Africa’s nascent anti-apartheid underground – it only began recovering a decade later. Mandela and seven others joined dozens of freedom fighters on Robben Island. Goldberg, at 31, the youngest of the trialists, and the only white person sentenced with Mandela to life imprisonment, went to the whites-only Pretoria Central Prison. Ronnie Kasrils, anti-apartheid struggle comrade and friend, pays tribute
M
y enduring memory of Denis Goldberg, who died in Cape Town, just after the 26th anniversary of South Africa’s freedom day, comes from his late mother’s lips. A frail Annie Goldberg recounted to me in London two years after the conclusion of the 1964 Rivonia Trial, where the death penalty had been anticipated, her impression of Denis calling out to her in jubilation: “Mother it’s life. A life to live.” Denis later explained to me, that the words actually were, “Life! Beautiful life”. No matter the discrepancy, both are reflective of his effervescent optimism. After the trial he was deeply upset at being separated from Mandela and his comrades who were dragged off to Robben Island the prison complex for blacks, while he was incarcer-
ated at the whites-only section of Pretoria prison. Even in prison apartheid segregation between the races applied.
D
enis led a remarkable life rich in courage and commitment, kindness and generosity. Where the pendulum swung between pain and joy, breaking-point and strength, he persevered to demonstrate that conviction and principle could trump doubt and adversity. His lodestar was service to humanity. He sought no personal benefit, privilege or power. His concern was of advancing the welfare and wellbeing of the downtrodden including, as an antiZionist Jew, that of the Palestinian people. He was a person of moral integrity, humour and goodwill.
26 ColdType | Mid-May 2020 | www.coldtype.net
His personal sacrifice was an inspiration for South Africa and the world. Obituaries refer to him as a “giant”. My accolade for him is a mensch – a good person. He would prefer that. This is not to say he had no vanity. He enjoyed signing off as “Rivonia trialist 3rd accused” for those who bought his memoir The Mission. Mandela and Walter Sisulu were 1 and 2 accused, and a quirk of the charge sheet elevated his status above Govan Mbeki and Ahmed Kathrada, among others. When I pulled his leg about such effrontery, he waved aside any accusation of egoism, “Well you may say it’s my chutzpah [Yiddish for audacity] if you wish”. He never denied his Jewish origins, was prepared to go to remarkable lengths to debate with Jews of all
