Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-05-09

MR LAX: 13A/16 searching.  They came out and told one another that they couldn't find anything.  While they had put me down outside on the door, there were others who came there from a Hippo that had been parked outside in the street.  There was a plastic that's usually used for garbage or rubbish.  They put it over my head and they pushed me - took me to the Hippo.  I couldn't even see where I was going, because they were holding my hand.  They put me inside the Hippo.  They drove for a short distance and it was very close from home, but it was an area where the grass had been burnt out.  From there they said they are going to give me a lot of money if I showed them where the guns were.  I kept on saying I didn't know of any guns.  They kept on assaulting me.  Near where we were there was a cottage of a shop.  There were nearby shops and there was a cottage.  They went inside that and got out two guys and they beat them a bit, but I don't know why they were beating these other guys, and then they came back to me and they were asking me the same questions.  When they took me to the Hippo, they said they were going to kill me if I don't tell them where the guns were that they were looking for, so I was very scared at that stage that they were going to kill me.  Things went on for a while where they had taken me and they didn't beat me for a long time after that.  I heard them talking among themselves.  They came back to me and they told me that should it happen that I report that I've been assaulted they were going to come back and kill us.  They asked me, "Did we beat you?  Did we assault you?"  I said, "No, you didn't assault me".  They asked me again, "Did we assault you?"  I said, "No, you didn't assault me".  I was very scared.  I was scared for my life.  From  /there

MR LAX: 13A/19 there they asked me what had been planned in the township, because it was going to be June 16th, the day now that we call Youth Day.  They told me, "What are the plans in the town for June 16th?"  I said, "I do not know", but after that they didn't do anything to me.  They pulled me and put me on the edge.  They put me on the edge of a high place.  They put me on the edge.  They kicked me.  At that time I fell down and rolled over and I couldn't even stand up.  They left me there.  That's where I tried to wake up.  I kept on falling and trying to get up and falling and I was falling and I was very cold and until I arrived home.  When I arrived home, I found everything was upside down at home.  Things were broken.  The house was just completely upside down and in a disarray.  My father wasn't there.  My sisters told me that my father had gone somewhere because he was afraid they were going to come back and attack him.  They organized transport for me to go to the hospital.  At the hospital they made X-rays on me, all over my body and I was admitted and I slept there for two days.  There were drips put on me.  I was very, very swollen.  My head was double its normal size.  My back was full of bruises and green marks, because of this huge belt, buckle of the belt they were beating me with.  They discharged me from the hospital after two days, but when they discharged me I was not yet all right.  I wasn't feeling all right, because I also went to the clinic at Clermont for further treatment.  It took me a long time to recuperate, because I was still in pain for a long time.  Even my left ear I couldn't hear for a long time on my left ear because of the injuries I got in that assault.  I will request to stop here now.

MR LAX: /Just to

MR LAX: 13A/21 Just to ask you a few follow-up questions, you said that these people were soldiers.  How did you know they were soldiers?  What made you to think that they were soldiers?

WITNESS:   It's an SADF uniform - brown, and also the Hippo's.  They were on these Hippo's.  These were SADF Hippo's.

MR LAX: How many of these Hippo's were there, if you can remember?

WITNESS:   The only one I saw was the one I was on, but the neighbours said that they saw other Hippo's.

MR LAX: Now, you've said that they took your father and pushed him out and they also questioned your sister.  That's what you told us in your statement.  What did they do to your sister?  Did they do anything?

WITNESS:   In fact, they asked my sister what she was doing, before they started assaulting us.  She told them that she was still at school.  They also asked me what I was doing.  When they heard that I was a student at the university they started talking nasty to me and they said, "You are also a member of the ANC".  At that time the ANC had just been unbanned.  It had just been unbanned.

MR LAX: Now, you've told us that your hearing wasn't very good after this incident.  You had problems with your ear.  Do you still have those problems or is your ear better now?

WITNESS:   No, I no longer have a problem.

MR LAX: The other thing is that you've said to us that they had turned your house upside down, damaged all sorts of things, and your father told us a few of the things that were damaged.  Did they take anything from your house or did they steal anything from your house?

WITNESS:   I heard my father saying that they stole an amount of about R400,00.  I may not remember the exact amount.

MR LAX: /Was that

MR LAX: 13A/26 Was that money that was kept somewhere in your house?

WITNESS:   Yes.

MR LAX: Now, you went to hospital and had X-rays done.  Do you have details of those X-rays?  Would we be able to obtain them, just to get confirmation of all your injuries?  If we went to the hospital, would you have the numbers so that we could get those documents from the hospital?

WITNESS:  Yes, I could try looking for the card I just for being admitted at the hospital.

MR LAX: At that time were you involved in any political organization?  Were you active in any political organization?

WITNESS:   No.

MR LAX: One of the questions being asked people who give evidence before us is how do they think the Commission would be able to help them - in what way do they think we would be able to assist them.  How would you respond to that question?

WITNESS:   What I would like to say, I would like to be compensated for the injuries I suffered on that night.  Also this incident disturbed my father a lot as far as income is concerned, but after that he couldn't get employment because he was too scared that we would be attacked again.  He was too scared.  He feared for his life.  But I also was not able to finish my studies at the university.  I would like to finish my studies.

MR LAX: Thank you.  No further questions, Mr Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  Dr Mgojo.
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KHOZA MGOJO: If it could happen that you are able to go back to university, what year would you do?

WITNESS:   I would have to do the second year.

KHOZA MGOJO: The second year?

WITNESS:   Yes, that's where I left off.

KHOZA MGOJO: /Thank you.

KHOZA MGOJO: 13B/1 Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Linda.  We had already heard from your father.  We have also heard from you.  May God be with you, help you.  Here now we've got a democracy.  Maybe those things that happened we don't ever want to see them happening again.  That's why there is this Commission, so that we can investigate the truth.  We hope that you would get an opportunity to go back to finish your studies.  We need educated people.  We need people who are doing science, so that the new South Africa can succeed and be prosperous.  Thank you.
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