Nelson Mandela Foundation

© Nmf Khashifa Jappie at the Accused number 2 exhibition
(Image: Nelson Mandela Foundation)
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Accused number 2, Walter Sisulu

During the Rivonia Trial, which took place in 1963 and 1964, Mandela, who was accused number 1, read a speech to justify the use of armed struggle. Sisulu, accused number 2, was the first to be interrogated. The sound archives of the trial, recently unearthed by the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, the French National Audio-visual Institute. Sisulu, while risking the death penalty, fights back. Immerse yourself in the closed doors of the hearings and the violence of apartheid, discover the testimony of an exceptional character at a key moment in the history of the 20th century. 

Over 250 hours of audio recordings of the Rivonia Trial have been digitised and restored, and some of the content is now being presented in this exhibition, along with animated virtual reality. This exhibition made its debut at the Apartheid Museum and is now displayed at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The exhibition will run from April 2022 until March 2023.