Human Rights Violation Hearings — Upington — 1996-10-02

CASE NO: CT/04113

TESTIMONY FROM: ANNA SAM  [grandmother]
 ELIZABETH ISAACS  [mother]

MR POTGIETER: Mary Burton, she will be joining the panel tomorrow.  Welcome Mary, thank you for coming.  Good afternoon Ms Sam.

MS SAM: Good afternoon.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you very much.  Before I listen to your evidence, you have to take the oath.  Will you please stand.
ANNA MABIA SAM Duly sworn states

MR POTGIETER: Is this Elizabeth Isaacs?  I am going to let you also take the oath, so it will be easier to listen to both evidences.  Will you please stand.

ELIZABETH FLORA ISAACS: Duly sworn states

MR POTGIETER: Glenda Wildschut will lead both of you to give your evidence.  She will take over now.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Good afternoon Ms Sam.  Good afternoon Ms Isaacs.  We will start with you Ms Sam.  Is that in order?  Can you hear me?

WITNESS:  Yes I can hear you.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT:  I will ask you in English and you will hear the voice in your ear.  [Indistinct] ...  you will be telling us your story about your granddaughter, Beulin Isaaks.  Yes.  You will be telling us about Beulin who was shot by the police in Paballelo on Monday the 11th November 1985.  Is that correct?  Okay.  Will you go ahead and tell us what happened and what you know from your side what had happened.  Later on we will go on to ask Beulin's mommy to talk.

WITNESS:  On that afternoon I sent her, after I came from work we were sitting in front of the door and I sent her to go and buy some milk.  It was...

MR POTGIETER: Just one moment please.  Order and silence please!  Thank you very much.

WITNESS:  That specific evening I sent her to buy some milk because I wanted to make some porridge.  When she left, me and my other daughters were sitting on the stoep and she had left already and we were sitting talking.  Later on I heard, it was later that evening my son said and we were wondering why this child did not come back because it was late already and I thought it was around about 9/10 o'clock that evening.  I cannot remember precisely but it was around about and we heard some shooting.  We heard one shot actually and I told Joan, somebody is shooting and Beulin has not returned home.  My one daughter said, I am going to bed now because she was not coming back.  Me and my youngest daughter were still waiting up for her.  While we were standing there, during that time a Kombi came down the road without any headlamps and it drove down the street, down William Singel street.  They came from up top and, the second house from me they put on their lights and I saw that these people were wearing blue uniforms but we could not see well because both lights were off.  We could not see whether it was black people or white people.  They left then.  A short while afterwards we heard various gunshots, one after the other and I said there was a shooting somewhere, let us go to bed but Beulin still had not returned.  I work during the day so the next morning when I got up I did not feel very comfortable and happy but I thought I had to go to work, so I left for work by foot.  I went to work but I wanted to walk and I did not want to go.  I was very hesitant to leave for work.  Having arrived at work, my employer said that I was not feel very well and she said good morning and I went on with my household duties and I had some ironing to do but I asked her to leave the ironing because I wanted to go home.  Before I could ask her she came to me and then I said, madam and baas and I said madam I am not going to go on with this ironing, I would really like to go home because something had happened there, and she said, Anna I saw in your face this morning when you came in that something was wrong.  You may go home.  I went home and having arrived there I saw a lot of people sitting on the front stoep but I kept my pose and when I came there, my next door neighbour said, Anna do not get excited, be strong.  We first took the people to the hospital to see whether Beulin was not in the hospital and she said no, she was not in hospital, she was in the charge office.  The next day we went to the charge office but in the meanwhile no police had come to our house to inform us about anything.  The next day my one cousin accompanied me and another person to the police charge office because we want to look for her body.  When we came to the police station they said we could go inside and we went to that one room.  We went to a small little place where we waited.  Later on we said we want to see the body.  When we came there they showed us, they did not want to let us go in, we had to look through a glass.  When we looked through this window pane, we, I saw right in front of her forehead, because she was covered, I saw right in her forehead there was a wound because I could not say what it was but when I said open because I want to see her body and they said no, they were not allowed to do that.  Now I do not feel very happy about this because they never informed us that she had died and they never said, they never even said there is your dog, she is dead.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: According to the statement you made, Beulin was 15 years of age.  You also felt that she could not run away if a shooting had occurred.

WITNESS:  She could not run away because she was pregnant.  It was near the baby's birth and why didn't they grabbed her from behind because she was not strong and she was not able to run away.  She was pregnant and it was time to give birth.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT:  Perhaps we should ask whether Beulin's mother can tell us her story.  Would you like to say something?  Are you feeling all right?  Could you sit a bit nearer to the microphone please.  Can the briefer please switch off the microphone, Ms Sam's microphone.  Ms Isaaks, can you please tell us your story about what happened to Beulin.