Human Rights Violation Hearings — Kimberley — 1996-06-11

CASE NO: CT/00637

YASMINE SOOKA: Reuben we want to welcome you and Sandra Moss to these proceedings.  We know that your language preference is Afrikaans.  Before you begin telling your story, we're going to ask advocate Denzil Potgieter - a fellow Commissioner to administer the oath to you.  Will you please rise.
REUBEN GALLANT Duly sworn states
SANDRA MOSS Duly sworn states

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you very much, you may be seated.

YASMINE SOOKA: Reuben I want you to put the headphones on please because I will talk to you in Afrikaans but my Afrikaans is not so fluent, so sometimes I will switch to English, can you hear me?  Would you briefly tell us about what happened to you?

REUBEN GALLANT: I'm Reuben Gallant and I live in Douglas.  On the 9th of November 1990 I was at home - I was busy planting grass.  It was between 10 and 11 in the morning when three police vans arrived at our house.  My father, Benjamin Gallant was sitting in front of our gate and when the three police vans arrived my brother Isak came out of the house.  And the policemen who jumped out of the van were known as Man Alleen  and Venter.  They were the two white policemen.
And they walked passed my father and they approached Isak, they wanted to arrest him.  I walked up to them and I was busy planting the grass.  I left my spade where I was busy planting the grass and I went up to them to ask them why they wanted to arrest my brother.  And whether they had any documents or warrants to - to show what they were arresting him for.  
They didn't answer me and then a fight erupted, my brother tried to break free and ran around the house.  There's a triangle - triangle behind our house and this shuffle continued until they reached this triangular part  and Isak then broke free from the policemen and ran away.  He jumped over the fence in the back of our yard and then ran away.  And then I asked Venter, the Warrant Officer - I asked him once again what the reason was why they wanted to arrest my brother and at that stage Constable - his name is actually - his nickname is Man Alleen then said to him  Shoot the dog, kill him.  Man Alleen then shot me or Warrant Officer Venter shot me.  He used tear gas, he used a long shot gun and he tear gassed me and he shot me in my left eye and I fell.
I lost consciousness and when I came to I was in the police cells.  I was full of blood, they told me that I've been taken to a doctor but I don't know because I was unconscious.  In the afternoon round about 5 o'clock they brought me here to Kimberley and - two white policemen brought me here but I can't remember their names, unfortunately.  And along the way they stopped and said that I must get out of the car because I'm making a mess with my blood all over the car.  And then I lay on the grass, they were busy drinking something but I don't know whether it was alcohol or cooldrinks.
And I lay there and then they came to and said carry on making a mess, you used to making a mess, here you are now lying on the ground.  And when I regained my consciousness I was in Kimberley Hospital and after a couple of days my eye was permanently removed.  And that is the condition in which I sit here today, my eye has been removed, I don't know for how long I was there.
Before I forget, whilst I was in hospital, there was a policeman - he was guarding me, he was sitting at the door and it seems to me that they were scared that I would try and run away.  And after a couple of days Detective Zepe came to fetch me from the hospital and he was supposed to take me to Douglas but on that day they first brought me to the cells here in Kimberley.   And I was detained there with some other people and they treated me well.
 On the next day I was taken to Douglas but we drove through Ritchie - this is a little town close to  Kimberley and then I was taken to Douglas and detained.  The charge brought against me was kidnapping and I don't understand that charge.  They couldn't explain to me what this kidnapping was supposed to be and on the 24th of the 5th 1991  - I laid a charge against the Warrant Officer Venter but unfortunately the case was dismissed.  The Attorney General decided not to prosecute.

YASMINE SOOKA: Reuben can you tell me how old you were when you were shot?

REUBEN GALLANT: Well at that stage I was 18 years old.

YASMINE SOOKA: Were you still at school?

REUBEN GALLANT: Yes, I was still at school.

YASMINE SOOKA: Were you a member of the ANC?

REUBEN GALLANT: Yes, at that stage I was the organiser of the ANC Youth League.

YASMINE SOOKA: When the policeman said - shoot the dog  - do you think he meant that the dog had to be shot or was he referring to you?

REUBEN GALLANT: At the time when Man Alleen  told Venter to shoot the dog, I was very far away from the dog.  I was about one - I was about 55 metres away from Venter and the dog was quite a distance away from me, so the dog and I were far apart.

YASMINE SOOKA: Please tell me was it a normal occurrence that the police would arrive and just come and arrest people?

REUBEN GALLANT: During this period - could you please repeat the question, I don't understand.

YASMINE SOOKA: Is it usual for the police to harass young people like yourself who were members of the ANC?

REUBEN GALLANT: Yes, I think I can say that.  Let me say that there was a particular family, they were the leaders in that community and the police would come to the various families - the Gallante, the Mfulo's and the other families.  But yes some times they would try and find my brother and then assault him.

YASMINE SOOKA: In the Attorney General's report he says that the police told a different story.  He said that you wanted to assault and attack the policemen.  Is that correct?

REUBEN GALLANT: I don't know,  when I approached the policemen I was busy working with a spade to plant the grass and - but at that stage I'd already put aside the spade.  If I had wanted to assault them, I would have assaulted them at the time that I went to the back of the house.  
And I knew there were - there were more than one of them, I would have - would  have tried to assault them earlier on because if I hurt somebody then they know they -  they've been hurt.  It wasn't my intention to assault them.

YASMINE SOOKA: Did you lay a charge against the police?

REUBEN GALLANT: Are you - do you mean did I actually lay a charge?  Yes, and that - that is the case which the Attorney General  decided not to prosecute, not to continue with.

YASMINE SOOKA: In your statement you say that the ANC also intervened and tried to revive the case.  Can you elaborate on that?

REUBEN GALLANT: Yes, I went to the Youth Leagues offices and they referred me to a Mr Mark Fletcher and I went to Mr Fletcher to try and obtain the case documents, to try and find out how it had been investigated and so on.   And he told me that if I wanted to carry on with the case, I must return to him but I never went back because I was financially not able to continue with the case.

YASMINE SOOKA: Now, did a private doctor ever examine your eye?

REUBEN GALLANT: No never been to a private doctor with my eye, the only eye specialist that I went to was when I had to obtain my marble eye.

YASMINE SOOKA: Can you tell us how the loss of your eye affected you?