Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — UNKNOWN

CHAIRPERSON: Yes.

GEORGE BIZOS: Mr Chairman it is with regret that I want to inform you and the members of the Committee that our clients' vehicle was ambushed yesterday as they were leaving the building in which this inquiry is being held.  They exercised tremendous restraint -  (inaudible) tragedy.  I know that it isn't really within the statutory terms of reference of this Committee, but we would submit that the circumstances under which an inquiry is held before the Committee in the immediate vicinity of the hearing is a matter for the Committee.  I do not know what the Committee can do, but we can certainly not remain silent about this sort of behaviour from persons who are obviously closely allied with the people that presented by our learned friends.  We are urging you Mr Chairman and members of the Committee to indicate at the very least, the displeasure of the Committee in relation to this event and appeal to our learned friends and their clients Mr Chairman and their supporters to allow this inquiry to proceed in a peaceful manner.  Thank you Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: Gentleman is there any of you who is aware of any difficulties that arose yesterday outside this auditorium?

MR DORFLING: This is the first time that we hear of it, I've got no knowledge of that whatsoever, it wasn't taken up with us by our learned friends either.

MR PRETORIUS: The same applies with us Mr Chair.

CHAIRPERSON: My attention was drawn to it before I came in this morning that there had been some, I won't say threats of force or violence, but unpleasantness outside and the applicants, a spokesman of the applicants, told me that they were afraid that they were going to be assaulted by the crowd that had gathered around their vehicle as they were departing.  Now this is always a very difficult matter and I know the limitations that you have.  You are representing specific clients and I understand your position, but I would like your co-operation to the extent that it is possible for you to give it to us to speak to those who you represent so that at least the message is received by them that nothing should be done which in any way hampers the work of this Committee and that threats of violence and so on, that they do not become party to any such threats and perhaps that they may themselves talk to their friends and colleagues to desist from such conduct.
	I am making this statement without having heard anything from the people or the group that are alleged to have caused this disturbance yesterday, but I do not think that at this stage I can do anything about it except to appeal to all the parties concerned to the extent that it is within your power to do so, to talk to your clients and impress upon them the necessity of allowing our proceedings to move smoothly and not be party to any kind of threat of violence.  Thank you very much.

MR TIPP: Chairperson, the next witness is the sixth applicant Mr Beea.

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: (sworn states)

MR TIPP: Mr Beea is it correct that you have applied for amnesty and that your application appears at pages 81 to 91D of bundle C?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That's correct.

MR TIPP: From page 81 to through to page 87 we have your original application for amnesty and from pages 88 to 91 we have the Affidavit which was submitted to the Inquest Court and which was annexed to your original application for amnesty.  Is that correct?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That's correct.

MR TIPP: Is it also correct that the original application was completed by you in your own handwriting?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That's correct.

MR TIPP: And then from page 91A to 91D is a supplementary Affidavit deposed to by you, supplementing your application for amnesty.  Is that correct?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That's correct.

MR TIPP: Mr Beea do you confirm the contents of your application and your two Affidavits as being true and correct?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: Yes I do.

MR TIPP: Mr Beea could you tell the Committee where you are presently employed and what work you do?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: I am currently Head of the National Intelligence agency responsible for Gauteng Province.

MR TIPP: And in March 1994?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: I was employed by the ANC and I was a member of the Department of Intelligence and Security and as a Deputy Intelligence Officer also responsible for Gauteng Province.

MR TIPP: Mr Beea I am going to have to ask you, as at the inquest, to speak louder please.  Mr Beea it's correct is it not that you were born in Alexandra in 1959?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That's correct.

MR TIPP: You went to school at Alex High and you matriculated in 1980.  Is that correct?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That's correct.

MR TIPP: Could you briefly tell the Committee about your family background?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: I am from a family of five.  My dad was a farm worker, my mom was a domestic worker.  My dad passed away in 1971 and we were left with our mom, who by then because the rest of the other family members by then were unemployed, she became the and she was the breadwinner.

MR TIPP: When did you first become involved politically?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: I first became politically conscious in 19 - after the '76 uprising or during the '76 uprising.

MR TIPP: And is it correct that in 1978, whilst you were still at school, you were recruited into the underground structures of the ANC?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: Yes, that is correct.

MR TIPP: After you matriculated in 1980, how did your political consciousness develop?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: Even underground activists, during my high school days, the instructions that I got was more political instructions.  I was one of the people who was instrumental in the formation of the then Congress of South African Students which was launched in 1979.  By then we took a resolution that we had to form the youth structures so that those who dropped out of school or finished their matrics and could not proceed with their studies to varsity and so forth, can continue their political activity in the townships so that we were trying to close the gap that your active political life should not end at the school level, it should continue even after you had finished your school.  That was the main reason why we then decided to form the youth congresses in the townships throughout the country.

MR TIPP: As far as you were concerned, in Alexandra, you were instrumental in the formation of the Alexandra Youth Congress.  Is that correct?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: Yes, that is correct.

MR TIPP: You left the country in 1981 for Botswana where you underwent military training.  Is that correct?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That is correct.

MR TIPP: Can you tell the Committee about your experiences with the authorities in 1984/85?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: Let me quickly say that when I left the country in '81 into Botswana and I got we called then a crash course and I was infiltrated back into the country to continue with the political education, because that was the thrust of the instructions from ANC then, to mobilise and conscientise people around the politics and the history of the ANC and MK and I continued doing that and during the formation of the Youth League - sorry the Youth Congresses - my role then also was to, within the Youth Congress, to continue to conscientise the youth in the township so that they rally behind the African National Congress through organisations such as the Youth Congresses.
	In 1984/85/86 we, as the Alexandra Youth Congress, were if I may use the term, harassed by the security branch police and John Vorster Square and it is in those periods that one was detained frequently.

MR TIPP: Finally in 1986 you then left the country after having been in and out a number of times and you landed up in Angola where you underwent further military training.  Is that correct?

COLSON TEBOGO BEEA: That is correct, yes.