Under Devil's Peak: The life and times of Wilfrid Cooper, and advocate in the age of apartheid

by Gavin Cooper

Wilfrid Cooper was a rare man during the dark days of South Africa's apartheid an advocate whose career coincided almost perfectly with the rise and fall of the Nationalist government, intersecting eerily with that of its most notorious proponent, HF Verwoerd, and yet a man whose enlightened principles and liberal thinking saw him regularly defending those less fortunate. His storied legal career saw him embroiled in numerous political affairs of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. He represented, among others, Verwoerd’s assassin Demitrio Tsafendas; the SWAPO Six in Swakopmund; the families of Imam Haron, Mapetla Mohapi and Hoosen Haffejee and others who died hanged by their own jeans in their cells; and Steve Biko and other activists who were arrested by the security police in the dead of night. There were also the high-profile criminal cases, including the original Kebble-style ‘assisted suicide’ of Baron Dieter van Schauroth and the appeal of the scandalous Scissors Murderess Marlene Lehnberg. Wilfrid Cooper reached the peak of his considerable legal prowess in a time when South Africans led a parallel existence, the majority downtrodden while white entitlement reigned serenely in the suburbs – a time that could have provided him a less controversial career had he desired. And yet even as he and his gregarious wife Gertrude enjoyed wonderful and very sociable years in their Newlands home in Cape Town an area that was itself remodelled under the Group Areas Act – he chose to walk the path less taken in the shadow of Devil’s Peak. This is his story.

Genres: History

308 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 28, 2016

Reviews

[D.M. Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book. It is a biography of a lawyer who practised in South Africa in the latter 20th century, mostly under the apartheid government.
Wilfred Cooper comes across as an honorable and competent lawyer. He was courageous and often defended political cases, probably to the detriment of his career.
This book is thorough and interesting, particularly when dealing with some of the bizarre trials in which he participated.
He defended Tsafendas, the man who assassinated Verwoerd, the Robespierre-like apartheid fanatic.
The revelations of government interference and skullduggery and judicial compliance in it is depressing.
There were some fair judges, but the State was venal.
The book is well presented and competently written. As a historical record it is valuable, and will no doubt be read in a hundred years time by those interested in South African history.
The book is not entirely about legal cases and we're given some information about Cooper's day to day life. A good father and husband and quite fun to know, it seems.
I can recommend this book to anyone interested in South Africa and legal trials

[Marion Roux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography by son of Wilfrid Cooper, an advocate during the Apartheid years.
A proud son's tribute to his highly principled and respected father.
Very good.