Amnesty Hearings — Cape Town — 1997-05-19

TWOBOY JACK: My full names are Two-Boy Vakhile Jack, from L 469, in Site B, Khayelitsha in the Western-Cape.  At the moment I am at Victor Verster Prison where I am serving 14 year sentence.  I was sentenced by the Western Cape Regional Court on the 29th of January 1993.
	My charges that I was sentenced for, are the following:  attempted murder on policemen, possession of illegal firearm, and in possession of bullets without the licence and in possession of explosives illegally.  
	The deeds that I was sentenced for were on the 22nd of July in 1992.  At that moment in 1992 I was a member of the South African Community Organisation, which is SANCO.  This organisation was to foresee and to protect the rights of the community in general in the township.	
	This organisation was formed solely because, please pardon me, this was meant to be a voice of the community and
thus formed by the community because the community didn't want the leadership of the Councillors who were puppets of the apartheid regime without the consent of the community.
	Please pardon me.  At that moment the municipality of the puppets, that I have already mentioned was not of any assistance to the community.  Thus the community wanted to eliminate this municipality and they were under the oppressive government at that time and that government was not prepared to entertain the needs of the communities in the townships because they stressed that they wanted the community to worship these municipality puppets.
	Because of that, there was a faction between the residents and the municipality.  It is at that moment when the government of the apartheid regime decided to use the policemen called the Internal Stability Units, referred to as ISU's in the townships.
	That was the beginning of the war.   Because these Internal Stability Units had the intention of protecting and defending the municipalities and the Councillors, these Internal Stability Units used to patrol the townships day and nights.
	And the residents noted that the intention of these policemen mainly was to destroy the attempts of the residents who were not in unison with the puppets of the municipality.	
	These policemen did this by visiting certain houses in the residential area who were leaders of SANCO in the middle of the night and entering their premises with disrespect and waking people up and elderly people in their sleep in at unproper manner.
	They were threatening and instilling fear in small
children who were sleeping at that time.  They were searching those houses looking for illegal things and they would not mention what exactly they were looking for.
	This mishandling was done with the intention to threaten the SANCO leaders and for them to retreat from their fight against the oppression and to fight for the rights of the residents.
	Thus SANCO decided to establish a defence unit.  And a unit that will be of the same strength with the ISU policemen.  Thereafter, SANCO created this group which was later called the self defence units, SDU's.
	As time went on, I was elected to be one of the leaders in the SDU's of the Site B area in Khayelitsha.  Our main duty was to protect the residents, the community who were against the municipality of that time.
	They were to protect the community because the enemy at that time was well armed  by the oppressive government.  We were forced to also arm ourselves, that were similar to theirs.  So that we could be able to do our job as well.
	In this period of June 1992, we got a report that Hernus Kriel called a group that was called Koevoet gang, and this gang he called it to come to Cape Town in order to be used in destroying the SDU's.
	We therefor decided to arm ourselves, to prepare for the coming war.  In July 1992 news arrived that the Koevoet gang arrived in Cape Town and it was already in use in our townships.   And moreover they were used in hunting the SDU's leaders in their houses.
	The attack rate of houses escalated on SDU members by unknown people.  And many STU members were hurt together with SANCO members, they were heavily injured.  Their houses
were burnt by unknown people at night.  During the day SANCO people were being attacked by criminals who were protecting the Councillors.
	Whilst the ISU policemen were watching by without trying to intervene and to protect all these people who had been attacked.  I heard that I was in their top hitlist of the SDU's in the Site B area who was supposed to be killed.
	So that we should protect ourselves and be on guard.  Our families and our houses and the residents at large started patrolling and the SDU's daily and nightly in the Site B area and we heard that the ISU police had a right to shoot us wherever they spotted us at night.
	This made it very clear that we were in war.   There was a fight between the SDU's and the ISU which was being assisted by the Koevoet gang.
	On the 22nd of July in 1992, whilst we were patrolling  amongst the houses in the Site B area, in the L area, we noticed that the police of the ISU were patrolling up and down amongst these houses as well.  
	Amongst ourselves it was myself and Maxim (indistinct) Phakamisa and (indistinct) Mhlutwa and Xama Qungishi.  We were armed in the following manner.  Myself, I had a 303 rifle and Phakamisa had an AK47 and an explosive called M57.
	Mhlutwa was armed with a R4 rifle,  Qungishi was armed with a firearm.  We tried by all means not to be spotted by these policemen, because we knew that we were in the risk of being killed.
	We tried to move very carefully and we tried to seek hiding in a shack that was in a certain street, that I do not know its name.  It was one of the shacks that were being used by hawkers during the day.
	It doesn't have any doors and it is very small.   We did not hide in complete shack, but we tried that nobody should see us from far.
	Because this was being used for selling, it was open.  And it was very easy for anyone to see us.  Whilst we were hiding in there, we noticed that there were policemen of the ISU who were approaching this site where this shack was where we were hiding.
	At that time we took  a decision that it would be very dangerous for us to leave them until they reach us.   We therefor decided that we were going  to attack them as soon as they approached this shack.
	When they approached, a distance of about a metre about 25 metres or 50 or so, Mhlutwa started firing.  He pointed towards those policemen, he shot at them.   After shooting Mhlutwa threw the explosive to these policemen and thereafter he hid.
	I followed thereafter, I shot at these policemen.  Thereafter I also hid in this shack.  Thereafter Phakamisa followed his shot as well and he also threw an explosive as well.  All this time the policemen were also shooting back.
	And I was ultimately shot in my right hand.  When we realised that we did not have any more bullets, we decided to run away in different directions.  I was not arrested at that time and I attempted to find a taxi that took me to the hospital.
	That is where I was arrested.  And I was therefor charged with Maxmim Mshlabunsima Phakamisa.  In court during our matter, we heard that there were policemen who were injured in that incident but their names we do not know.
	Finally, I was found guilty and I was sentenced the
years I have already mentioned, I was sentenced to jail.  What I was sentenced for was a political one.
	It was due to a response of the mishandling and the oppressive manner of the policemen who were serving the apartheid regime, the government that was in power at that time.
	This happened in a time when these policemen mentioned did this with the intention of creating a war situation in the community.  Although what I was sentenced for, was illegal, it was necessary so that the general community in the townships should be protected against the criminals of the government of the day.
	The intention or the aims of doing this, was to evict this ISU policemen completely in our Black townships because the residents did not want them.  This was meant to remove these policemen in the townships so that the residents should be able to fight for their rights which is their human rights without any threats.
	Threats from the policemen.  Again this deed was aimed at showing the government of that time that the residents or the community did not want  these municipality puppets who were imposed on them.
	This deed was agreed upon and the decision was taken by SANCO.  This decision was taken by SANCO by creating the SDU's.  Truly speaking because of this deed that we were sentenced for, it became very clear that the Councillors  had to resign.
	And those policemen of the ISU's left our townships.  I therefor plea with this Committee to see this deed that I committed myself and the circumstances under which it happened, as one that is forgivable under the Section 20 of
Act 34 of 1995.  I am finished.