Human Rights Violation Hearings — Worcester — 1996-06-24

ADV POTGIETER: Can I ask for some order before we start -  [indistinct]  - thank you very much.  Mr Opperman will you rather give you evidence in Afrikaans.  We welcome here is that Ms Opperman with you?

MR OPPERMAN: Yes that is indeed  so.

ADV POTGIETER: Ms Opperman we welcome you here.  Just before you take your testimony Mr Opperman, we need you to   do the oath.  Would you please rise.  
KAREL JAKOBUS OPPERMAN Duly sworn states

ADV POTGIETER: Mr Opperman, your testimony also has to do with an event in Ashton that occurred during 1990 is that correct.  Would it be possible for you to tell us broadly what happened, who you are, where you live, what you personal circumstances are.

MR OPPERMAN: I am from Ashton.  My name of Karl Opperman.  I live in the location there.  I lost my eye because of events that I can't entirely remember on a particular day.  I suddenly felt a burning feeling in my eye when they shot at me and I ran into my house and I ran into the back of my yard so I could wash my face.  I then passed out at the back of my yard.
I was then taken to hospital at the back of a bakkie and in Montagu I felt that I could not be helped, I had to go to the Tygerberg Hospital.  The ambulance then took me to the Tygerberg Hospital.   And at the hospital the police van saw me and then I was taken into the hospital and a women there through a coat over me but the policeman still followed me and then eventually the people who worked in the hospital said that a month earlier they were striking and if the police would not leave me alone, they would strike again.

ADV POTGIETER: Mr Opperman sorry to interrupt you but would it be possible for you to speak slightly slower, the interpreters have some difficulty keeping up so that everyone will be able to understand you.  Would you please try and just speak a little slower - sorry for the interruption.

MR OPPERMAN: Then I saw a doctor I asked for painkillers. I did not receive any painkillers. Then on the Sunday morning early a doctor came.  I then asked  the doctor whether I could first get some painkillers.  Then Gerry Johnson, a lawyer, came to see what  the circumstances were and then I asked the lawyer, Gerry Johnson, whether I could be placed under some sort of protection since the police continued to threaten me.
Then Gerry spoke to the doctor and asked the doctor to provide me with security staff which they did.  I then stayed in the hospital.  The problem that I have is that if my other eye gets damaged in future what will happen of me and my children.  I have heard nothing from the attorney that I have appointed.  This attorney just keeps telling that he will phone me again and then he never eventually phones me.  I do not know who to go to except this Truth Commission.

ADV POTGIETER: Is there anything else that you would like to add to your testimony before I ask you questions?

MR OPPERMAN: No, you can ask.

ADV POTGIETER: I want to go back to the event itself that you are giving testimony on where you were shot.  What day of the week was this?

MR OPPERMAN: It was on such a day the 30 June 1990.

ADV POTGIETER: Where exactly did this occur?

MR OPPERMAN: It is exactly in the street where I live at the moment, in Bloekom Street, in Ashton.

ADV POTGIETER: What was the exact situation in Ashton at that time?

MR OPPERMAN: On that particular day there were women who marched from town and those people were locked up by the police.  But then it was very calm that afternoon in the location.  There was no indication that there was any kind of event going on at that time.

ADV POTGIETER: Do I understand you correctly, were there women who were locked up on that day.

MR OPPERMAN: This is true but  it was in the town itself that these women were locked up.

ADV POTGIETER: You said that these people were busy with a march.

MR OPPERMAN: It was on the Saturday morning.  And these women were still locked up and I 
was then shot between 2 and 3 o'clock in that afternoon.

ADV POTGIETER: What was the reason for this march?

MR OPPERMAN: I don't have any idea.   I do not know why this march happened.  It was very quite there in the location.  I was there in my yard.  I saw the police van and the next thing I saw I was shot.

ADV POTGIETER: What was the feeling of the community with regards to the women who were locked up?

MR OPPERMAN: There was no particular uproar in the location.  A lot of people tried to collect their families at the police station  and the people went and asked for their family members, but the location was very quite.  There was no particular uproar or noise or anything with regard to this event.
The people were in the main road of the town.  The only people who were doing anything.

ADV POTGIETER: Were the police driving around in the township in their police vans.

MR OPPERMAN: No, I did not see a  lot of police vans.  I only saw one police van and then I was shot.  It all happened very quickly.

ADV POTGIETER: Were you in the street when you were shot?

MR OPPERMAN: Yes, I was in the street.

ADV POTGIETER: When you were shot, was there any sort of problem or uproar in the street itself.

MR OPPERMAN: No, I  heard nothing, no noise, nothing that indicated that there was any sort of uproar or event taking account or unrest going on in the township.

ADV POTGIETER: Were you a member of any political organisation at the time?

MR OPPERMAN: No.

ADV POTGIETER: You are a family man.  Where were you on your way that afternoon?

MR OPPERMAN: I was on the way from a friend's home.  I was walking up the hill towards my own home and then I was suddenly shot.

ADV POTGIETER: Were there people meeting together there in your area when you were shot?

MR OPPERMAN: There were a couple of people sitting across the road but they were not doing anything particular that would have given an indication that there was unrest or anything else, just suddenly I  was - I  went to wash my face when I had this burning feeling in my face.  I noticed that there was blood.   And so then I was taken to the hospital in a bakkie after I had fainted  and I only recovered consciousness at the hospital.

ADV POTGIETER: Were there any warnings before you were shot?

MR OPPERMAN: No, I received no warning before I was shot.

ADV POTGIETER: Who shot you do you think?

MR OPPERMAN: It was Roy and Braaff.

ADV POTGIETER: Are  these police officers?

MR OPPERMAN: Yes, they are two police officers from Ashton.

ADV POTGIETER: Would you think there was any reason why someone would shoot you?

MR OPPERMAN: No, I have had no argument with these people earlier.  I had no personal disagreement or any other reason why they should want to shoot me.

ADV POTGIETER: Due to this shooting incident you lost your left eye.

MR OPPERMAN: Yes, this left eye was removed

ADV POTGIETER: For how long were you for treatment in the hospital?

MR OPPERMAN: I initially went in for a week.  And I asked the hospital if he  could fix my eye up so that could continue to use it, but when I came back a week later, the doctor told me that  sadly he would have to remove my eye.  He was very unhappy about it and I was very unhappy about it.

ADV POTGIETER: Did you have work at that time?

MR OPPERMAN: Yes I had work.

ADV POTGIETER: Would the loss of your eye have had any impact on your ability to work?

MR OPPERMAN: Yes, it was a difficult for me because I am a mechanic, I always work under cars and so on and I have had some consequences because of this.

ADV POTGIETER: What was the state of your health before the incident.

MR OPPERMAN: No there was no particular reason  but I did suffer consequences from this event.

ADV POTGIETER: How is your other eye at the moment?

MR OPPERMAN: I do not know what will happen to my eye in future.

ADV POTGIETER: How do you feel about the police officers who shot you?