TAKES THE STAND IN CAPE TOWN WITCH-HUNT CASE
The trial of Dr. Neville Alexander and ten other defendants who face the death penalty on charges of "sabotage," was resumed in Cape ‘Town in February. We have just received clippings from South Africa telling about the testimony which Dr, Alexander started to give February 18,
One of South Africa's most distinguished colored intellectuals, Dr. Alexander said that when he was arrested he was held for 35 days in a nine~ by five-foot cubicle, He was then held incommunicado for 41 days. "It soon became apparent that the police were conducting a witeh=hunt and blowing it up on a national scale,"
He said that he admitted some things in order to shield others whom he knew to be innocent, On the basis of these admissions he was charged on September 27 with "sabotage,"
Telling about his life, he said that he went to school at the Holy Rosary Convent in Cradock, His interest in politics developed after he enrolled in the Univerrity of Cape Town in 1953. "I came to the conclusion that it was my ¢ ity to join one of the organizations striving for full politica. *° ,jats for non-Whites."
L953 and 1954 were his formative years, He took a keen interest in student affairs but did not enter into: active politics until 1956
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with the introduction.of the university apartheid bill in parliament, In opposition to the bill, he joined the Cape Peninsula Students! Union, “which spread like "wildfire in the Cape and in South Africa, We stood for a democratic system.of education," .
He also became interested in other organizations, such as the. Teachers!-League and the Parent~Teachers Association until he went to the University of Titbingen in Germany on a scholarship.
There he was invited to give lectures on the situation in South Africa, In 1960 there was "the senseless shooting" at Sharpeville and all of Europe rallied against South Africa. "I found it difficult to defend our race policies, Europeans were calling. for the blood of Whites who were their descendants," .
Returning to South Africa in 1961, he resumed political activi-~ ties, "A deep sense of frustration was evident. People were speak ing quite openly about revolution,"
Together with Dr. Kenneth Abrahams, he organized a study group. Dr. Abrahams called it the Yu Chi Chan Club, and the name stuck, They met twice a month to hear lectures and hold discussions, Among the topics were the revolutions in Cuba, Russia and China, Books on guerrilla war were freely available at bookstores and they included these in their studies,
"Our. general attitude towards guerrilla warfare was that-.it was necessary ‘to have a knowledge of it in the event of armed conflict between the government and the ‘masses, eee .
"The choice of books-was not dictated by any ideological concep= tions, nor was there any attempt.to persuade members to adopt guerrilla warfare,"
He quoted from Lenints “Partisan Warfare" to show that this method was not the only one open to the proletariat. ‘He also cited The Paris Commune by Lenin: "Violence, in the opinion of Henin, is not the be-all and end-all of political struggles,"
Dr. Alexander defended ‘the secrecy maintained by the group “in its studies, "The fact is that all political organizations among the rightless peopte are forced by circumstances to practice some measure of secrecy."
Many other organizations use secrecy, "I could quote the example of the Broederbond. Some organizations are enveloped and enmeshed in secresy but they have not been investigated or charged,"
According to the Cape Times of February 20, Dr. Alexander level~ led the accusation that he and the other defendants were being made "scapegoats," “The paper said that as he spoke, "the women comaccused broke into sobs in the dock,"
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ISSUE OF "REVOLUTION" BANNED —
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