Human Rights Violation Hearings — Nelspruit — 1996-09-03

YASMINE SOOKA: You posed a number of questions to the
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Commission and I think you know that part of this 
Commission's brief is actually to investigate all the gross human rights violations that took place during the period, 
March 1960 to December 1993. Now one part of the picture in a sense has been that the political parties have been making submissions to the Commission on how they saw their role in the past and last week, the week before, the ANC in it's submission addressed the question of the land mine, particularly in this area and I think that a number of questions you posed, they actually seek to deal with. have you had an opportunity to look at that?
     I would I think, read you a small paragraph of what they say and I believe that it answers all your questions and I think that will need to be validly addressed. But in these submissions they say that they regret the loss of life, but they do believe that the use of land mines on the white border farms was justified because the Apartheid Regime had declared border farm military zones, and that white farmers were integrated into the security system and provided with the tools of war including automatic weapons which were only legally possessed by members of the Apartheid armed forces. And they then quote an act which was passed which regulated the management of white farms as being inclusive of a strategic security system and they say that towns like Messina, Louis Trichardt, Alldays, Ellisras, Thabazimbi, Zeerust, Piet Retief and Amsterdam were all key towns in the Regime's military strategy.  And they of course, do say that, they regret the loss of life but they also claim that innocent people were killed but that it is undeniable that when the Apartheid Regime took steps towards obliterating the distinction between civilians and military NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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spheres, there would then be this kind of loss of life.
 Now I think that we will need to give you a copy of  
this so that you yourself can read it and of course, all the questions that you posed to us, we will need to make a transcript of your evidence and send that on to them for further clarification from them. I think that it is a very very difficult issue but one question I would to pose to you is, now having seen that we are in this process where amnesty is freely available, not just for members of the Liberation Forces, but also members of the old security forces, for the deeds that they've done during this period. What is your feeling about that, because in your statement, you mention people should be treated in the same way.

JOHANNES FREDERICK VAN ECK: Just to go back the first section that you read to me. I hear what you're saying, but I wasn't part
of that regime, I was not a farmer in that region. I was a teacher and a bus contractor, far from there. I went on holiday. Do you understand and I wasn't part of that regime. I had nothing to do with them and I didn't want anything to do with them and that is why I'm saying, could you just repeat the last question and how I feel about what?

YASMINE SOOKA: You talk about the fact that the people were convicted for this crime were later on in '92 given indemnity and they were released from jail. Now part of the work of the Commission is to facilitate the granting of amnesty to those persons who have committed gross human rights violations on either side, whether they came from the old regime or whether they came from the liberation movements. And this is one of the functions of one of the committees of the Truth Commission.
 Now there is a great sense out there that people are NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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being asked to deal with the question of forgiving people,
but it's also a necessity in this country of ours, where we need to put the past behind us, what is your personal view on that?

JOHANNES FREDERICK VAN ECK: Mr Chairman, I think it was very clear in my submission, all I'm asking, my only request is that it should be consequent, I said, leave those people as they are, leave them where they are, but then we should look at who we are hunting for in vain. In other words, the Commission stands for equality and justice.  That's all I'm asking for, for justice and nothing more.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you I have no further questions.

CHAIRPERSON: Lewin?

MR LEWIN: Mr van Eck, I do not want to ask another
question because I think there are many questions here today, this morning.  I just want to say that you have shown us something and what you have done here is very important, to come here.  I remind the witness about Mr Smith who appeared in Johannesburg, his son was killed in bomb explosion in Amanzimtoti and I think that it was the impact thereof that the impact thereof is the same but what you are saying to us and teach us is how to overcome that bitterness, and is the a question of balance between these guys on the one hand and what the guys on the other side have done, or how should we go forward, how do we go forward from here, hereafter?

JOHANNES FREDERICK VAN ECK: In my case, but I don't know if it's the same all over, but in my case, I have overcome it and I am sitting here today and I can tell you the story because I get my strength from above.  The God in whom I believe is the one who gives me the strength to be able to sit here NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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before you today and speak without crying.  He clears my 
thoughts and he consoles me and it's the only way in which
I can overcome it. How it is going to work in other peoples' cases I do not know, I cannot give you any clarity there about.

MR LEWIN: But I would like to say that it's very important that you are here and we hope that there will be more people who are in the same position as you who will also come forward.  Because of your kind of evidence we can go forward, thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Ms Mkhize.

MS MKHIZE: Mr van Eck, much as I appreciate your sharing and the difficulties for us as well as we are listening to a traumatic story, I would still like to ask you  whether
you can tell us about your friends whom you had visited, whether he was affiliated to any political party, if you could just tell us about him a bit?

JOHANNES FREDERICK VAN ECK: Mr Boraine, I'm sorry for bothering you, I cannot hear very clearly. Do I understand correctly whether you want to know whether my friend was associated with any organisation or any political activities or anything like that? Is that correct?  Let me put it to you this way firstly, he wasn't living on the farm, there where the accident took place.  He, like me, was living far from there, he was not part of the previous regime.  Like me he was opposed to the previous regime and we were just very good friends.