Human Rights Violation Hearings — Tzaneen — 1997-04-10

THOMAS MANTHATA: Our next witness is Komane Molapo.  Komane Molapo.

DR RANDERA: Mr Molapo, good morning.  Can you hear me clearly ?

KOMAPE MOLAPO: Yes, I can hear you.

DR RANDERA: Thank you.  Mr Molapo could you please stand to take the oath.

KOMAPE MOLAPO: Before I could  stand up I'd like to correct a name.  It's not Komane, it's Komape.

DR RANDERA: Thank you.  Will you just repeat after me.  I swear that the story I'm about to tell, is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

KOMAPE MOLAPO: (sworn states)

DR RANDERA: Thank you.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Thank you Komape.  We heard that people shot you, not because they intended to shoot you.  You just happened to be the victim, because you were there.  What we call cross- fire.  Could you please explain to us shortly how, how it happened that you got shot at the time.

KOMAPE MOLAPO: The youth have had a meeting just a week before Good Friday at Namagale Church.  Before they dispersed, as they were dispersing one  car hit one of the youths and the youths started to attack that car.  They hit one soldier and the other soldiers were able to run away to their camps.  After those kids left, they thought the one, that soldier had died.  They went home but the others went to one hotel at Namagale.
 When they arrived, just some few minutes after they arrived, I came to the hotel too.  When I arrived there I was trying to speak to the employees of the hotel and they didn't want to listen to me and those kids tried to explain what happened that day, to those women at the hotel.  After a while we heard a gun shot which broke the doors at the reception of the hotel and the glasses were all over.   I think it was three gun shots and the door broke down and after a while a handgrade, grenade was thrown into the hotel.  I did not understand actually what hit me on my back, whether it was a handgrenade or the gun shot.  I fell down but I could walk and I hid under a sofa.  
 From six in the evening until twelve I was seated there and after a while I heard some noises in the hotel.  I crawled to those people and they happened to see me.  They were there seated with the owner of the hotel and he managed to take us to the hospital.  
 What happened again that day is that there were other people who were with me there and they, he was, one of them was shot and he died instantly and that one was taken to the mortuary too and the others were taken to the hospital.  When we arrived at the hospital, we found that they had arranged a doctor, a stand-by doctor for us and they tried to give me first aid and when the other people who dropped me at the hotel wanted to go back, I said I was leaving with them because I was frightened that the soldiers would come back to kill us.   They assured me that there was security at the hospital and that's when I accepted that I could sleep in the hospital.  
 I stayed at the hospital for a week and I was released after that and I went home.  I used to go to the hospital to receive treatment and I was, I could go back to work.  I could only work for a week, because  I started to get sick again and my, finger  could not heal properly and I was supposed to go back to the hospital and they cut it off.  They amputated it.  
 After a while I was approached by Lebowa police and they were asking me to be a state witness.  What they told me is that the owner of the hotel was trying to test whether his handgrenades were working.  That's how it happened.  
 On the day of the trial they only called the hotel manager's employees to be other witnesses and I waited to be called but I was never called until to-day.  I don't know if I should proceed to case number two.

THOMAS MANTHATA: You can continue, Sir.