The Delmas Treason Trial, up to that time the longest trial in the history of SA, started in Delmas, east of Pretoria. Twenty-two Transvaal United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders, including former premiers of the Free State and North West provinces, Mosiuoa "Terror" Lekota and Popo Molefe, were indicted for treason in June. All the accused pleaded not guilty. The trial dragged from 1985 till December 1988, when Justice Kees van Dijkhorst passed judgement. Van Dijkhorst convicted eleven of the twenty-two and sentenced them to terms of imprisonment ranging from five to eleven years. The Appellate Division overturned their convictions at the end of 1989.
eventREF E-0012615Revised
16 October 1985
Delmas Treason Trial starts
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019
How we know this
- 01South African Institute of Race Relations. (1989). Race Relations Survey 1988/89, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 571.
- 02Stanford Introduction to Regional Profiles [online] Available at: www.stanford.edu [Accessed on 16 October 2013]
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Delmas Treason Trial starts. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012615
South African History Online (2011) 'Delmas Treason Trial starts', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012615 (Accessed: 13 October 2026).
South African History Online, Delmas Treason Trial starts [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012615, (accessed 13 October 2026).
"Delmas Treason Trial starts." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012615. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "Delmas Treason Trial starts." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012615.
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Further reading
Biography
Simon Nkoli
“If you are Black and gay in South Africa, then it really is all the same closet…inside is darkness and oppression.
Biography
Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick "Terror" Lekota
Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick "Terror" Lekota was born in Kroonstad, Orange Free State (now Free State Province) on 13 August.....
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