Human Rights Violation Hearings — Worcester — 1996-06-25

ADV POTGIETER: That's for a period of just over six months.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Three - three months.

ADV POTGIETER: Three I am sorry Pumla.

MINA DAY: It was just about 4 months.

ADV POTGIETER: Four months - well Ms Day  it just remains for me to thank you for coming here, and waiting to share your  story  with us.  There is very little that one can do - or one can say or add to what was already said.  All that one could perhaps just say is  we thank you  for sharing that story with us and the hope is that through hearing these stories, hearing all these outrages things that happened, we would be able to at least learn something and learn to make sure that things like that never happens again.
 And it's for that particular reason that - that we must thank you for actually coming forward and sharing what's clearly a very  painful experience with us, we thank you very much.
STATEMENT FROM WITNESS -

MINA DAY: I am an adult female residing at no 48 Building Street at Zolani township in Ashton.  During the State of Emergency period, that is, on the 15th of June 1986.   I was at home with my son Crosby Loyiso Day sitting in the sitting room as others were in the bedroom, namely Mimi Day Betye, Thulisa Betye and others who were still young at that time.
 It was at about 800pm and we were busy eating our late supper.  I heard a terrible knock at my door.  Whilst listening to that knock I heard other knocks at my windows and I decided to look  as my window curtain was not closed.  Through the window I saw white policemen.  Whilst there were those policemen next to the windows, others were busy  damaging my door in order to access it as it was closed and locked.
 They managed to open the front door and I realised later that it was damaged as they used force to open it.  After the door was opened I saw Ndoyisile Ndabeni and Sayinile Teacher Ndabeni in front entering my house.  The first thing they  did was to insult my son Crosby Loyiso Day for not opening the door when they were knocking.  They thereafter went straight to him accusing him of being Cheeky and assaulted him.  Both of them beat him with their sjamboks.
 Loyiso in attempting to defend himself grabbed Ndoyisile  and put him down and strangled him as he was lying down.  Ndoyisile pulled out his pistol with the intention of  shooting Loyiso as they could see that he was being overpowered [my assumption] Nodiyisile was stopped by Mr Joubert after being asked by Mr Gamleki Mxhamelu Day whether to pull out  a gun was in the line with the Law.
 After this  we went outside the house and I asked the police why Ndoyisile and Teacher assaulted Loyiso - what did he do - there was no reply from the police, instead it was my turn to be beaten up.  I was beaten by Ndoyisile, Teacher and Mr Nkomiphela.  Mr Nkomiphela knocked me with a knopkierie, he was carrying, that is a stick with round head, on my head at the back.  
 He knocked me twice, as a result I was bleeding furiously as his knocks caused a wound on my head.  I grabbed Ndoyisile.  When I was about to hit him a certain white policeman whom I believe was from Montagu, knocked or hit me on my back with the back of a rifle.  I became extremely angry.  I took an axe which I  was going to  use to harm Ndoyisile and Teacher.  Unfortunately or fortunately for  them, they were already gone by the time I had the axe with me.
 There were only two white policemen closer to me now though others were just all over the place inside my yard.  In other words those two policemen were the ones I ended up dealing with them.  The first thing they did was to take the axe away from me.  One of them, viz. the one who hit me said I should go inside the house otherwise I would be shot.  The last part of his sentence is the one which made me very angry.
 In my reply I said they should rather kill me as they are used to killing innocent people.  He then pointed his rifle at me and put it on my forehead three times.  He was stopped by his colleagues but he persisted in pointing his rifle at my forehead.  At last he stopped because his colleague was saying to him that he had to stop. 
 Thereafter he said that I  deserved to be locked up  in a police cell.  I was then put inside the SAP van by force.  I was badly treated seeing that I was an adult woman.  We were then taken to Worcester Prison and thereafter transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town as others were transferred to Victor Verster in Paarl.  I stayed there for  three months and were released on 18th September 1986.

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT: Investigators interviewed Ms Day on the 17th of June.  She stated that on the 15th of  June 1986 she and here family were having dinner at her house at approximately 800pm.  There was a knock at the door and she saw a white policeman through the window.  The police forced the door open and entered the house.  She saw Ndoyisile Ndabeni and Samile Ndabeni a Teacher .  These two people went straight to her son Crosby Loyiso Day.
 They insulted him for not opening the door when they knocked and began to assault him.  Ms Day asked the men why they were assaulting her son.  They then hit her with sjamboks and knopkieries.  They arrested her and took her outside where she saw many policemen and SADF members surrounding her house.  She was taken to Worcester prison [see prison records] and from there to Pollsmoor prison and finally to Victor Verster prison.
 She stated that she had at no stage broken the law, she had merely attempted to protect her son.  She stated that she had not received medical attention.   The prison records indicate that she had scrapes on her face and marks on her back that indicated that she had been hit.  There were also marks on her upper thighs.  The records indicate that the marks were evident 6 days after the incident.

<UNKNOWN>: On 17th June 1986 police in Ashton were reported to have tortured nine detainees during their arrest and interrogation.