Denis Goldberg was a renowned South African anti-apartheid activist and engineer. Born into a Jewish family in Cape Town to Lithuanian immigrant parents, he was an early member of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was the only white defendant to stand trial alongside Nelson Mandela in the 1963 Rivonia Trial and subsequently spent 22 years in prison.
Goldberg utilized his engineering expertise during the struggle, secretly assisting in the development of defensive equipment. While in prison, he remained steadfast, refusing to renounce his ideals in exchange for a reduced sentence and continuing his academic self-improvement. After his release, he worked for the ANC office in London and later served as a senior advisor to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry in post-apartheid South Africa. He founded the Denis Goldberg Legacy Foundation, which promotes social cohesion through arts and education projects.
Goldberg was a fierce critic of Israeli policy, explicitly likening the treatment of Palestinians to South African apartheid. He adamantly rejected the conflation of Zionism with Jewish identity. He famously remarked: “When I see what is happening to the Palestinians, I see exactly what we experienced in South Africa—the dispossession of land, the denial of dignity, and institutionalized discrimination.” He was an active supporter of the BDS movement, believing that as survivors of apartheid, South African Jews have a responsibility to be at the forefront of opposing all forms of racial discrimination.