Human Rights Violation Hearings — Cradock — 1997-02-12

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: On Monday the 15th of July 1985, there was chaos in the township of Graaf Reinet, there were camouflaged hippos before mid day that day and they were shooting tear gas all over the place so that people scattered, others running to the houses.  I was also inside the house but my shop is situated right at the turn.  Where this boy was shot there's a house of the Geld family which was in front of the house where the children ran to.  There were so many caspars that the children would run in any direction.  While I was looking while still in the shop which I decided to close although there were other people inside, because I was afraid of those hippos, most of the people were on top of the roof of the Geld family house.  Others were in the hotel in Graaf Reinet, I think they were communicating through their walkie-talkies, because since they were on Panorama they were telling them what was happening. To follow the events they went to sit on the roof of Mr Geld's house. Bullets were being fired, some of them into Mr Matsolo's house.  These children were at the back yard next to the toilet.  I was watching how these policemen were shooting, and when they had finished shooting, some of them alighted from the caspar that was in front of the Matsolo house, I could see that they were pulling two people who I saw by the legs and they threw them into the hippo just like animals.   While I was still looking at that I saw this young boy coming out of the toilet trying to run for cover somewhere else next to the Presbyterian Church.  This child disappeared there behind a building.  When I saw them coming with the two young men that they had thrown into the hippo I went to the scene.  When I arrived there I could see that the asbestos house was damaged and Reverend Madwabile had just arrived at the church said that there is a child who had just arrived there lying near the mission toilet.  He was in pain and asked Tandi, Mrs Matsola's son to go there but they couldn't lift up this child because he was heavy.
 Mr Madlwabile decided to offer his car to help. I told them that this child was going to die because he was gasping for the last.  I took the back seat in the car and I told the reverend to rush to the hospital because it was clear that the child was dying.  On the way to the hospital, as it was chaotic, the roads were barricaded and we had to take another road through the coloured township.  When we arrived At Church Street from Contsvale, one police casper drove past because it was following us.  We went through and went to the hospital.  
 When we arrived we went in and I told them that they must bring a stretcher quickly and he had pellets all over the body, especially on the left hand side. When the nurses were on their way with the stretcher trying to take him in, Doctor Smith who was the district surgeon at the time was already there.  There were three of these children there because he was now with the other boys who had been pulled by their legs.  Dr Smith looked at the first one and said he was already dead, there's nothing they can do.  The other two who were with him were those boys who were being pulled by the legs at Mrs Matsolo's house.  I thought one's eye had been gouged out, and the other one couldn't talk, he was just looking.  
 They wanted us to identify these children. I told them that I used to see one of them coming to my shop but I didn't know his name.  One lady came to identify the one who was bleeding, assisted me in signing because we did not know the parents of the boy who passed away . We later found out that the lady next to me was the mother to that child but she was on the farm.

JUNE CRICHTON: Thank you Mrs Kekana, I think we are just pleased and I think Mrs September is pleased that he did not die alone, he had you there to comfort him at that time.  One of the words that you used in your statement was that the police had invaded the township. And when we hear stories about how they pulled people by the legs into the hippos we realise what you mean by the word, invaded, it was as though they were treating people like animals.
 You say you don't know the names of the two others.

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: The other one is from the Jacobs family, he is still alive. The other one is in Cape Town because after he was discharged from Livingstone, he couldn't breathe properly, he had to be hidden by his family because he was also going to be prosecuted together with this other one from the Jacobs family who was sentenced five years.  He was also going to get a sentence of five years.

JUNE CRICHTON: Another thing you said was that the roads were barricaded, you had to take a different route to the hospital, what was the reason for that?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: It is because the hippos and police caspars were all over the place, so the children would try to barricade the roads to prevent them passing through.

JUNE CRICHTON: And then the last question, did you have to appear as a witness in court?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: Never.

JUNE CRICHTON: Not at all?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: Never.

JUNE CRICHTON: Thank you very much Mrs Kekana, those are all the questions I have for you, I'll hand you over to the chairperson now.

REV XUNDU: Mr Chairperson I want to conclude this story with Mrs Kekana. Can you please now tell us your story, I notice that in 1985 I have a date, 19th July 1985 you were manhandled at the time, you and your family and you were also arrested, can you tell us this story?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: In 1985 the very same week because there was chaos we were afraid, we didn't even want to go to the wholesalers because of the police caspars. What was more painful is that we have a hotel in the neighbourhood, they just sat there and they could see everything that was taking place in the township.
 On the 19th of July, a Friday at about 20 past nine I was preparing myself to go to the funeral of Mr Goniwe here in Cradock, my shop had two outside glass panels, and even in my house there's a glass division and if the shop is closed they usually use a curtain.  The children were still washing the dishes, and I heard that people were pelting stones from outside and they went through the outside glass to the inside glass to the house. While I was still surprised at who was doing this because the stones were just tumbling in...(intervention)

REV XUNDU: What time was that?