Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   (Incomplete) ... me today.  As you said I have commitments and I really appreciate you fitting me in today's programme.  I was - I am a serving member of the South African National Defence Force, serving as the deputy- chief of the Service Corps in Pretoria.  I was appointed the officer commanding of Group Nine in January 1989.  I served for three and a half years in the Natal Midlands.  I am saying three and a half years because from July until December of 1990 I was away on an extended course in Pretoria.  When I arrived in Pietermaritzburg in January of '89 Group Nine was essentially a very small Defence Force organisation.  People from Richmond will remember that the group headquarters was situated in Richmond, and the whole of 1989 was spent in re-organising and re-establishing Group Nine Headquarters in Longmarket Street, where it is today.  We opened the headquarters in November of 1989.  Essentially in that period from January '89 leading up to March of 1990 the force strength of the defence in this area - I am talking about the Natal Midlands - was first of all the group headquarters, secondly we also had some part-time forces like Umkomaas Commando, Umvoti Commando, East Griqualand Commando, etcetera, so we had a territorial responsibility at that time.  We also had one company deployed in the Pietermaritzburg area, and they were accommodated in a facility, a temporary facility right next to us at the drill hall.  So, to enable us to understand the events leading up to 1990 one must for a moment look at the situation in South Africa.  I am going to say two things.  First of all there was a security situation developing in South Africa which resulted in Defence Force units deployed in places like Sebokeng, the Rand area in general, and also in the greater Durban area.  So at the beginning of 1990 the headquarters of Group Nine was in Longmarket Street, where it is today, we had one company residing at the drill hall, and our task was to support and assist the police in their activities in this area.  With regard to the relationship of the Defence Force and the police, the police were and are still essentially in control of security matters of this area.  When Defence Force elements get called up or get involved in a situation like this there are certain constraints and restrictions which do not allow us to operate on our own.  At that time in 1990 the Defence Elements essentially assisted the police in specific task emanating from planning sessions on a low level.  I want to continue, Chairperson, to the events leading up to March of 1990.  As a person from outside I found it difficult to really understand what is happening in this part of our lovely country.  When March 1990 dawned we knew about some rallies taking place in Durban.  We also took cognisance of some large groups of people leaving the Natal Midlands to attend those rallies, and the focus military-wise and security-wise was essentially in the Durban South Coast area.  In the planning session which was held between the company commander of that time and the police it was agreed that the Defence Force, having a very limited capacity, will deploy in smaller groups along the Edendale Road, and the task that was allocated to the Defence Force through that planning session was to keep that route open, because we foresaw the possibility of that important route being closed, and workers from that area that they couldn't come in to work the next day.  So we deployed along that road essentially to assist the police to keep it open.  To explain to the Council the strength of that period.  The forces involved essentially were more or less, I would say, about six Buffels - that's the military open vehicle - and plus/minus 100 troops.  Those were the only elements we had in Group Nine at the time.  I will now continue to talk about the events of that fateful week in March.  I received reports from the ground about a situation developing in the Edendale Valley.  We got reports saying that people are fighting, they are killing.  There were reports about looting, and of course on national media we could see the hundreds of houses burning in the Edendale Valley.  When I received those reports I reported to my headquarters in Durban, saying that we are faced with a serious situation in the Edendale Valley.  And in that week I also said that I think it is of national importance to get Defence Force reinforcements in to assist the police.  After that week - I would say it must have been around the 2nd of April - as far as I remember about four companies, with their vehicles and equipment, were moved from the Rand area, as well as from Durban, and round about the middle of April 1990 I remember we opened the gates of Mayor's Walk, which we got from Transnet - we got the facility from Transnet - to accommodate the extra troops.  So essentially from mid-April onwards we had a force level of Defence Force troops in this area which I remember prompted the media to say that at that time there were more troops in this area since World War Two.  I also in that week, which is now called the Seven Day War, visited some refugee camps in the area of Imbali, and higher up in the valley at the mission station and at schools.  We said to the authorities of this area that the Defence Force was willing to bring in medical elements to assist Edendale Hospital, but at the time the response we got was that Edendale Hospital could handle the situation ... (incomplete - end of Side A, Tape 1) ... on the question posed by the previous speaker about the Defence Force preventing that sad event, Chairperson, I will essentially agree with what he was saying, but we must keep two things in mind.  First of all the reality was that the Defence Force at that specific time had very limited resources.  And secondly, looking back and reflecting on what happened in that valley, I at that time as a military commander said, "In my view many thousands of troops will be necessary to deal with this situation."  I want to close by saying that after the events in the Edendale Valley in my view the situation rapidly spread to the rest of the Midlands, and by the end of 1990 we found ourselves deployed throughout the Midlands of Natal, and the Defence Force mission in all that time was to try and assist in getting a peaceful situation.  Chairperson, members of the Council, I received many requests from the communities of this area to bring in Defence Force elements.  We did that when we had the resources to deploy.  I remember the Imbali Womens Association coming to see the Mayor - it was Mayor Pat Ranier at this stage - saying, "Please send the Defence Force to Imbali so that we can sleep again at night."  And that is exactly what we did when we received the resources.  In conclusion, Chairman, I must make a few comments about my own perception of the reaction to the Defence Force.  I can understand that people wanted the Defence Force at the time.  We also found a general very positive response when we started to move in.  Of course we had some complaints about white soldiers, black soldiers, coloured soldiers, and I remember we also had some response about the Portuguese-speaking people that came in for a while.  We were sort of tangled up in the community very quickly, in the sense that as soon as I wanted to change troops the communities always came to me and they said, "Please, are you taking the troops away?" and I had to reassure them that we're not taking them away, we are merely changing them for new ones.  Sir, in my own personal view I think that the Defence Force has contributed, maybe sadly so, after March of 1990, in creating a relatively peaceful situation in the Natal Midlands.  Thank you, Sir.