Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1998-05-11

GEORGE BIZOS: Yes, Mr Chairman, ...(inaudible) to the bundle.  I merely wanted to indicate that on page - of this video, it is made clear on page 95 and 96 that no election is going to take place and that violence is going to be used to stop it.  That's all I need to say at this stage.  You will satisfy yourself in relation to the video and may I indicate that this speech was made at Library Gardens by Mr Ndlovu before the shooting at Shell House.
	Mr Chairman, in order to lead a witness that is going to tell you in detail what happened, and although we were going to draw your attention to certain passages in Mr von Eggedy's evidence, we will leave that for the time being because you will have an opportunity to read it and judge the evidence given by the witnesses taken with it.  
	What the witnesses will tell you, Mr Chairman, is that once these two groups moved to the corner of De Villiers and King George Street, they were without police escort and notwithstanding Von Eggedy's efforts and the fact that the armed men of the ANC were fully visible, the crowds surged forward.  Von Eggedy described them as being on a full charge and intent to attack.  They were acting with a common purpose and they were in an aggressive, violent and attacking mode.  	Immediately before they charged forward, the crowd was chanting and jeering in the way that Von Eggedy described as the kind that one would do to charge oneself up when one is charging.  Von Eggedy was overrun by a charging crowd, he was struck a number of times, he can be seen on the video material film shortly after the shooting with a good deal of blood running down his head.  
	The two uniformed and armed policemen had also tried to stop the crowd, they had run up King George Street from where the ANC men were stationed, at the corner of Plein Street.  These two policemen were also roughly shoved aside.  One of them received a wound with a sharp instrument in the process.  May I say that large maps of the area have now become available and whilst the evidence is being led, the witness will indicate to you precisely on those large maps and the small ones that you have, both of the general area and particularly of that corner so that we may follow the evidence, Mr Chairman.  
	Our clients will say that the charge was accompanied by gunfire from the crowd.  In response to this, the ANC men on the parapet fired shots, those on street level also fired, warning shots were fired.  And then the first applicant, Gary Kruser, who was in command, gave the order to repel, shots were fired into the crowd.  Kruser gave the order to cease fire when it appeared to him that the charge had stopped.  
	It must be appreciated Mr Chairman, that these events you will be told, took place very rapidly and under circumstances of great stress.  Although the applicants believe that they acted in a justifiable manner throughout there are objective indicators that they may not have been so.  Forensic evidence was presented in detail towards the end of the inquest, Mr Chairman.  This evidence has been, was agreed to by all the parties and you will find that in bundle B, page 156 - I beg your pardon, 159 right up to page 196.  
	Now, there is a report which is in Afrikaans, if there is any problem in it, the Committee will have to deal with it, we only have it in Afrikaans, Mr Chairman.  Then, you will see that from pages 180, 182 - 188 there are diagrams in colour on which the experts agreed shots came from and where they landed.  The Lancet Hall ballistics start at 190 - 196, and it's signed by all three experts.  This does not require further proof, we submit.  The report also refers to medical evidence because the ballistics was married to the medical evidence but the medical evidence itself is not before you, certain assumptions are made in the report, and we will deal with it in due course Mr Chairman, during the course of the evidence.

CHAIRPERSON: Is there evidence to it in the inquest, in the judgment that conducted the inquest proceedings?

GEORGE BIZOS: It is, Mr Chairman, but may we say Mr Chairman, right at the outset, that in so far as there are findings of credibility or finds of fact which are in dispute, we submit that you have to make up your own decision in relation to the common cause facts and those portions that are not in dispute, it may be a useful summary for you to have regard to.
	Then, it dealt of the course only with the position of those who had died.  Seven died as a result of gunshot wounds, one was stabbed with an assegai in the back.  It is clear that almost all of them were hit after they had turned away.  This is a fact which we accept Mr Chairman.  This objective evidence correlates also with the evidence of Von Eggedy that gunfire was continuing while those who had charged forward were retreating.  Shots were still ringing out from the direction of the ANC men while these people were running back.  
	As set out in the supplementary affidavits filed by each of the applicants, the effect of this evidence has been explained to them.  They accept it, although each of them maintains that there was indeed an attack and we will try and show that there was in fact an attack, that our clients were telling the truth then and that they are telling the truth now when they tell you that there was an attack.  
	The applicants also accept the implications of part of ballistics evidence which suggests that the impression that they had at the time of the intensity and direction of the gunfire from the crowd is not objectively corroborated.  
	The ballistics evidence points also to Khumalo who was armed with an AK47 at the time at the corner of King George and Plein Streets, having fired in a far less controlled way than he would like to think.  This too would have contributed to the confusion of the situation.  
	May I refer you to - if I may indicate by way of illustration, if you have a look at page 183 Mr Chairman, you will see the cluster of red lines from ground level onto the underside of the parapet at SW1, do you see that, Mr Chairman?

CHAIRPERSON: Yes.