page 133 - Long Walk Original Manuscript [LWOM_133.jpg]

The three years of Dr. Moroka's office were packed with action and for a man with his background he did very well. He addressed huge gatherings throughout the country, ably explained the issues involved in the Campaign, and the principle on which it would run and his efforts contributed to the success of the Campaign. It was therefore a great shock to us when he broke down during the Defiance case. Our first shock came when we learnt that he would be employing his own attorney and counsel to defend him. My fellow accused deputed me to discuss the matter with Dr. Moroka in an effort to persuade him differently but my efforts failed. We suggested as an alternative that he, Dr. Moroka, and Dr. Dadoo, should be defended by a separate counsel. Again we had no success. Our final shock came when he tendered a humiliating plea in mitigation to the court in which he renounced the principles on which the ANC was founded and which formed the basis of the Campaign. He told Judge Rumpf that there never would be equality between black and white in South Africa and thereby expressely repudiated the point he made in the letter to Malan that the difference between black and white were the result of man made laws artificially imposed. As a result we were forced to disassociate ourselves publicly from his views and repudiate him as leader. This ruined his whole image. That was a tragedy, for no man deserved a greater honour at the end of the Campaign than Dr. Moroka and the ANC would certainly have honoured him by re electing him President for the second time.

Dr. Moroka probably did not expect that the government would arrest him and may have been caught quite unprepared when the police finally swooped on us. He may also have been under great pressure from various quarters, including influential Afrikaners in the Orange Free State. He was