Human Rights Violation Hearings — Beaufort West — 1996-08-13

MS SEROKE: Zenzile, you say you were working for the Municipality.  What work were you doing?

MR LOLWANA: I was an ordinary laborer.

MS SEROKE: Tell us what you were actually doing there and tell us how you were  working as slaves.

MR LOLWANA: There is one thing they called  [indistinct] there at Municipality.  You used this to make - to make pavements and you get on top of a lorry that is loaded with concrete and you put this concrete into a certain machine and this machines moving on.   It must not be empty,  you work even on rainy days - so that is the work that we were doing.

MS SEROKE: Now these grievances you had, what were these grievances exactly and to whom were they directed and who gave...[intervention]

MR LOLWANA: We were sending these grievances to Lambrecht,  we were stating that we did not want to work on rainy days and the work that we were doing was very hard for R70.00 per month.  All those things  and secondly we had written that this white man used to beat us up and we were asking that he should not beat people and make people slaves.  Those were the things we had written down.  When - we also wanted that people should consult  doctors regularly.

MS SEROKE: Now, what  they - did they arrest you for what you were doing there at work?

MR LOLWANA: Yes, they were - they were arresting us for the protest that we had against their operations.

MS SEROKE: Now you say you were being tortured and being beaten in the jail in George?

MR LOLWANA: Yes.

MS SEROKE: Continue and  tell us even the jail in Middelburg - in all these places where you were beaten and you were tortured - tell us.

MR LOLWANA: Yes, in George they used to beat me - I was in the cell there and after that they would take a pipe and they would put in water in this cell and that was - the place were I used to put my blankets, was the only dry place because they were placed on some planks, so I used to sit there after they had beaten me.
In Richmond they beat me, they pushed me against a wall using a table - there were two of  these the Special Branch.

MAPULE RAMASHALA: What were they beating you with?

MR LOLWANA: With hands.

MS SEROKE: Was - were you a member of what - of - of the UDF organization?

MR LOLWANA: Yes.

MS SEROKE: What did they say when they took this copy of the Freedom Charter?

MR LOLWANA: They did not bring it back to me.  I didn't even get paper that they had promised to give to me after taking away my Freedom Charter.

MS SEROKE: What are you doing now?

MR LOLWANA: I am now the Deputy Mayor in Richmond, that is all I'm doing.

MS SEROKE: Thank you.

MARY BURTON: Mr Lolwana, do you know the names of any of the policemen who beat you?

MR LOLWANA: In George the policeman - who was in charge in George - was a man with whom I used to work with a brother and what they were doing I would not see who was beating me because they were removing even the badges that they had which had their names on.  Even now they still do that.

MARY BURTON: Thank you, Mr Lolwana, thank you very much for coming to tell us about what  happened to you.  We have heard how you were concerned for the conditions under which people worked and you joined an organization and tried to speak out about the grievances that you and your fellow workers had and you were brutally treated and held for - in detention for different periods  - two months and then six months,
So you experienced a great deal of suffering as a result and we are very grateful  to you for coming to tell us your story.  Thank you very much.

MR LOLWANA: Thank you.