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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 April 2025
Not a place of amusement
The trial against Guy Berger and Devan Pillay began in February 1981. Despite the severity of the charges levelled against them, Berger and Pillay took the proceedings as ‘lightly and irreverently’ as they were able. After months in solitary confinement, the two took pleasure in one another's company. This irreverence from the accused was so noticeable that at one point the judge admonished Denis Kuny, their advocate:
I would suggest that you also tell your clients not to find the proceedings amusing. I have noticed that Accused No. 1 has on a number of occasions found considerable amusement, Mr. Kuny. I suggest you just tell him that it is not a place of amusement.
To make their case, the prosecution for the state made the rare decision to call Karl Edwards in to testify. However, at the request of the National Intelligence Services, Edwards’ testimony was held behind closed doors, and the court was instructed that Edwards’ identity could not be disclosed to the public, in any form. Denis Kuny, the advocate for the defence, asked Edwards to explain why the proceedings should be secret.
Edwards first replied, ‘I have no idea, your worship.’
Then, when pushed a second time, Edwards asked, ‘May I decline to answer that question, your worship?’
Finally, when the judge insisted, Edwards explained that ‘Intelligence agents should have as little exposure to … any members of the public for the reason that the more the enemy gets to know of one's modus operandi the weaker the organization, namely the N.I.S., is.’ In other words, the state was taking a calculated risk in allowing Edwards to testify.
According to his testimony, Edwards had been employed by the police as early as 1969, and had worked for the security services for a decade, since he entered Rhodes University in 1971, and immediately set about his work as an undercover agent, ‘a vigorous member of the leftist community, but not necessarily outspoken’. Alongside Williamson, Edwards joined Nusas and quickly moved up within the leadership structures of the organisation. Edwards first met Guy Berger in 1975, when Berger was a student at Rhodes.
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