Rivonia, noun

/rɪˈvəʊnɪə/
Origin:
The name of a suburb to the north of Johannesburg.
Often attributive, designating a. Operation Mayibuye (sense a); b. the police raid on Lilliesleaf Farm on the 11th of July 1963 which ended Operation Mayibuye, seventeen members of the ‘national high command’ being arrested, and, c. (usually in the phrase Rivonia trial), the lengthy trials for treason which followed. Also transferred sense.
1964 H.H.W. De Villiers (title)Rivonia.
1964 H.H.W. De Villiers Rivonia (Back cover)The Rivonia Trial revealed a sinister plot by communist-inspired conspirators whose objectives were the overthrow of the South African Government by means of violence, guerilla warfare and bloody revolution.
1967 E. Rosenthal Encycl. of Sn Afr. 460Rivonia Trial, Named after fashionable northern suburb of Johannesburg where in June and July 1963 quantities of equipment were found, designed for attempted civil war in South Africa.
1971 Weekend Post 6 Nov. 1The liberal press in South Africa were busy trying to break down the Security Police to the ground and to create a new Rivonia.
1987 New Nation 23 July 2Motsoaledi, a former organiser of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (Sactu), was sentenced to life imprisonment in the historical Rivonia trial.
1987 J.C. Moll in Dict. of S. Afr. Biography V. 263F[ischer]..led the legal team for the accused in the Rivonia trial in 1963 when Umkonto we Sizwe planned to sabotage state property.
1989 Sunday Times 15 Oct. 7The Rivonia raid was a major security coup...The raid led to the famous Rivonia trial at which ANC leader Nelson Mandela, Sisulu and six others were sentenced to life imprisonment.
1990 R. Mhlaba in E. Prov. Herald 18 Jan. 8I was banned off and on until Rivonia.
1990 E. Prov. Herald 12 Feb. 8On July 11, 1963, the police swooped on the Rivonia farm in Johannesburg and arrested most of the ANC’s underground leadership. When the famous Rivonia trial was held, Mr Mandela was accused No 1.
1990 M. Van Wyk Smith Grounds of Contest 99In the early 60’s..massive security clamp-downs and several treason trials (notably Rivonia) effectively brought to an end most open resistance.
1992 Drum Jan. (Then & Now) 10The first signs of the new militancy were evident in the reports on sabotage. The Rivonia trial ended in June 1964, and the leadership of both the ANC and the PAC was effectively silenced.
Operation Mayibuye (sense a);
the police raid on Lilliesleaf Farm on the 11th of July 1963 which ended Operation Mayibuye, seventeen members of the ‘national high command’ being arrested, and,
(usually in the phrase Rivonia trial),the lengthy trials for treason which followed. Also transferred sense.
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Riversdale foot, noun phrasen. phr.rix-dollar, nounn.
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