Human Rights Violation Hearings — Upington — 1996-10-03

WITNESS:  You see nothing can be done about the case now and I am a woman and I am alone and I don't really feel like proceeding with this case.  I would just like to perhaps receive some form of assistance for my child to help him with his studies.  Now they said that my husband had caused his own death and I never even received any, anything under my husband's insurance, well I was given, received money under the policy but I wasn't given any disability allowance because they said that he was responsible for his own death.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you Ms Isaaks.  Thank you for your evidence.  I hope that it has made you feel a little bit better to have told your story here today.  It often relieves the burden a little bit to talk but it is still very painful.  Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Mary Burton?

MARY BURTON: Ms Isaaks, it is a terrible story that you have told and it is hard even to understand why such a thing should have happened.  I am still struggling to understand.  It seems such an awful thing to happen.  Mr Brandt died after this happened?  Was he, why was he there, was he a friend of Mr Nolte?

WITNESS:  I think he was a friend of Mr Nolte's because Mr Nolte apparently also phoned him and told him to come but I don't know why they actually, what was so serious, that they had to meet each other.

MARY BURTON:  ... policeman or...

WITNESS:  No he was not a policeman, the police had already left the scene when this thing happened.  There was no reason for the police to have remained on the scene.

MARY BURTON:  The other person you mentioned, Mr Hershelman, he was also a friend?

WITNESS:  Yes I think he was just a friend.

MARY BURTON:  But he had already had differences of opinion with your husband.

WITNESS:  Yes previously.  Previously he was very angry when my husband made a case against one of his employees and my husband won the case and I think that is why he bore my husband this grudge.

MARY BURTON: You paint a very sad picture of what relationships were like in the area at the time.  I would just like to say that you say you are a woman alone but you are a very good example of how a woman can be strong and carry on her husband's business and bring up her children, so, thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes Ms Isaaks, I just wanted to add that we admire you for your strength and your courage to continue your husband's business and that you managed to put your children through school and you have only the one child left who is still at school.  We say yes we really must congratulate you with what you have achieved, that you have built something positive out of the misery that you went through and we thank God for people like you, that we have people like you in this country because it is people of your calibre who have helped us to achieve something in this liberation struggle, to be triumphant and to overcome all the oppression of the past.  Your story is almost incredible.  One can hardly believe that a person could be killed as if he was no more than a fly and that nothing happened afterwards.  There were no consequences, there were witnesses who saw what happened ... end of Tape side A ... I am very distressed about the fact that the insurance company told you that your husband was responsible for his own death.  I hope that our, that this Commission will be able to investigate this matter thoroughly and ask the insurance company to make a statement to explain their decision - would like to say also that we hope that you are supported by friends and that you feel that today whilst you were telling your story you were amongst friends, people who are sympathetic towards you.  We feel with you, we feel your pain and your suffering as well and we ask God to bless you and your family.  Thank you very much.