Ruth First was one of the defendants in the Treason Trial of 1956-1961 , alongside 156 other leading anti-apartheid activists who were key figures in the Congress Alliance . After the state of emergency that followed the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 she was listed and banned . She could not attend meetings or publish , and she could not be quoted . In 1963 , during another government crackdown , she was imprisoned and held in isolation without charge for 117 days under the Ninety-Day Detention Law . She was the first white woman to be detained under this law
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Ruth First