JOHANNESBURG: South African anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg, who stood trial alongside Nelson Mandela in the 1963-64 Rivonia Trial and was imprisoned for 22 years by the regime, has died at the age of 87 at his home in Cape Town, foreign media reported.
President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his deep condolences at the passing of Goldberg, one of the most prominent white activists in South Africa’s long struggle against racial repression.“This is a moment for all of us to appreciate Denis Goldberg’s brave dedication to our struggle and his lifelong activism in the interest of – and in the physical presence of - poor and vulnerable communities around our country,” Ramaphosa said in a statement on Thursday.
He died on Wednesday after suffering from lung cancer for years.Goldberg, whose family had Lithuanian Jewish origins, was born in Cape Town in 1933.
A communist, he joined the African National Congress’ (ANC) armed wing in 1961 to oppose the apartheid regime. He was arrested in 1963 at a clandestine meeting in a Johannesburg suburb and stood trial with several others, including Mandela and Walter Sisulu, in what became know as the Rivonia Trial.He was convicted on sabotage charges and sentenced to life imprisonment after the judge declined to impose the death sentence.
