Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietersburg — 1996-07-19

MR MALAN: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the third and the last day for the moment here in Petersburg.  We will be hearing of seven witnesses today.  They are here with us, they're sitting in the front here and I want to extend a special word of welcome to all the witnesses and their families with us, we hope that they will have a relaxed day despite the tensions that we know that they're bearing within them, my request and the request of us here at the table is for all of you to afford them the opportunity to relate their stories with dignity, it is a serious situation, and we would like you to accord them the courtesy and the order to us to conduct our task here with the fullest dignity we can possibly afford everybody.
 I have a few matters that I want to relate to you.
The first is that we do have a translation service here which goes simultaneously with the testimony, so if there are any of you that would not be able to follow the language in which the witness is speaking to us, you can at the front here obtain a little receiving set with a head phone, please that is only for the people that cannot follow the language in which the testimony will be given,  The translation service is into three languages and this little receiver has three channels, the first is Afrikaans, it's numbered on the left of the set here, the second channel is in English and the third is in Northern Sotho.  Please do not take them out of the hall, they are of no value outside, but it is an expense to the Commission if they go lost.  We lost five of them on Wednesday but we were very lucky here yesterday, with the cooperation of the public we didn't lose any, we got all of them back and I want to thank you all also for your assistance in that.
 Then a few further requests, do not please keep your cell phones if you have any, switched on, that's a request from some of the people and please no flashlight photography at all, it's distracting to the witnesses and to us who have to listen to the witnesses.
 The first will be Mathibela Molopo Johannes who will be giving evidence about him being shot and wounded.  Dr Russel Ally will lead this witness.  Then we have Mathee Committee Mahudu who will be giving evidence about torture and Professor Piet Meiring will be leading that.  The third witness which we will hopefully complete before tea break will be Marule Klaas Mashabela and this will be about the burning of her house, where Tom Manthata will lead the witness.
 You have on your programme Mrs Maditsi, but she already gave her testimony on Wednesday, so that you can take as having already been done.  So after tea we will start with Nkoeneng happy Mabua which will give evidence on an assault which Dr Russel Alley will lead, then Piet Meiring will lead the evidence of Ntoampe Steven Moganedi. 
 Molopo Johannes Mathebela will come to the stand and Dr Russel Ally will lead the witness. 
 Sorry, I was told that I did not introduce myself, my name is Wynand Malan and I'm also a member of the Human Rights Violations Committee.

RUSSELL ALLY: Good morning to you Mr Mathibela, you're the first witness today, so I just want you to relax, there's no need to be nervous, are you picking up the translation okay on the headphone.

MR MATHIBELA: Yes I can hear.

RUSSELL ALLY: Before we begin I want to just stand and raise your right hand and take the oath.

MATHIBELA MOLOPO JOHANNES: (sworn states)

RUSSELL ALLY: Johannes you're coming to speak to us about an incident that happened in May 1990 when you were shot, I would ask you now to relate your story to us, thank you.

MR MATHIBELA: My name is Molopo Johannes Mathibela Chiba.  On the 5th of May I was on my way together with my friends from my aunt's place, he name is Maggie Magaschula.  When we were on our way we saw a car.  We were on the east of that place and the car on the west.  When we met the car it came to our side which was on the left side of the road.  The car turned around and came to us.  The lights of the car were dim and it stood there for five minutes and we thought that the occupants knew us, but they did not.
 The car turned around and we now realised that it was a police car and we went to them to ask why they were not talking to us. We were at a shop called Thabisa Cross Roads. Zacharia Machi Fani and I went to the police guys and we found that the other police guys were at the shop, and we asked them why they were following us. We got no answer. I was wearing an ANC and SACP T-shirt but at that time the police did not want us to wear those T-shirts. The guy came out of the police van and started shooting at us.  As you know, a bullet is very fast, it went straight into my right eye I fell unconscious. 
 My friends took me to my sister and brother, his name was Skalima Mathibela, they took me from that place and they looked for a car, Mr Lucas Magolia's car to take me to the hospital. They took me to Mathlalesent ...(indistinct) Hospital where Dr Joe Pashla who is now the MSC for Health in the Northern Province legislature was a doctor at that time.  Because I understand a little English I heard him saying that I was totally destroyed.  I was confused at the time and I wanted to be released immediately because I realised that I wasn't going to be cured at the hospital at the time.  They begged me to stay and I spent a day there when I was transferred to Garankuwa Hospital.  I spent weeks, maybe a month at the hospital and they took my eye out.
 After they released me I went back home and after spending some time there they called me back to Garangkuwa to have an artificial eye fitted. I went there for treatment until they could do this, which they did.  
 I took my case to the Human Rights lawyer, a Mr Serfontein who is now an MSC in this province, in 1990.  During the elections in 1994, Mr Serfontein was busy with the elections and he asked me to come to the office and he asked me if he could transfer the case to Mr Shenk. He did that and I thought Mr Shenk would write to me or call me to the office but he never did.  Serfontein continued to write to me and he informed me that the case was with the other lawyer.  I waited until I went to the office and the last time I went there was in May this year.
  In June this year they wrote a letter to me in which they told me that they wrote a letter to one Indian guy in Pretoria and that my case would be with the advocate in Pretoria.  I asked how far my case was and they told me that they wrote a letter to Mr Petrie about a settlement of money for my compensation.  They said it was written during May 1996.  From that time I left them and thought of coming to the Commission because these people were wasting my time, because this has dragged on since it happened in 1990 and I didn't understand the reason for the delay. Nothing has happened up to now on coming to the Commission, I still haven't received anything from them.
 The registration number for the car is LP810, cream white in colour and it's a Toyota van.  The policemen who shot me were Lesiva Jonas Mahowa and Jali.  I don't know his other name, only his surname.  I knew them because the station commander heard them saying that they shot a man in Sepaku at the station.  I saw the station commander when I came back from Garankuwa Hospital.  He came to me to ask me what happened.  I didn't know those guys at the time but the station commander told me their names.  I know Jali, I can recognise him but Lesiva, I saw him the last time, he day he shot me.  I can recognise him by his height and his face, that's how I knew this guy.
 The doctor who fitted the artificial eye was Dr Lewis and his colleagues.  This is all, I'll wait for your questions.