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

WITNESS:  During the time that Dikkie was in prison, he wrote me a letter to say that I must come and visit him in prison and he told me that he applied to the Head of the prison to be able to write his examinations.  He was very studious and he wanted to study further and he felt that he should become the breadwinner in the family and he told me that he had made application to go to Durban University and that should the forms arrive at home, I should bring it to prison so that he could find out whether he had been admitted to Durban University.  When the application forms came, I took it to him and he pointed out to me that he had been admitted to go to the university.  He also told me that his applications would arrive at home or his school exam timetable would arrive at home and that as soon as it did I should bring it to the prison.  He said that if the Captain at the prison, if he would give him permission to write examinations then I should go to the Security Police and ask for permission but I must have the exam timetable.  When the timetable arrived I went and I took it to him and they said that he must start writing examinations in Xhosa on Friday the 24th.  I was then told to take it to the Security Police, which I did.  At the Security Police they told me that there was a possibility that he could be given permission to write his exams but that I just had to wait awhile.  At about 10 to 4, one of the detectives of the Security Branch, Mr Jantjies, came to me and asked me for the timetable.  I gave it to him and he then went up the steps, the stairs there and told me to follow him.  When we arrived at the top of the stairs he told me that I could go and he said that he didn't think we would see him again.  When I asked him what he meant, he said, no I don't think you are ever going to see Dikkie Jacobs again so you can just go.  How are you going to take him to school because it is Tuesday today and he has to write exams on Friday.  So I told him that I was responsible for that and I would make plans to get him to school.  He then asked whether he couldn't write the exams in Upington and I said no, he had to go and write it in Dimbaza at the school there.  He then said okay but I do not think you will see him ever again.  You can go home now.  I left the prison without really knowing when Dikkie would be released.  I thought maybe it will be that day or the day after.  That same evening we were already asleep, Oupa Links arrived at our house, he was accompanied by a white policeman.  They knocked on the door quite loudly and I went to my mother's room and said to her, there is some people knocking very wildly on the door and we let them in.  The policemen just threw things down on the couch and said, Ouma your child is dead.  That was the white policeman.  My mother then asked, which child and they said Dikkie Jacobs is dead.  Oupa Links then said your child is dead, Dikkie Jacobs, and they turned around and left.  My mother called after them but they just walked away and then my parents went to the prison on the next day and that is what I wanted to add.

WENDY ORR:  Mathilda I just - ask for your opinion on something.  It seems as if Dikkie was a young man who had plans for his future, he was about to write his matric exams, he was going to university.  Did he strike you as someone who would have committed suicide?

WITNESS:  I do not know but he was a very quiet boy.  He never spoke much.  He loved studying, he loved his books.  He had a bookcase at home and he was always studying at home even when his friends came to visit, they would sit together and study.

MR POTGIETER: Can I just enquire from you, the lady next to you, I think she has indicated she also wants to add something.  Can you just remind us who she is.

MR JACOBS: It is my first-born daughter.

MR POTGIETER: [Indistinct] ... testimony?

MR JACOBS: Yes, yes, she would like to add something.

MR POTGIETER: I am just going to ask the briefer to take that microphone and put it in front of the other Ms Jacobs.  Can you give us your full names please.
JOSEPHINE LULA MAPLESI Duly sworn states

MR POTGIETER: Thank you.

WENDY ORR: Josephine, would you like to take this opportunity to give us any additional information which you may have?

WITNESS:  What I would like to add, is that when we went to the prison to identify the corpse, there is something that my father forgot to mention.  It was my mother, father and myself who went to the prison to go and identify the corpse.  When we arrived there we saw a Mr Basson.  We saw him there.  He was a white man and his surname was Basson and he then took us to the place where the body was.  When we arrived there, we wanted to actually see the body but he would not allow us to do that.  He just wanted to tell us that he had died but we wanted to see the deceased's body because they had told us he had hanged himself but we knew that it was our right to see the body because they had told us that he had hanged himself.  Basson refused that we see him.  I asked him why he was refusing us permission to see the body and he kept saying, you cannot enter to see the body.  I told him that we actually wanted to see the body so that we could find out for ourselves how he had hanged himself.  Now as far as I know, that child was a child that I had brought up myself, he was a quiet, good child.  I carried him around on my back, I could not believe that he had killed himself and that is why I wanted to go and see for myself what the truth of the matter was.  We wanted to go and see whether there were any marks indicating that he had hanged himself because I knew that if a person hangs himself then there would be marks around the neck.  So we wanted to go and ascertain for ourselves whether there were these marks around his neck.  The attorney then arrived and told this Basson that he should allow us to go and see the body.  My mother could not go and see the body because she was too weak.  She then went back and waited in the little reception room but Basson would not allow me to enter.  He said I was too old, too talkative.  He then allowed my father to go in.  The attorney went in followed by my father and when I wanted to go in, Basson pushed me back and closed the door in my face.  He said, no I have far too much to say.  I then went back and I stood at the window, this little window and the corpse was very close to the window, lying on a trolley.  When I wanted to look at the corpse, I could see a red spot on the neck and I was looking at this red spot on the body, on the neck and I said to myself, yes that is why you won't allow me to go in and look, he didn't hang himself, there is just a red mark on his neck and it is almost as if he heard me because he then pulled the trolley back so that I could not see the corpse and then I could not see anything.  When my father came out of the room, I asked him what he had seen.  My father then said, no he only saw a red mark on his neck.  That is what I wanted to add because my father forgot to say that.

WENDY ORR: [Indistinct] ...  further questions and I will hand back to the Chair.