South African anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg, who spent 22 years in prison, dies aged 87

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.

Being white, Goldberg was not sent to the notorious Robben Island prison along with black political prisoners like Mandela, in keeping with the apartheid regime’s philosophy that the country’s different races should not mix.

Instead, he was jailed in the capital Pretoria, where he spent most of the time in solitary confinement.

He was released in 1985 after 22 years in prison after agreeing with the government not to take part in political violence. He continued his role in the anti-apartheid struggle from exile in London.