He served two prison terms under apartheid. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in 1975 for "taking part in the activities of an unlawful organisation" by distributing ANC literature, and "undergoing training or inciting or encouraging others to undergo training, or obtaining information which could be of use in furthering the achievements of any of the objects of communism or any unlawful organisation". He served his sentence in Pretoria Local, or Pretoria Prison, which was part of the Pretoria Central Prison complex, along with Denis Goldberg, Jeremy Cronin and others. He was there at the time of a daring escape in 1979 by Tim Jenkin, Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris.[4]
^Jenkin, Tim (1987). Escape from Pretoria(PDF). London: Kliptown Books. pp. 67–69. ISBN0-904759-78-4. Retrieved 26 March 2019 – via South African History Online.