Human Rights Violation Hearings — Louis Trichardt — 1997-04-09

DR RANDERA: You have told us in your statement that he was in detention for three months and that you found out....

MS MUDAU: I did not see him within the three months.  I was just communicating with him telephonically, because I learned that he was dead, so I was worried.  That is why I went up and down.

DR RANDERA: Okay.  What about Mr Mudau?  Did he see Bethuel in that three month period?

MR MUDAU: I was not visiting him, since the mother was going.  So I was not able, not that I had in it a problem.  It is just that I was also worried about the very same incident.  It really touched me because it is something that really happened.  It took place because of the Government.  I was so worried, I just did not want to go there to visit him.  I was just happy after the three months when he was released and he came back.  When he was complaining that they were beating him, as she did say about the scar.  When he went to the hospital frequently he was coming back, he went there and he died.  There was this SAFAS which took him and he went to the mortuary.  From the mortuary, the Government mortuary, they transferred him.  They said when they were taking him that the cause of his death was the injury on the head.  Apparently his brain was damaged.  Then they said it was rotten.

DR RANDERA: I just want to take you back a little.  Both you and your wife said when he came out of prison, you noticed that he had this big cut on his head was there any other changes that you noticed in Bethuel's personality?  Was he able to go back to school in that year when he was out of detention?

MR MUDAU: No, he did not go back to school.  He was just struggling, because he was suffering.  Well, we used to stand in to the hospital and there was no change.  He used to complain about his teeth.  The hospital people were saying to him, well in fact, three of them were taken out. The third time he died.

DR RANDERA: Did you ever lay a charge against the police for what happened to Bethuel?

MR MUDAU: No.

DR RANDERA: Thank you very much to both of you.

THOMAS MANTHATA: At his funeral, did other children, school children participate in the funeral?  Or other young people?

MR MUDAU: There were a lot of them.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What I want to point out is that, that could have been a pointer to you that he was a very active child at school and he was fairly popular.  You may have not been able to detect that as parents, but this to us is a pointer of who he was.  This is all we are interested in.  Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Mudau, apart from your son, were there other people who were arrested at the same time?

MR MUDAU: Well, that group which came to that specific house, I cannot specifically remember how many days they spend when they were beating the people up and sending them to the cells.  I do not remember exactly how many days it was.

CHAIRPERSON: But he was not the only one who was arrested on that day?

MR MUDAU: No, a lot of them were arrested.  They were being assaulted and they were beaten up and so on, at that time.

CHAIRPERSON: What was happening just before they were arrested?  Was there a march or were they singing?

MR MUDAU: I think what really caused the trouble so they - I am not sure whether it is true or not, but I think the problems eminated from the fact that the people were against the proposals which were being enforced on the people.  Especially the Government, Mpepu Government about the Venda tax.  I do not know, I am not sure.  I cannot say I was really in touch with that.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, Mr Mudau and Rosina, for coming to give us the story.  We have heard a number of cases regarding the resistance of the people to the incorporation of Vleifontein into the Venda homeland.  There was quite obviously a lot of suffering at that time and we thank you for coming forward.  Thank you.

MR MUDAU: Thank you too.
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