Human Rights Violation Hearings — Klerksdorp — 1996-09-26

CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Sephapo, good morning.  Can you hear me?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Good morning, sir.

CHAIRPERSON: Are you comfortable?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, I am comfortable.

CHAIRPERSON: Good. Mrs Sephapo, you have brought another lady with you this morning. Can you please introduce her to us as well?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: This is Sipho Molloy, my neighbour.

CHAIRPERSON: I welcome Mrs Molloy as well and thank her for coming and giving you support through this trying statement that you are going to be telling us about now.  Mrs Sephapo, you are from Kanana.  Kanana is just outside Orkney, which isn't very far from Klerksdorp. It is also a mining community, and you have come to tell us about the shooting and killing of your son, Michael Majara Sephapo.  mr Tom Manthata, who is sitting on my left is going to be helping you as you tell your story. Before I hand over to him, would you please stand to take the oath.

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: (Duly sworn, states).

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, ma'am.  Mr Manthata.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Good morning, Hilda.   Mrs Hilda, you are welcomed and we also welcome your neighbour.  Can you briefly tell us who you are?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: I am Hilda Seipati Sephapo.  I got married Mr
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2 S H SEPHAPO
Sephapo in 1971 and I am blessed with six children.  This man left me in 1989.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Mr Sephapo passed away?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, he passed away.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Are you employed?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: I am not employed, I am only doing a temporary job at my cousin's shop.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Are the six children at school?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, all of them are at school.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What standard is the eldest one?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: The eldest one is at the University of Witwatersrand, with the help of a bursary.

THOMAS MANTHATA: And the last born?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: The last born is doing Std 1.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Thank you.  There is progress in your family.  What can you tell us about Michael Majara?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Michael Majara Sephapo said to us he is going to the shop. We didn't have a shop nearby.  He had to go to a faraway shop.  At half past seven there were gun shots.  That was the last time we heard of him.
 The next day my brother fetched me from work and he said Michael had been shot, he was at the Klerksdorp mortuary and he was identified by another woman.  We took an initiative to go and make sure whether he was the person identified as my child.  He was shot and he tried to crawl to a nearby house, House No 341, but the police fetched him in the house and they kicked him.  I don't remember whether it was the soldiers or the police who kicked him.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Who told you that he was kicked?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: The owner of the house told me that he was kicked by those people.
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3 S H SEPHAPO

THOMAS MANTHATA: Didn't she tell you what happened thereafter?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: She told me that they kicked him and they took him with them.

THOMAS MANTHATA: You were told that your son was at the mortuary since his disappearance.  Didn't your neighbour tell you that he was taken by certain people?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: We only heard the next day, because we were so scared to go out into the streets.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What was happening in the streets?  What was frightening you?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: The soldiers' Hippos were driving around and people were running as they heard the gun shots.

THOMAS MANTHATA: If I understood you well, was it the time of boycotts?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes.

THOMAS MANTHATA: These of course were organised by the youth and the school children?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, he was also a school child.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Was he schooling at that time?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, he was doing Std 9.  He was the first born.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Was he involved in the youth organisations?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: No, I didn't know that he was involved.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What did you do when you found him at the mortuary?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: We requested his corpse to take it to AVBOB.  He wasn't alone.  There were many.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Are you saying there were many corpses?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Do you have an idea of how many were there?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Four of them I knew, that was on the 4th of
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4 S H SEPHAPO
March.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Were they also from Kanana?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Did you meet as parents to investigate as to what happened?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: No, we didn't have time to go to the police to seek help, we only came together as the parents of Kanana to bury our children.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Were you scared to go to the police?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, we were very scared.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Didn't you have leaders in your township to go to the police on your behalf?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: No, not even one of them.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Now the church leaders?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: One minister of religion, he was a Father at the Roman Catholic Church was helping us.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Were they not buried by the Minister?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: One Roman Catholic minister came to bury the whole group.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Did you go anywhere for help after this incident as to what was the cause of the death?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: No, we didn't go anywhere.

THOMAS MANTHATA: The youth leaders that were organising the boycotts, didn't they come to help you?  Didn't they go to Pretoria or to Gauteng to get you a lawyer?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: No.

THOMAS MANTHATA: I will stop it just there.   Thank you.

PROF MEIRING: Mrs Sephapo, just a few questions about your own circumstances for our records.  You are living with your children at the moment, all of them?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, Sir.
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5 S H SEPHAPO

PROF MEIRING: Do you live in your own house?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, Sir.

PROF MEIRING: But you have no fixed income, just the temporary job you have? Or do you get a pension or any money from elsewhere?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: No, I don't get any grant.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Fazel Randera?

DR RANDERA: Mrs Sephapo, I note first of all that the night that your son was killed, was the same night that Mrs Khiba's son disappeared.  I would also just like to clarify.  You say that when you went to the mortuary, in talking to Mr Manthata you said there were four corpses there.  Whereas in your own statement you said there was only one other corpse. Was that a mistake? I am talking about the statement you made to our statement-takers.  Do you want me to repeat the question?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: Yes, please.

DR RANDERA: All right. In the statement that you made to our statement-takers, you said there was only one other corpse.  But just now when you spoke to Mr Manthata you said there were four other people.   Was that a mistake when you spoke to our statement-takers?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: I counted the three Kanana boys that were also shot dead.

DR RANDERA: My last question is to do with laying a charge.  Did you go and lay a charge at the police station about the death of your son?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: I didn't go to the police to lay charges, because I assumed it was a tragedy for all of us.

DR RANDERA: Thank you very much, ma'am.
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6 S H SEPHAPO

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: I also thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Just further to the question that Dr Randera asked.  Were there any court cases, court proceedings, an inquest, for example in connection with the deaths?  Your son and the other three deaths?

SEIPATI HILDA SEPHAPO: No court case, no inquest.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you make any statements to the police in connection with the death of your son?