Human Rights Violation Hearings — Alexandra — 1996-10-29

YASMINE SOOKA: Was there ever an investigation into the matter after the bombing, did Norman or Erwin ever get any kind of details, a follow up report from the police?

OBED BAPELA: Well I didn't get the answer - there is this noise from outside.

YASMINE SOOKA: Once Norman and Erwin came back did they ever get a report from the police on any kind of investigation done  on the incident?

OBED BAPELA: My information came from the police, they were also shocked, they had a commission set up by the
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Johannesburg City Council to investigate CCB operatives which operated from that building.   They were never called also to come and testify at that commission so they only read about it also in that commission, so no police came, no one has ever contacted them.

YASMINE SOOKA: I think you have certainly posed a number of questions on that particular incident and the Commission has taken note of those and will probably ask its own investigation unit to look into the matter, particularly the references that you have given.  Could I now ask you to tell us about the six day war please.

OBED BAPELA: The events that led to the six days war started in 1985, around June I think, when a lot of townships in South Africa were aflame.  There was a lot of activity and uprisings in most of the townships at that time and Eastern Cape was leading at that period I am mentioning and this sort of inspired a lot of other townships in the belief that the activities in the Eastern Cape reminded them of the M plan, the Mandela plan which was known in the 1950's and then people wanted really to also begin a process of establishing those structures of the street committees, the block committees and the yard committees within their own areas, within their own townships and also in the Transvaal, the then Transvaal, the main activities was the start of the rent boycotts were started in the Vaal, Sebokeng and Sharpeville townships and then it spread to Soweto and also Alexandra then came into the picture during 1986.  And also during 1995 there was the consumer boycott which was organised and then the Transvaal had its own committee, the Transvaal anti consumer boycott which operated and then those activities really also were happening in Alexandra
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where people were stopped from buying from white shops and then only to buy in the black shops.  So those then are the events then that built on the mobilisation which was there in Alexandra and around January there were shootings that occurred at shops which are Third Avenue and London Street and then I don't know what provoked the incident but what we read was that the security guard who was employed there shot at some youths who were coming to buy or were playing around at that particular area.  (Loud background noises).

YASMINE SOOKA: Perhaps we should just hang on five minutes, if we could ask the police just to find out what is actually happening because it is making it very difficult to hear.  We will take an adjournment for just five minutes.

<UNKNOWN>: .
ON RESUMPTION

OBED BAPELA: (s.s.) (continued):   So then one of those youths who was shot was Michael Durari and then I think that that provoked the whole situation in Alexandra, that killing.  At that time he was a pupil at Alexandra High School and then during the weekend on which he was buried, which was the weekend of the 15th February, the funeral took place at the Alexandra stadium and then after the funeral they wanted his parents to go and wash their hands and also be provided with whatever and the police came and tear-gassed people at that funeral and that provoked the youth of our township really then to mobilise and then attacks you know started where police became the targets and then Alexandra then was in flames for a period of six days and that is why we lost about 19 people during that particular period in time but then my colleague has prepared extensively on that period, Mr Bennet Lekalakala and I think
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he will dwell much into the events and other incidents that took place during that particular period in time.

YASMINE SOOKA: Could I ask you to just tell us a little bit about the formation of street committees.

OBED BAPELA: Well the idea as earlier said was an idea which we saw developing in the Eastern Cape and fortunately at that time I was working for Media and Resource Centre and one used to travel a lot to the Eastern Cape to go and trade organisations on media skills and pamphleteering and so forth so one was exposed you know street committees you know operate and function and the order in which they brought into the community and the respect of their families and their committee as a whole that it brought.  So we then started sharing the idea with other comrades in Alexandra about you know having to start in Alexandra establishing street committees so that people can take their own destiny into their own hands and then show that they are able then to live as human beings and as a community sharing and then the sorrows and sharing the joy you know together as a community. So the discussion started around November/December for such an idea of the street committees and then a group of us then was mandated to begin discussions with the Alexandra Civic Association, which was led by Mr Mike Bia to say why don't you build a strong organisation, a mass based organisation and this is the format and thus how we need to do it where you move from area to area, street to street, yard to yard and then begin to establish these committees.  Explain to the people first and then thereafter the people will appoint their own committees and so forth.  And a structure was then you know put together as to how should the structure look like and
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how many members should be serving in a committee.  And those discussions did not bear any fruits unfortunately and then when we realised that the Alexandra Civic Association did not want really to adopt that structure and to start building its organisation on it.  We then approached Mr Moses Mayegiso who was a leading trade unionist known within the country, a member of Numsa and then to say can you be the leader of this new organisation.  That will then be structured along the street committees and so forth.  And after some series of discussion by those comrades who were mandated, unfortunately I was not part of them because at that time the police were looking for me for a trial in Cradock so I had to be very careful.  I used to come in during the night in Alexandra and speak to the comrades and leave and they would do the rest of the work and then go on hiding.  And so they managed therefore to convince comrade Moses Mayegiso and he accepted and then a series of meetings between the students organisation, the Alexandra Youth Congress at that time started with Moses and the others to meet with the people in their yards, called committee meetings where they will explain the structure and then people would go back, discuss and then begin to establish democratically those structures and then elected people democratically to serve them.  And then this sort of really spread throughout the township and then it was at that time when the people were moving from street to street when the incident at the funeral of Michael Durari and Alexandra was engulfed into a six days war.

YASMINE SOOKA: One of the structures that also came into operation was the peoples court and in fact at your trial I think part of the charge was running peoples courts.  Do you
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want to tell us a little bit about that as well.