Amnesty Hearings — Vanderbijlpark — 1999-05-17

CHAIRPERSON: Well she is not saying that she agrees when it was put to her that the nearest Apollo light is at the corner of Mashweshwe and Makwena.

MR BERGER: No, she's not agreeing to that.

CHAIRPERSON: Well ma'am, would you please tell us what Apollo lights you know and where they are in relation to Slovo Park?

MIRIAM MOLETE: There is an Apollo light at the corner of Morkari and the other one is between Majola Street and Baralong and that's all that I know.

CHAIRPERSON: That's at the - I think you mentioned the corner of Morkari and what streets?

MIRIAM MOLETE: It's between Morkari and Bapedi, that is the intersection of Morkari and Bapedi.

MR STRYDOM: Now I'm not going to take this point further off, I'm just going to put to you that where you say the Apollo light is situated which would be the closest to you is now between Majola and Baralong Street is not the correct position because if my information is correct that Apollo light is lower down in a southern direction towards the corner of Bakwena and Mashweshwe Street?

MIRIAM MOLETE: You said I should explain the nearest Apollo.  That one you're talking about is in Mashweshwe and it's not near Slovo Park.

MR STRYDOM: According to you is there another Apollo light at the corner of Mashweshwe and Bakwena Streets close to the old beer hall?

MIRIAM MOLETE: It is in Mashweshwe Street, it is not on Slovo Park side.

MR STRYDOM: At approximately 10 o'clock that night was there still smoke and fog hanging over Boipatong?

MIRIAM MOLETE: No.

MR STRYDOM: You testified that your husband and Mita went to bed already, Florence also got herself ready to go to bed and you still wanted to bath.  What source of light did you still have on, if any, in the house?

MIRIAM MOLETE: We were sitting around the fire and we used a paraffin lamp and in the bedrooms we used the candle light.

MR STRYDOM: Now the place where you were when the attacker came into the house, what was the situation about the light in that room?

MIRIAM MOLETE: I was not sitting I was still in the bath then.

MR STRYDOM: Yes but in the place you were in the bath then, what did you have a candle there or a paraffin lamp or any light?

MIRIAM MOLETE: It was candlelight.

MR STRYDOM: When you were attacked were you still in that same room or bathroom with the candlelight?

MIRIAM MOLETE: When they hit at the door I went out of the bath and put on some clothes and went out of that room.

MR STRYDOM: Yes.  Did you go to the room which will take you - with the door that will take you outside?  The front room?

MIRIAM MOLETE: They were already inside then.  After they had taken my husband I tried to protect Mita.  His head was facing the wardrobe and these people were busy smashing the wardrobe so I was trying to protect Mita.

MR STRYDOM: What I want to establish is this, the light in the room that you were when you were attacked?

CHAIRPERSON: When you left the bathroom where did you go to?

MIRIAM MOLETE: I was trying to take Mita to another room then I met these people who were attacking.

CHAIRPERSON: Where was this?

MIRIAM MOLETE: It was just next to the door leading to the kitchen.

CHAIRPERSON: So from the bathroom did you go to the kitchen?

MIRIAM MOLETE: It is inside the shack, there are only two and a half rooms.  I was from a bedroom and then from the bedroom there is a door leading to the kitchen and there is another door that is leading to the small room so I was preparing myself to go to the small room to go and take the child.

CHAIRPERSON: This house, how many rooms does it have?

MIRIAM MOLETE: There's one bedroom, a kitchen and a small room that was used like a storeroom.

CHAIRPERSON: Right and you were taking a bath in the bedroom?

MIRIAM MOLETE: That is correct.

CHAIRPERSON: The bedroom door, does that open into the kitchen?

MIRIAM MOLETE: Yes from the bedroom the door is leading to the kitchen.

CHAIRPERSON: Right and then to go to the small room which is used as a storeroom?

MIRIAM MOLETE: Each door is also leading to the kitchen.

CHAIRPERSON: So you cannot access this small room from the bedroom?

MIRIAM MOLETE: That is correct.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, very well.  When you heard the sound of the attack you left the bedroom?

MIRIAM MOLETE: I was just peeping through a small hole and then I called Florence to come and see.  I showed her that people were attacking on the neighbourhood and at that time they were already smashing the shack.

CHAIRPERSON: And where were you at the time?

MIRIAM MOLETE: I was still in the bedroom, that is when I was trying to protect Mita.

CHAIRPERSON: And was Mita in the bedroom already?

MIRIAM MOLETE: That is correct.

MR STRYDOM: Thank you Chairperson.
	So when you were attacked were you attacked in the bedroom then?

MIRIAM MOLETE: That is correct.

MR STRYDOM: Now at the stage when you were attacked what was the situation with the light in the bedroom?

MIRIAM MOLETE: When they entered and started attacking there was also more light, they had already smashed the window.  When they took out my husband all the candles fell down but there was still more light in the house, we could see.

CHAIRPERSON: I'm not with you ma'am.  Will you just, you know, speak slowly and then just take it step by step, okay?  Now what counsel wants to find out is when they entered the bedroom, this is where you were, was the candle still on?

MIRIAM MOLETE: Yes it was still on but it fell down.

CHAIRPERSON: Was it still burning?

MIRIAM MOLETE: No it fell down and went off.

CHAIRPERSON: It went out as they entered the bedroom?

MIRIAM MOLETE: When it fell down and then my husband tried to wake up.  I was also trying to protect the child and when it fell down it went off.

CHAIRPERSON: And were they dragging your husband out of the room?

MIRIAM MOLETE: They hurt him first and dragged him out of the bedroom.  They had already smashed the shack from the eastern side of the shack and dragged him out of the bedroom.  They had already smashed the shack from the east, from the eastern side of the shack.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes?

MR STRYDOM: So to conclude from all this at the time you were attacked there was no light except for what you say moonlight?

MIRIAM MOLETE: There was still light in the kitchen, so there was light from the kitchen through the door leading to the kitchen and also the moonlight and the Apollo light from outside so we could see because they had already smashed the door and the window so it was easy for us to see inside.

MR STRYDOM: What source of light was in the kitchen?

MIRIAM MOLETE: The paraffin lamp was still on in the kitchen.

MR STRYDOM: That paraffin lamp, did it still stay on through the attack?

MIRIAM MOLETE: Yes it was still on.

ADV SIGODI: Sorry, the question was did that paraffin lamp still stay on after the attack?

MIRIAM MOLETE: That is correct.

CHAIRPERSON: We'll take the adjournment ...(indistinct)

MR STRYDOM: Thank you Chairperson.
	How many windows did this shack have in the bedroom?

MIRIAM MOLETE: There was only one window in the bedroom.

MR STRYDOM: That window, I just want to know the direction, if you looked out of the window would you have looked down to Mashweshwe Street or towards Boipatong or towards the factories.  If you looked out of that window?

MIRIAM MOLETE: It was facing in the direction of the Apollo that is between Majola and Barula Street.

MR STRYDOM: The attackers that first came in and hacked your husband, can you give any description of those people?

MIRIAM MOLETE: No unfortunately I won't be able to do so.

MR STRYDOM: Why not?

MIRIAM MOLETE: We were trying to hide, I was trying to protect my child because I saw these people attacking my husband so when they smashed at the window it was on the side where my child was and they smashed at that wardrobe so I was trying to protect my child.

CHAIRPERSON: In relation to the window that was smashed where was your child?