Congress Alliance
The Congress Alliance was an anti-apartheid political coalition formed in South Africa in the 1950s. Led by the African National Congress, the CA was multi-racial in makeup and committed to the principle of majority rule.
Congress Alliance
Arrests[edit]
In December 1956 many key members of the Alliance were arrested and charged with treason, including the entire executive committee of the ANC. 105 Africans, 21 Indians, 23 whites (about half of whom were South African Jews),[5]: 60–61 and 7 Coloured members of the Congress Alliance were arrested. Many leaders, including Nelson Mandela, were detained in communal cells in Johannesburg Prison, resulting in "the largest and longest unbanned meeting of the Congress Alliance in years."[6]
These arrests led to the 1956 Treason Trial, which lasted until 1961 but led to the eventual acquittal of all charged.[7]