Human Rights Violation Hearings — Rustenburg — 1997-05-07

RUSSELL ALLY: Okay, Nancy.  If I could just come in here, please, if you do not mind.  Just to establish a few things.   You were arrested on the 31st of May 1988 and you were kept until the 15th of June 1988, is that correct?

PRISCILLA MOJE: Yes, it is true.

RUSSELL ALLY: Now during this period where you ever visited by a lawyer, were you ever given access to a lawyer?

PRISCILLA MOJE: No.

RUSSELL ALLY: Were you ever charged with any charges against you?

PRISCILLA MOJE: No, we were not charged.  We only remained inside.

RUSSELL ALLY: And were you kept in solitary confinement all this time or were you kept with other prisoners?

PRISCILLA MOJE: There were many of us.  We were about twenty something.

RUSSELL ALLY: And you were all kept together?

PRISCILLA MOJE: Yes, we were in one cell with other criminal prisoners.

RUSSELL ALLY: Now they, all this time that you were there, did they interrogate you everyday or once every second day?  Can you remember how often you were interrogated?

PRISCILLA MOJE: In the beginning they used to come on consecutive days, but at a later stage they would jump something like one or two days and then come back again.

RUSSELL ALLY: And the interrogation, was it only or mainly around this question of the whereabouts of Rocky Malebane Metseng and the activities of the Progressive People's Party, was that what they were interrogating you about?

PRISCILLA MOJE: They also asked us about the attempted coup.  They asked us where were we when the coup was conducted and whether we took any part in that coup.

RUSSELL ALLY: And did you have any knowledge?  Did members of the Progressive People's Party have any knowledge of the coup or know anything about it?

PRISCILLA MOJE: No, not at all.

RUSSELL ALLY: Now you say in your statement that you were the secretary of the Sorotoba branch of the Progressive People's Party?

PRISCILLA MOJE: Yes, I was a secretary.

RUSSELL ALLY: How did you get involved?  Can you tell us a little bit of these activities of the Progressive People's Party.  What led you to want to become involved, knowing that there were risks and dangers?

PRISCILLA MOJE: When I first started joining this organisation, it was not banned.  It was a legal organisation by then.

RUSSELL ALLY: And why did you join the organisation?  What led you to join the organisation?

PRISCILLA MOJE: I hated the oppression from the Boputhatswana Government.

RUSSELL ALLY: During this period that you were, that you were detained without trial, what kinds of torture were you subjected to?  Did they ever physically assault you?  Were you ever smacked and beaten up or things used, machines or anything like that?

PRISCILLA MOJE: No, no-one beat me up, but they used to insult us.

RUSSELL ALLY: Were you denied sleep, did they try to prevent you from sleeping?

PRISCILLA MOJE: Yes, because most of the times in the mid-evening they would wake us up so that they could count us.

RUSSELL ALLY: Did they make you stand in positions for a long time while they were questioning you, those kinds of things?

PRISCILLA MOJE: Most of the time we would be sitting down when they were asking us questions.

RUSSELL ALLY: And food, did they deny you food while you were in detention?

PRISCILLA MOJE: They would give us unhealthy food, food that one could not eat.

RUSSELL ALLY: And washing facilities, toilets and so forth, did you have access to that?  Could you go and wash yourself, use a toilet?

PRISCILLA MOJE: There was only a hand basin with cold water and a toilet with no door.  When you were in the toilet, everyone could see you, including the prisoners.

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you very much, Nancy for coming to speak about your experiences.

PROF MEIRING: Nancy, only one question about your present circumstances.  You said that you lost your employment being imprisoned, are you being employed at the moment, are you working?

PRISCILLA MOJE: No, I am not working.

PROF MEIRING: Who looks after the children?  You have a number of children.

PRISCILLA MOJE: I stay at home with them.  Their father is working.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Dr Randera.

DR RANDERA: From all the statements that we have received, Nancy, from in this, in the old Boputhatswana, most are telling us the story about the coup and support for the Progressive People's Party seem to be from this area would you agree with that?

PRISCILLA MOJE: I do not understand the question.  May you repeat?

DR RANDERA: Was most of the support that Rocky Malebane Metsing and the Progressive People's Party, the support that they had, was it mainly in this area, in Phokeng?

PRISCILLA MOJE: Yes, that was the case in Phokeng.  I do not know about outside Phokeng.

DR RANDERA: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Nancy, we thank you for your time that you devoted to us to come and relate to us the problems you went through and the difficulties.  We thank God for giving you courage to go through those problems.  We thank you for coming and you will hear from us later.  Thank you.

PRISCILLA MOJE: I also thank you.
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