Human Rights Violation Hearings — Cape Town — 1997-06-11

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much Mr Odendal.  This completes our questioning of yourself.  We really wish to express our greatest appreciation that you took the time to come here.  We also should thank Mr Brand who has sort-of been part of the hearings, furniture like ourselves.  Thank you Mr Brand.
 We thank you very much, and thank you Advocate Louw for assisting Mr Brand, and we hope that you will continue assisting us in unravelling some of the mysteries of our past.  Thank you very much.
 Ladies and Gentlemen I would ask you to be quiet.  I just want to thank everyone here for coming here to listen to this testimony.  We came and you were the real cause of the success of this. Your tears have an impact, the pain that people have been carrying in their hearts is the cause of pain to us as well.  The things that happened in those years, people were dying, lives were lost on the side of the Witdoeke and the people who supported the Comrades.  
 We just want to extend a word of thanks to those who have brought statements.  We are very sorry that we did not hear much about people who were killed by Comrades or families whose members were once killed, but we want to make it on record that the evidence shows that there were people killed also no the other side, on the side of the Witdoeke.   There is nothing more I can say now or do except to say it's been a very enlightening hearing for us.  Like before when people started looking into the whole question of what is happening in the squatter areas questions were raised 11 years ago, we continue to peel off those layers, to try and understand what happened, what exactly was at the roots of the violence in those years.  We are continuing with our investigation and what this hearing has done is really to just give us that little edge forward to help us understand, in a fuller sense, what exactly was happening in those years.
 It is important to state that we do not make findings at these hearings.  We do not draw any conclusions.  It is important to note that the importance of this hearing and what evidence has been led here enabled us to understand just a little bit more of what happened in those years and nothing is conclusive at this stage.  We continue our investigations, it's really just raising more questions.  We want to push this to a conclusion.
 Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the hearing is the evidence that has been led by people like Mr Schelhase and people like Mr Knipe, and many of yourselves, Mr Odendal and Mr Vermeulen are just kind of telling us a little bit more of what we wanted, but the other two gentlemen I mentioned first, their evidence seems to point to what Steve Kahanovitz, at the time or actually yesterday, referred to as documents that could not be released.  It is possible that the information that was in those documents is the information that has come out at this hearing.  We do not know but we continue to investigate that.  We are going to have a State Security hearing very soon, Council hearing very soon, and that information is certainly going to inform us in understanding the intricacies of what happened in that Council.
 As is usual before we call up the choir to render a few items for us and to sing the National Anthem I just want to thank a few people who assisted us at this hearing.
 I just want to thank many people whom we consulted with, people who have not come to this hearing or who have not been acknowledged necessarily through the documents and briefings that they had with our investigators.  We thank them very heartily.  Among these people I would like to mention Alan Feldman who is here on a Gagenhaum(?) Foundation and is investigating the possibility of a process similar to this one to be used in the peace process in Ireland, the peace process that seems to be on and off.  We thank Alan very much for the many conversations that he has had with us in trying to tease out the many complications of violence in States, particularly violence that involves states.
 I would like to thank also Josette Kohl(?) whose book we use very extensively in understanding some of the issues that happened then.
 Among our own people who are working with us now I will start with the Interpreters, Sydney Zotwana, Mavis Nkepu, Brenda Barrow, Isabel Cillier and the organiser of the Interpreters being Chris Wegend.  I would like to thank also the sound technician, Hannes Hattingh, who has been very helpful when we were facing a bit of crisis.
 Perhaps the group of people who should be thanked very specially is the investigators.  We have mentioned them before, Mark, Phumla and Madeleine and Lucky and Zoelpha, but most importantly Zenariah Bahrens who is the head of the investigating unit in the Western Cape region for her unflinching support of her team and for really just assisting us and carrying us all in this endeavour.  Thank you so much Zenariah.  Zenariah has been with the process in all these hearings and we really appreciate your great commitment to this work.
 Ruth Loewin(?) who is our regional manager for maintaining the team of logistic workers and everybody who works under her to make these hearings possible. Elizabeth Gill, Matshela Ngoza, Velasi Matibane and David and Freddy and Auntie Ginny, the lady we call Auntie Ginny in the office, we thank you very much Auntie Ginny for filling our stomachs.
 Now Gayle Moosman is a person who many of us don't see in public because she works behind the scenes and pushes the statements, not only the statements but pushes also, drives also the findings, the pre-findings process.  We thank you Gayle Moosman wherever you are.  
 Tembakazi who was here as the person who takes and sends messages for us, we thank you very much Tembakazi for your assistance.
 I think many of you have seen at the many hearings that whenever witnesses come up they come with someone accompanying them.  We wish to thank Paul who is sitting right in front here very much for your assistance as one of the briefers in this case, we thank you very much for your gentleness, not only for the witnesses but for us as well working in the Committee.  And I will say the same for George Molebatsi whom I don't see who has been working with you as well.  Thank you very much, we appreciate your commitment.
 Now Faisa Brown, Faisa who puts together all these documents, thank you very much Faisa for helping us in all these hearings, we really appreciate your keeping us up to date and making sure that we have all the documents that we need.
 I was asked by Matshela to announce that the mural that was being painted at the Masinedgane(?) Clinic is now complete.  We would like anyone who has an opportunity to go and see it, obviously in the light of day, we would like to encourage you to go to the Clinic to see it.  As for ourselves we are planning to go and see the mural as people from the Commission when we do our follow-up work that Paul Hobbs and George are going to organise.  
 I would like to now thank the choir for braving the night and coming to shake us up a bit.  The Dalingebo Adult Choir you are now allowed to clap.
CHOIR SINGS
HEARING ADJOURNS