Cedric Radcliffe Mayson
Born 1927
Died 23 May 2015
Horst Kleinschmidt, one of Cedric’s first ‘parcels’:
Cedric Mayson passed away on Saturday morning, 23 May, in a hospital in Nelspruit. He had been frail and unwell in recent times. I visited Penelope and Cedric at their Marloth Park home near Komati Poort two years ago and again this past April. On leaving this last time, I felt I was saying farewell to this old friend and comrade.
He spent, until just a few years ago, working in Luthuli House defending that which was good and upright in the ANC. In the end he was disappointed and knew that the values and hopes of our generation, and a whole nation, had been substantially squandered and mired in elitism and ill-gotten gains.
Cedric was important in my life. I was his first contraband 'parcel' that he flew out of South Africa, to deposit me in a mealie field somewhere near Molepolole in Botswana. In a previous time parishioners of Cedric's had taught him how to fly. He relied on these parishioners to loan him their small aircraft. In the end he flew some 20 people out of the country – as, in my case, to avoid further detention and because our passports had been withdrawn, the reason why the 'parcel' alternative was developed.
In detention Cedric was treated harshly for these and many other heroic and selfless acts. His impaired hearing had to do with the assaults his interrogators inflicted on him.
Cedric edited the Christian Institute magazine Pro Veritate for several years, where he introduced an increasingly radical tone, responding to the dark times we were entering then.
He must be remembered for not giving up on working for a better South Africa and a better world till the end. He and Penelope shunned comfort and material well-being, to live an honest life, and one that expressed solidarity with those whose lot in our vastly unequal world sought to change.
Alan Fine, co-prisoner:
Though I had heard of Cedric by reputation, the first time I met him was in the dock at the Johannesburg Magistrates Court in late March 1981. He, Barbara Hogan and I had been brought there directly from six months in detention under the Terrorism Act. The three of us were initially co-accused, soon to be joined by South African Allied Workers Union (Saawu) officials Sisa Njikelana, Thozamile Gqwetha and Sam Kikine until the respective trials were separated.
Cedric and I spent seven-and-a-half months together in the white men's awaiting trial section at The Fort. After the conviction of Rob Adams a couple of months after our arrival, we were the only two political accused until my acquittal.
Cedric's wisdom and compassion made him a pillar of strength during those tense and stressful times where neither of us knew what our futures would bring. We paced the exercise yard together daily, talking about our respective situations, in discussion about preparations for and then developments at our trials. And we spoke a great deal about our philosophies of life. As a somewhat dogmatic atheist at the time, one of the many things I learned from him was that our different views on the existence of a higher being was no obstacle whatsoever to our sharing (as we did) the same social and political value systems. And he was the one who first made that point
Cedric had a very powerful effect on the attitudes of the prison warders towards the political prisoners in the awaiting trial section, in a manner reminiscent of Nelson Mandela's changing relationship over time with his warders. When we arrived, security police had warned the prison officials of the sinister and dangerous nature of the three political accused under their watch and were uncompromisingly hostile towards us. Yet, by the time Cedric departed prison around February 1983, he had become almost a confidante of a number of the warders, simply due to the integrity and wisdom he displayed in his relationships with everyone there - the warders and the 100-odd other awaiting trial prisoners. He was by then conducting weekly Sunday church services for fellow prisoners and interested officials. And though I didn't get to attend any of those services, he doubtless skilfully conveyed all manner of hidden political messages to the ‘congregation’.
The ANC tribute to Cedric states that ‘in February 1983 he fled to the UK after the judge had granted him bail when the State had not been able to prove its case to the Court’. The story is more interesting than that. Cedric was granted bail after he had been able to persuade the court that he had been tortured. He was able to do this because a medical doctor had seen evidence of his hair having been pulled out, and that evidence was brought to court. The court then decided that his statement made to the police while in detention could not be used as evidence against him. Without that evidence, the state's case was threadbare and, unusually, his bail application succeeded.
A few years ago Cedric and I spent a fascinating day at the Fort, which by then had been transformed into Constitution Hill. We were being filmed by Heritage Foundation officials as we interviewed a Sergeant Malan, who had been the head of the awaiting trial section during our time there. We asked him what had changed his attitude towards the political accused. His response was simply that over the months it became apparent that they (and no doubt particularly Cedric) were simply decent human beings, unlike the picture painted by the security police.
The most interesting feature of the day with the then recently retired Sergeant Malan was his description of how his career had destroyed his life. He told us he had suffered repeated severe trauma each time he experienced violent attack by prisoners. The even more destructive impact on his psyche was the aggressive and sometimes brutal attitude he had adopted toward the prisoners under his authority.
It was in Cedric's nature that, rather than wanting to dig deeper and uncover more about this fascinating perspective offered by Malan, his instinctive and only response was to try calm him, help rebuild his damaged self-esteem and assure him of his humanity. That was as vivid a sign as any of Cedric's own innate humanity.
Kathleen Satchwell, Cedric’s attorney at the time of his trial:
Granting bail to an accused in a political trial was unusual at the time. There had been a ‘trial within a trial’ to establish admissibility of a 'confession' Cedric had made while under police interrogation. One of the police involved had a back operation and so we all had to go to his home in Benoni or Boksburg to hear his testimony. There was the SAP van with Cedric, the judge’s car parked outside with judge inside the house. Ernie Wentzel, Cedric’s advocate, said to me we needed to drive round the block, see if there was somewhere to have coffee, and arrive late so that the judge could form an impression of Cedric, and realise that he was dealing with a person, not an object. When we finally arrived, the judge and Cedric were sitting in the sitting room, discussing something innocuous.
During the ‘trial within a trial’, the judge was horrified to learn that Cedric had been kept naked in an interrogation room, and that security police could simply walk into the room and see him naked. And then there was the evidence that his hair had been pulled out by those interrogating him. The judge ruled that Cedric’s confession had not been made freely and voluntarily, and because of the absence of other substantial evidence, a successful bail application was made.
The trial of Cedric Mayson
Extracted from Work In Progress (WIP), 27, June 1983
Glenn Moss
The accused faced a main count of high treason, with alternate charges under the Internal and Terrorism Acts.
Detained in November 1981, he first appeared in court with Barbara Hogan and Alan Fine, but subsequently their trials were separated. Held as an awaiting trial prisoner until March 1983, he was finally granted bail of R1 000 when the state applied for a six week postponement of the trial.
The state alleged that Mayson conspired with the banned African National Congress to commit certain acts with the aim of overthrowing or coercing the South African government. Inter alia, it was alleged that Mayson held discussions with ANC officials; distributed a tape of a speech made by ANC leader Oliver Tambo; and assisted various people to leave South Africa illegally so that they could undertake ANC or Sactu activities.
During July 1981, Mayson allegedly met ANC leaders Thabo Mbeki in London, where he received a number of instructions. These included the investigation of setting up area political committees in South Africa to co-ordinate ANC activities; obtaining information about churches and other bodies with a view to infiltrating them on behalf of the ANC; encouraging a boycott of government-created institutions; advising people not to serve in the SADF; recruiting people for ANC activities; examining targets for sabotage; assessing the possibility of storing weapons in churches; and obtaining information about various people in South Africa and passing this on to the ANC.
During September and October 1981, Mayson allegedly held discussions with a number of people about the setting up of ANC political committees within South Africa. Those with whom he was alleged to have conferred were Jabu Ngwenya, Frank Chikane, Auret van Heerden, CF Beyers Naude and someone listed only as Norman.
Former BOSS agent – (and) security police warrant officer – Karl Edwards testified that he joined the ANC in 1977, and set up an escape route to Botswana, established a courier network and gathered intelligence for the ANC.
During 1976 he assisted a banned person – Chris Wood – to escape from South Africa, and the following year delivered a letter from Wood to Mayson. This letter urged Mayson to make use of the escape route to help people leave South Africa illegally.
Mayson disputed the validity of a confession he made while in security police detention ... Security police forced him to strip naked, handcuffed his hands behind his back ... His hair was pulled out during an interrogation session, leaving him with a bald spot ...
Presiding judge van der Walt ruled that Mayson’s statement was not admissible as evidence ... It was at this stage that the state applied for a six week adjournment to allow them to find a key witness, Auret van Heerden ... A defence application for bail for the accused was successful, and Mayson was released from custody.
During the adjournment, police were unable to locate the witness Van Heerden, but did subpoena Ds Beyers Naude to testify in the trial. Shortly before the trial was due to resume, Mayson ... fled the country.
Press speculation of the time suggested that Mayson had left the country to protect people like Ds Naude from having to testify in the trial.
Clarificatory note from Priscilla Jana:
The 'discussions' on setting up ANC structures referred to in Cedric's charge sheet actually took place in an ANC cell, which reported to Thabo Mbeki, and included the following members:
Beyers Naude
Enoch Duma
Priscilla Jana
Cedric Mayson
Vuyisile Mdeleni
Norman Monyepote
Jackie Selebi
Auret van Heerden
Priscilla Jana was subpoenaed to testify in Cedric Mayson's treason trial, along with Beyers Naude, but this fell away once Cedric left the country.
The ANC statement
Issued by ANC national spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa, May 24 2015
The African National Congress is saddened by the passing on of Reverend Cedric Radcliffe Mayson yesterday, 23 May 2015 following an illness.
Reverend Cedric Mayson was born in the United Kingdom in 1927. He came to South Africa as a Methodist Minister in 1953 and served as a Minister in the Methodist Church from 1953 until 1974. He also served as a full time member of the Christian Institute from 1974 until 1977 the Institute initiated the KAIROS document.
Reverend Mayson was banned in 1977 when the Christian Institute was banned along with Dr Beyers Naude and Rev Theo Kotze. He was detained twice, the first on his honeymoon in 1976 and the second in November 1981, He was subsequently charged with High Treason. In February 1983 he fled to the UK after the judge had granted him bail when the State had not been able to prove its case to the Court. While he was in exile he served the interface between political and religious groups, and did much travelling and work with and for the ANC in exile.
On his indemnity in 1991 and return to SA in 1992, he served with the Faith and Mission department of the SACC. His last post was with the Religious desk of the ANC as the Convener of the Commission for Religious Affairs. He was also involved in the World Conference for Religion and Peace.
Reverend Mayson was the author of three books and many articles as well as being the host of the religious programme ‘Credo’ for two years at the SABC.
The African National Congress sends its condolences to his wife Penelope (Thandi), sons Andrew, Tim, Peter, David, daughters Kim, Phillipa, Jude (Bongi) and Laura, and (the) Mayson family at large. Reverend Mayson lived a remarkable life dedicated to his faith and the struggle of the South African people. May his soul rest in everlasting peace.
Born 1927
Died 23 May 2015
Horst Kleinschmidt, one of Cedric’s first ‘parcels’:
Cedric Mayson passed away on Saturday morning, 23 May, in a hospital in Nelspruit. He had been frail and unwell in recent times. I visited Penelope and Cedric at their Marloth Park home near Komati Poort two years ago and again this past April. On leaving this last time, I felt I was saying farewell to this old friend and comrade.
He spent, until just a few years ago, working in Luthuli House defending that which was good and upright in the ANC. In the end he was disappointed and knew that the values and hopes of our generation, and a whole nation, had been substantially squandered and mired in elitism and ill-gotten gains.
Cedric was important in my life. I was his first contraband 'parcel' that he flew out of South Africa, to deposit me in a mealie field somewhere near Molepolole in Botswana. In a previous time parishioners of Cedric's had taught him how to fly. He relied on these parishioners to loan him their small aircraft. In the end he flew some 20 people out of the country – as, in my case, to avoid further detention and because our passports had been withdrawn, the reason why the 'parcel' alternative was developed.
In detention Cedric was treated harshly for these and many other heroic and selfless acts. His impaired hearing had to do with the assaults his interrogators inflicted on him.
Cedric edited the Christian Institute magazine Pro Veritate for several years, where he introduced an increasingly radical tone, responding to the dark times we were entering then.
He must be remembered for not giving up on working for a better South Africa and a better world till the end. He and Penelope shunned comfort and material well-being, to live an honest life, and one that expressed solidarity with those whose lot in our vastly unequal world sought to change.
Alan Fine, co-prisoner:
Though I had heard of Cedric by reputation, the first time I met him was in the dock at the Johannesburg Magistrates Court in late March 1981. He, Barbara Hogan and I had been brought there directly from six months in detention under the Terrorism Act. The three of us were initially co-accused, soon to be joined by South African Allied Workers Union (Saawu) officials Sisa Njikelana, Thozamile Gqwetha and Sam Kikine until the respective trials were separated.
Cedric and I spent seven-and-a-half months together in the white men's awaiting trial section at The Fort. After the conviction of Rob Adams a couple of months after our arrival, we were the only two political accused until my acquittal.
Cedric's wisdom and compassion made him a pillar of strength during those tense and stressful times where neither of us knew what our futures would bring. We paced the exercise yard together daily, talking about our respective situations, in discussion about preparations for and then developments at our trials. And we spoke a great deal about our philosophies of life. As a somewhat dogmatic atheist at the time, one of the many things I learned from him was that our different views on the existence of a higher being was no obstacle whatsoever to our sharing (as we did) the same social and political value systems. And he was the one who first made that point
Cedric had a very powerful effect on the attitudes of the prison warders towards the political prisoners in the awaiting trial section, in a manner reminiscent of Nelson Mandela's changing relationship over time with his warders. When we arrived, security police had warned the prison officials of the sinister and dangerous nature of the three political accused under their watch and were uncompromisingly hostile towards us. Yet, by the time Cedric departed prison around February 1983, he had become almost a confidante of a number of the warders, simply due to the integrity and wisdom he displayed in his relationships with everyone there - the warders and the 100-odd other awaiting trial prisoners. He was by then conducting weekly Sunday church services for fellow prisoners and interested officials. And though I didn't get to attend any of those services, he doubtless skilfully conveyed all manner of hidden political messages to the ‘congregation’.
The ANC tribute to Cedric states that ‘in February 1983 he fled to the UK after the judge had granted him bail when the State had not been able to prove its case to the Court’. The story is more interesting than that. Cedric was granted bail after he had been able to persuade the court that he had been tortured. He was able to do this because a medical doctor had seen evidence of his hair having been pulled out, and that evidence was brought to court. The court then decided that his statement made to the police while in detention could not be used as evidence against him. Without that evidence, the state's case was threadbare and, unusually, his bail application succeeded.
A few years ago Cedric and I spent a fascinating day at the Fort, which by then had been transformed into Constitution Hill. We were being filmed by Heritage Foundation officials as we interviewed a Sergeant Malan, who had been the head of the awaiting trial section during our time there. We asked him what had changed his attitude towards the political accused. His response was simply that over the months it became apparent that they (and no doubt particularly Cedric) were simply decent human beings, unlike the picture painted by the security police.
The most interesting feature of the day with the then recently retired Sergeant Malan was his description of how his career had destroyed his life. He told us he had suffered repeated severe trauma each time he experienced violent attack by prisoners. The even more destructive impact on his psyche was the aggressive and sometimes brutal attitude he had adopted toward the prisoners under his authority.
It was in Cedric's nature that, rather than wanting to dig deeper and uncover more about this fascinating perspective offered by Malan, his instinctive and only response was to try calm him, help rebuild his damaged self-esteem and assure him of his humanity. That was as vivid a sign as any of Cedric's own innate humanity.
Kathleen Satchwell, Cedric’s attorney at the time of his trial:
Granting bail to an accused in a political trial was unusual at the time. There had been a ‘trial within a trial’ to establish admissibility of a 'confession' Cedric had made while under police interrogation. One of the police involved had a back operation and so we all had to go to his home in Benoni or Boksburg to hear his testimony. There was the SAP van with Cedric, the judge’s car parked outside with judge inside the house. Ernie Wentzel, Cedric’s advocate, said to me we needed to drive round the block, see if there was somewhere to have coffee, and arrive late so that the judge could form an impression of Cedric, and realise that he was dealing with a person, not an object. When we finally arrived, the judge and Cedric were sitting in the sitting room, discussing something innocuous.
During the ‘trial within a trial’, the judge was horrified to learn that Cedric had been kept naked in an interrogation room, and that security police could simply walk into the room and see him naked. And then there was the evidence that his hair had been pulled out by those interrogating him. The judge ruled that Cedric’s confession had not been made freely and voluntarily, and because of the absence of other substantial evidence, a successful bail application was made.
The trial of Cedric Mayson
Extracted from Work In Progress (WIP), 27, June 1983
Glenn Moss
The accused faced a main count of high treason, with alternate charges under the Internal and Terrorism Acts.
Detained in November 1981, he first appeared in court with Barbara Hogan and Alan Fine, but subsequently their trials were separated. Held as an awaiting trial prisoner until March 1983, he was finally granted bail of R1 000 when the state applied for a six week postponement of the trial.
The state alleged that Mayson conspired with the banned African National Congress to commit certain acts with the aim of overthrowing or coercing the South African government. Inter alia, it was alleged that Mayson held discussions with ANC officials; distributed a tape of a speech made by ANC leader Oliver Tambo; and assisted various people to leave South Africa illegally so that they could undertake ANC or Sactu activities.
During July 1981, Mayson allegedly met ANC leaders Thabo Mbeki in London, where he received a number of instructions. These included the investigation of setting up area political committees in South Africa to co-ordinate ANC activities; obtaining information about churches and other bodies with a view to infiltrating them on behalf of the ANC; encouraging a boycott of government-created institutions; advising people not to serve in the SADF; recruiting people for ANC activities; examining targets for sabotage; assessing the possibility of storing weapons in churches; and obtaining information about various people in South Africa and passing this on to the ANC.
During September and October 1981, Mayson allegedly held discussions with a number of people about the setting up of ANC political committees within South Africa. Those with whom he was alleged to have conferred were Jabu Ngwenya, Frank Chikane, Auret van Heerden, CF Beyers Naude and someone listed only as Norman.
Former BOSS agent – (and) security police warrant officer – Karl Edwards testified that he joined the ANC in 1977, and set up an escape route to Botswana, established a courier network and gathered intelligence for the ANC.
During 1976 he assisted a banned person – Chris Wood – to escape from South Africa, and the following year delivered a letter from Wood to Mayson. This letter urged Mayson to make use of the escape route to help people leave South Africa illegally.
Mayson disputed the validity of a confession he made while in security police detention ... Security police forced him to strip naked, handcuffed his hands behind his back ... His hair was pulled out during an interrogation session, leaving him with a bald spot ...
Presiding judge van der Walt ruled that Mayson’s statement was not admissible as evidence ... It was at this stage that the state applied for a six week adjournment to allow them to find a key witness, Auret van Heerden ... A defence application for bail for the accused was successful, and Mayson was released from custody.
During the adjournment, police were unable to locate the witness Van Heerden, but did subpoena Ds Beyers Naude to testify in the trial. Shortly before the trial was due to resume, Mayson ... fled the country.
Press speculation of the time suggested that Mayson had left the country to protect people like Ds Naude from having to testify in the trial.
Clarificatory note from Priscilla Jana:
The 'discussions' on setting up ANC structures referred to in Cedric's charge sheet actually took place in an ANC cell, which reported to Thabo Mbeki, and included the following members:
Beyers Naude
Enoch Duma
Priscilla Jana
Cedric Mayson
Vuyisile Mdeleni
Norman Monyepote
Jackie Selebi
Auret van Heerden
Priscilla Jana was subpoenaed to testify in Cedric Mayson's treason trial, along with Beyers Naude, but this fell away once Cedric left the country.
The ANC statement
Issued by ANC national spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa, May 24 2015
The African National Congress is saddened by the passing on of Reverend Cedric Radcliffe Mayson yesterday, 23 May 2015 following an illness.
Reverend Cedric Mayson was born in the United Kingdom in 1927. He came to South Africa as a Methodist Minister in 1953 and served as a Minister in the Methodist Church from 1953 until 1974. He also served as a full time member of the Christian Institute from 1974 until 1977 the Institute initiated the KAIROS document.
Reverend Mayson was banned in 1977 when the Christian Institute was banned along with Dr Beyers Naude and Rev Theo Kotze. He was detained twice, the first on his honeymoon in 1976 and the second in November 1981, He was subsequently charged with High Treason. In February 1983 he fled to the UK after the judge had granted him bail when the State had not been able to prove its case to the Court. While he was in exile he served the interface between political and religious groups, and did much travelling and work with and for the ANC in exile.
On his indemnity in 1991 and return to SA in 1992, he served with the Faith and Mission department of the SACC. His last post was with the Religious desk of the ANC as the Convener of the Commission for Religious Affairs. He was also involved in the World Conference for Religion and Peace.
Reverend Mayson was the author of three books and many articles as well as being the host of the religious programme ‘Credo’ for two years at the SABC.
The African National Congress sends its condolences to his wife Penelope (Thandi), sons Andrew, Tim, Peter, David, daughters Kim, Phillipa, Jude (Bongi) and Laura, and (the) Mayson family at large. Reverend Mayson lived a remarkable life dedicated to his faith and the struggle of the South African people. May his soul rest in everlasting peace.