Human Rights Violation Hearings — Klerksdorp — 1996-09-23

DR RANDERA: Thank you very much for telling us your story, Peter. I just want to ask a few questions to clarify and to
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
8 MR MOLETSANE
add to what you have said in your statement. 
 First of all, can you please tell us what are you doing at the moment?  Are you married, do you have any children?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: I am not working. I don't have a wife. I don't have a house.  I have one child, but he was born somewhere in the Eighties.  Then the doctor said to me I am not able to have children again.  The way these people have done these things to me.

DR RANDERA: Peter, so you have many medical problems and I am sure that is an area that the Commission will have to look at.  I just want to come back to some of the other questions.
 Can you please tell us in 1986, when you came back to your uncle's funeral, what was actually happening in Khuma at the time?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: It was chaos.  It was full of riots and my uncle died during that time of the unrest, so I was coming to his funeral.

DR RANDERA: What was the chaos and the riots and the unrest related to?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: I would not say that what was behind that unrest because I was not at home.  Because I didn't know what was happening there, because I was not staying. There was in-fighting, but I was coming as a person who doesn't know anything, because I was not staying at home.

DR RANDERA: You mentioned in your statement that your uncle was killed.  What was his name and was he involved in any of the political organisations in Khuma at the time?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No, he was going to work.  It was at that time when he met the students.  Then the police were coming. The way I got the information, he was shot because he was
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
9 MR MOLETSANE
just among the students.

DR RANDERA: What was his name?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Hendrik Tosetsi Sequa.

DR RANDERA: I just want to verify what was said about your friend, your friend's surname.  In your statement you just mention Alfred.  His surname is Alfred Cia?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Yes, Alfred Cia.

DR RANDERA: What about yourself Pitso, were you involved in any political activities?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No, Sir.

DR RANDERA: You said in your statement that when you were questioned at Khuma police station and the names you mentioned are Carter and Nzambi.  Is that right?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Yes.

DR RANDERA: ... about the burning of policemen's homes.  Were you aware that that was happening in Khuma at the time?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No, Sir.

DR RANDERA: From speaking to other people, were you aware that this was going on?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Can you tell me just how, the question is not clear, Sir.

DR RANDERA: Either before or after your arrest and when you were released, and you spoke to your friends, relatives, were you aware then that policemen's homes were being burnt?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Yes, Sir.

DR RANDERA: They seemed to have released Alfred very quickly, but you were kept inside.  First of all, do you know why Alfred was arrested and then released so quickly, but you were kept inside?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No, Alfred was released because this policemen knew one of the family members of the deceased. So KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
10 MR MOLETSANE
they came to that house, because when they were taking photos, they came to show me a photo at home. Then they said are you not the person in the photo?  Then I said this is where I am staying.  Then they forced me to sign the letter, the letter for permission to bury the corpse, without the knowledge of the family.  Then I didn't agree with them, because at that time the parents were not there.  People were running and the police were trying to bury my uncle without the permission of the family.

DR RANDERA: A few more questions. From your statement it is not clear how many days you were actually in prison.  Can you tell us, do you remember the date of your arrest and the date of your release?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No, I don't remember, Sir.  It was somewhere around March.

DR RANDERA: For how long were you in prison?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: I stayed only one day, because if they arrested me today, I was released the following day in the morning.  I was not released legally. I couldn't even get, you know, the statements. I was taken to the cells and then from there they just released me.

DR RANDERA: You also mention in your statement that Mr Ramulaye and Mr Mortar, the two policemen at Stilfontein police station, one of the questions they asked you was that you were responsible for telling people that they had shot your uncle. Is that right?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Yes.

DR RANDERA: Okay. These people, are they still working in the police force?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Some of them are still working. Mortar has died.
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
11 MR MOLETSANE

DR RANDERA: At Stilfontein you also say that after one of these interrogation sessions you vomited blood.  Is that right?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Yes, it is true, because after eating that dog food, after I had enough, they were kicking me and I was slapped on my back. Then someone jumped and tapped me on my stomach, then I started bleeding.

DR RANDERA: How many times during those days that you were in prison, were you allowed to see a doctor?  Did you ask to be seen by a doctor?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No doctor was available to see me, Sir.

DR RANDERA: Another question is this question of the R500,00 that your father paid for bail.  You say subsequently there was no case, because the files were destroyed. What about the R500,00, was that returned to your father?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No, it was not returned, it was taken illegally.  There was no slip which shows that this is for what. They just say if they still want me alive, they have got to pay that R500,00 bail.

DR RANDERA: I have no further questions.

CHAIRPERSON: Piet Meiring?

PROF MEIRING: Just a few short questions. You refer to the one White policeman as Ramulay.  Do you know his real name?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: No, Sir, I don't know his real name, because he was calling himself Ramulay.  He was popular with that name.

DR RANDERA: The second question I wanted to ask is about yourself, your own position at the moment.  Which class did you - which standard did you attain at school, Std 6, Std 7 or 8?
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
12 MR MOLETSANE

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Std 9, Sir.

PROF MEIRING: You say that you are not able to work.  Is that because of your physical disabilities?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: Yes, Sir.  I am not able to work because I have another problem. I have so many operations, I have stomach cramps, I have perineal abscess at the back, it was - then that operation makes me to suffer because it doesn't heal.  It is bleeding all the time and the stomach cramps. They are there always, all the time.  Even a clerical job,  I cannot do anything because I have got to be at the hospital all the time.  Many people say I am not able to stay at work, because I have got to be at the hospital all the time.  So they just said they can easily retrench me because I am not fit for employment.

PROF MEIRING: Who takes care of your money, the things you need every day, is that your family?  Your father and your mother and your sister who provide money for you?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: My parents, Sir, and I am not able to do that, because I am not a grown-up, I have got to take my own responsibilities.

PROF MEIRING: You say that there is one child. What is happening to the child, who is looking after that child at the moment?

PETER PITSO MOLETSANE: He is assisted by the mother.  The mother is a teacher.