Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors

Emil Solomon (Solly) Sachs addressed 15 000 workers on the steps of the Johannesburg City Hall during a protest meeting organised by the Garment Workers' Union of South Africa (GWU). He was later arrested as the protest was deemed unlawful by the government and he appeared in court the following Monday. The case was postponed and Sachs again tried to address a mass meeting of striking garment workers in front of the city hall. He was rearrested and released on bail a day later. In July 1952 he was found guilty on two charges and sentenced to six months' forced labour on each. His appeal against the sentence, which he argued himself, was dismissed on 2 September 1952. The sentence was suspended for two years.