Human Rights Violation Hearings — Upington — 1996-10-03

WITNESS:  You see ma'am those people, they said we are the leaders and me, I was the first person so they call us voorbokke.  That's why they have even moved to the Court and said to the magistrate I must not get any bail.  I was seven months in the cells until December on that time.

MARY BURTON:  And were you held in detention or were you actually charged?

WITNESS:  They laid even against me, I got, my charges were about seven, six/seven which they laid against me.

MARY BURTON:  Right and do you still feel the ill-effects of the time that you were physically tortured in this way?

WITNESS:  Yes.  After that, that cold in my body and then I feel the pain in my chest and my ribs on the left-hand side and so on and I used to had a headache because I was beaten with those batten on my, on the, at the back of my head and so on.  This also affected me later on when I had to study, I find some difficulty when I'm sitting with a book and read.  It was, my head start and then continual having that pain and so on.  I suffered a lot until I finished schooling and college.

MARY BURTON:  But you managed to complete your education?

WITNESS:  I managed to complete and I had that programme and then later on I tried to get some spectacles because that doctor advised me that maybe my eyes are weak so but at home I don't think there is a person who have eyes problem, it's only me and this is from after that time.

MARY BURTON:  And other medical treatment do you still need?

WITNESS:  I just ignore everything because I didn't have money at that time.

MARY BURTON:  And now what is your occupation?

WITNESS:  I am teaching.

MARY BURTON: Now our investigators have tried to follow up to get more evidence about the things that you are telling us and they have found that the Court record has been destroyed but there are other people who can substantiate your story.  So we do have corroboration of what you are telling us.  It is something that we are encountering in many places that the records of the time have, are no longer available.  Is there anything else that you would like to say now before I ask my colleagues have any other questions they want to ask you?---  Not at this time.

MARY BURTON: Thank you.  Thank you Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you Chairperson.  Mr Bambelo I just want to ask you, you said that there were six or seven charges made against you.  What happened to that case?

WITNESS:  No, all these cases I used to win them at Court because we had lawyers.

MR POTGIETER:  Okay and what was the nature of these charges?

WITNESS:  It is ranging from public violence, intimidation and all those, but it was political alone, political charges and so on.

MR POTGIETER:  The lawyers that represented you, did they do anything about the assaults that you have endured?  Have they instituted any claims?

WITNESS:  I reported this but because now the lawyers are so far, they're coming, others were coming  ... [Indistinct]  and that  ... [Indistinct]  Eastern Cape.

MR POTGIETER:  From Eastern Cape yes.

WITNESS:  And the others were coming sometimes from Cape Town.  I do not know but we used to phone when we have a problem or we have to go to Court and so on and then we had some representatives, they came, they all came, even here they came as far as Upington also.  They had people like  ... [Indistinct]  and so on but the others I have forgotten.

MR POTGIETER:  But you haven't had a claim finalised, the lawyers were told about it but you're not sure what happened.

WITNESS:  To the lawyers - pardon?

MR POTGIETER:  You never had a claim that was finalised.  You simply reported it to the lawyers but you don't know what happened to the claims.

WITNESS:  Ja, we never had contact and then from then go on studying and so on, I was busy.  I ignore everything because I thought that in this country there is no law because if you can laid a charge against a policeman, the case is just being destroyed and so on.  So I felt let me just continue with life and ignore these people.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you Mr Bambelo.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much for coming to tell us about your experiences.  As you yourself say it was something that was happening not just to you, they had taken, in your case there are about 18 or 20 of you who were the voorbokke and they wanted to teach other people a lesson by the things that they did to you and it is a very sad commentary on our country that, and I think many people felt like you have said you were feeling that there is really no law.  I mean if the police were able to persuade magistrates for instance not to give bail, there's appeared to be collusion and it maybe today we are suffering in this way with the crime and so on because of this culture that the law itself was as it were, lawless and we hope, I mean, that the things that you suffered and other people suffered which have helped to bring about this new dispensation, this new South Africa, will one make us cherish value what we have got because it was paid for very, very expensively.  We have got our freedom, not mahala.  We got it because people like you and others suffered.  We have listened, I mean, all you need in a way is to change a name, the form of torture, this electric torture, the way you describe it is we have heard from so many other people that it was happening but we will not spoil our victory, we will not spoil our freedom.  And I hope that you as a teacher will constantly be saying to your children, the ones that you are teaching, that today we have democracy.  It did not come cheaply.  Let us value it, let us protect it and perhaps if there is nothing else that we can say to you, there is just the one thing, that your suffering was not in vain.  It brought about, it helped to bring about this freedom that we have but that does not mean we will not try to dig into the past to find out who did these things, why they did them and it will be part of the story that we tell to the President of our country and we would hope that all of us will say, as we hear these stories, we don't want things like this ever to happen again in our country.  And so thank you.

WITNESS:  Thanks.