Arrested for "immorality" in South Africa

Witness History

In 1969, a white man and an Indian woman were put on trial in South Africa for conspiring to have sex.

Dr Zureena Desai and Professor John Blacking were the most high profile couple to be arrested under the Immorality Act.

Their case made headlines all over the world and made a laughing stock of South Africa's ruling National Party and its racist regime.

Dr Desai tells Vicky Farncombe about the ridiculous lengths police officers went to in order to gather evidence against the couple, including climbing trees and listening at ventilation shafts.

“Young people born after 1994 don't remember what South Africa was like,” she says. “People died. And people were arrested for fatuous reasons.”

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(Photo: Dr Zureena Desai. Credit: Abrie Jantjies)