Human Rights Violation Hearings — Winelands — 1996-10-14

WENDY ORR: [indistinct]  emergency regulation?

MR QUMZA: Yes, it is so.

WENDY ORR: I'd like to just before you continue to go back to the evening of the 26th of December.  Was there ever a court case against the AZAPO people that assaulted you on that night?

MR QUMZA: No even once.

WENDY ORR: Did you lay a charge against those people, did you - did you accuse them of - of assaulting you?

MR QUMZA: Could you let me finish first and then ask me the questions please.   This is what happened, when I was in detention I was taken to the lower police station.  From there I was taken to town, I was then taken to Victor Verster.  It was three days after the funeral, Victor then came again asking me the same question that they had asked me the previously at the police station.  I said I do not know anything.  They asked me what is Viva, I said there is only one thing I know about Viva, when you win a battle you say Viva that's all I know.
 My operation then troubled me, it's my winds that were troubling me.  There were doctors there, every morning I went to doctor it was quite serious.  The one policeman had a hammer, he wanted to hit my knuckles with the hammer.  I told him that I'm not well.  He then said - he then said they must prepare for me to be taken to Groote Schuur on the Friday.  
 I was taken immediately, I was dropped off at Groote Schuur.  There was E Donsen the secretary there, I then identified myself.

CHAIRPERSON: Patric we have listened to you, you have elaborated a lot.  Maybe  you can tell us how long you stayed in Groote Schuur.  Were you taken back to prison, could you please tell us briefly what happened because time escapes us.

MR QUMZA: I arrived at Groote Schuur late afternoon, at about 8 in the evening they took me back to theater.  They took me back to theater, they operated on me.  They took out the metal pieces they'd put in my body.  They'd said they had rusted, that was the Thursday, then the Friday elapsed, on the Saturday I asked if I could be released from the hospital  and they released me.  I went to Observatory after that.

WENDY ORR: [indistinct] the account of what happened to you that night, you obviously still remember it very clearly and it was obviously a very painful and frightening experience for you to go threw.  You said that there was never any court case brought against those people who attacked you, is that correct?

MR QUMZA: I was - I was chased by police, they said that we should try to reconcile all the organization.  Omar was also part of this, we were taken to his house in a Kombi called - that was under the UDF.  There was a Kombi also that belonged to AZAPO and AZANYU.  We got to Omar's house, there were no AZAPO or AZANYU people.  They then alleged that people like Timothy Bongo, George Bongo were needed but they were there.  Omar then told us that we could go home because these significant people were not there.

WENDY ORR: I'll hand you back to the Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Any question?

MS GOBODO: Thank you very much Mr Chairperson.  In order for us to be clear so as to investigate properly, these names that you have uttered Sonabom,  Thembagile are they people that are still around?

MR QUMZA: Yes they are around.

MS GOBODO: It has repeatedly said that the PAC people were working together with the police.  We are not on a witch hunt, but we just want to make sure that these people are truly around so that we can investigate in a proper manner, thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you sir, we enjoyed your testimony even though it was sad, we enjoyed it.  We really can see that you're still alive, thank you very much sir.
 Order please, tomorrow will be a very significant day in that - on - in -tomorrow afternoon  we will have what will be a first for the TRC when a church group comes to make a submission to the Commission but it will even be more significant  because it will be a section of a very important church, the white Dutch Reformed Church and we - we believe that it will be a particularly significant occasion and we have expressed our deep appreciation to the Stellenbosch Ring of - of the NG Kerk.  We'll be doing this and we hope that others will follow what is a very-very good example.  
 Before we adjourn can we please stand and observe a moments silence in memory of all of those who died in the cause of the conflict which we have been hearing about.  Please stand.
 Thank you very much, thank you for being a very good audience.  We will start at 9 o'clock, can we just wait until the witnesses have left the room please.  Order please.
 We resume at 9 tomorrow morning, thank you very much.