Special Hearings — Children's Hearings — 1997-05-22

CHAIRPERSON: So I would now like to call on Riefaat Hattas to come up to the stage.  Riefaat, before we take your testimony I would like to ask Glenda just to explain to the audience how the translation equipment works.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Now that all of you are here, let us do some housekeeping.  Those of you who understand both English and Afrikaans, could we ask you to please share your earphones with people who do not understand any of the three languages that we will be using today.  We do not have enough so we are going to have to share.  It works like this.  These are the earphones, as you know, from your CD players and on the left side of the device will be the channels.  Channel one is Afrikaans, channel two is English and channel three is Xhosa and it took me a few months to realise that they are in alphabetical order.  On the right side of your device is the volume button so you can adjust the volume.  If you do not receive a good reception please point your device in the direction of those transmitters on the stage.  Just under reconciliation, the word "reconciliation" you will see a device which is the transmitter.  So if you do not get a good reception point your device in that direction.
 Somebody with a brown car, your lights are on and I hope that you have already switched them off.  It is a brown station wagon with the registration CA404352.  If you have not switched your lights off already please rush and switch them off.  
 When you leave the hall, these devices are useless outside of the hall and, believe me, they are useless outside of the hall.  So will you give them to the ushers who are at the back, because they will then be distributing the earphones to others who do not have it.  So when you leave the hall please give your devices to the ushers at the back and then just finally, could we ask the teachers that you allow the students to leave once people have completed their testimony and not during a testimony.  So if you need to leave please will you leave after someone has given his or her testimony.  Could we have your co-operation in that regard.  Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Riefaat, I am going to ask Mrs Burton to administer the oath, but I just want to say thank you very much to you for coming, not only to speak about yourself, but to speak about the people who you call your forgotten Comrades.  It is very important that someone speaks on behalf of those people and we are very grateful for you, to you for preparing a submission for us in that regard.  Mrs Burton will swear you in and Glenda will then facilitate your evidence.

MARY BURTON: Thank you Chairperson.  Mr Hattas, will you stand please.  Are you willing to swear the oath.  Please raise your right hand.

RIEFAAT HATTAS: (Duly sworn in, states).

MARY BURTON: Thank you.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Welcome Riefaat.

RIEFAAT HATTAS: Thank you.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: We recognise that you have thought long and hard about coming to the Commission today and we really do want to thank you for coming and publicly placing on record a statement which will focus on what you call your forgotten Comrades.  We are aware of your request that we do not quote, unquote, interrogate you so we will not be interrogating you today.  In fact, we try not to do that to any of the witnesses who come before us.  What may happen at the end is that if there are things that we, perhaps, do not understand and we need some clarity on we will focus on that and perhaps ask you to restate it.  Is that in order.

RIEFAAT HATTAS: Yes.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Thank you very much.  You may go ahead and read your statement.

RIEFAAT HATTAS: Honourable Commissioners, I beg you not to put me through an interrogation all over again.  I am attending the trauma centre every Thursday.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Riefaat, just take your time.  If you feel it is too tough just take as much time as you need, okay, and Viola is next to you and she will be encouraging you, okay.

RIEFAAT HATTAS: I am severely stressed, depressed, angry, frustrated.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Riefaat, would you prefer just to talk and not read and, perhaps, start at your second paragraph?