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In the Rivonia dock with Nelson Mandela

Ashley ByrneJuly 13, 2013

Meet Denis Goldberg: one of the men tried in South Africa's legendary Rivonia Trial. Fifty years after Goldberg was arrested along with other ANC members, most notably Nelson Mandela, we hear the story of a white civil engineer who put his life on the line fighting Apartheid.

https://p.dw.com/p/196xk

Denis Goldberg, now 80, was the only white man to stand trial alongside Nelson Mandela in what has become one of the most famous court cases of the 20th century.

The Rivonia trial of 1963-64 resulted in both men, and six others, being jailed for conspiring to revolt violently against the apartheid government.

Goldberg’s parents strongly opposed racism and apartheid, which was part of what drew the young civil engineer to Mandela’s cause.

He used his expertise to investigate the arms the anti-apartheid campaigners would need for a massive uprising against the state.

Despite spending a quarter of his life in prison, Goldberg says he has no regrets about joining the struggle for a new South Africa.

Denis Goldberg
Goldberg has no regretsImage: picture-alliance/dpa/dpaweb