| Helen Suzman was the National Party's fiercest opponent in South Africa's Parliament. She was the sole opponent of apartheid in Parliament for many years, representing the Progressive Federal Party. For six of her 36 years in Parliament, she was the only woman among 165 MPs. When Mandela was held at Robben Island Prison, she visited him regularly. In 1996 she was awarded the Politeken and Dangens Nyheters Freedom Prize, jointly with Nelson and Winnie Mandela. Mrs. Suzman served on South Africa's Human Rights Commission. She has visited Mzwakhe Mbuli regularly since his arrest and attends all trial sessions. | |
See also
Conspiracy Keeps People's Poet in Jail, published in South Africa's
Mail and Guardian on 16 November 2000.
Following is a Letter to the Editor of the Mail and Guardian from Helen Suzman that was published on 17 November 2000 with the heading, Mbuli Case Doesn't Rhyme.
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To the Editor: The judgment in the Mzwakhe Mbuli appeal case was not only disappointing, it was also surprising. Mbuli maintains that he was the victim of a conspiracy - framed - because he had information about high-placed people in the government who were involved in illicit drug dealing. He had revealed that he was going to blow the whistle on them. After two attempted assassinations had failed, he was lured to Pretoria by a person who said he had information about these attempts. The saga of the bank robbery followed when this person threw a bag containing banknotes, two pistols and a hand grenade into Mbuli's car. Shortly thereafter the car was stopped by the police, the bag was searched and Mbuli and his two companions were arrested. Eventually they were tried, found guilty and sentenced to long-term imprisonment. At the appeal, the court stated that police complicity in such a conspiracy was "hardly likely." Why, one wonders, when, as we have recently observed, the police are capable of gross brutality? Surely it is less likely that Mbuli, who was gainfully employed, and who is a well-known person whose face is familiar to the public and who is exceptionally tall, would walk into a bank without a disguise, carrying a hand grenade and swipe R15 000. Why, one wonders, was not more weight given to the shoddy police investigation in which no fingerprints were taken, the photo machine in the bank was not used and an irregular identification parade was held?
Helen Suzman
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