Human Rights Violation Hearings — Bloemfontein — UNKNOWN

DR MAGWAZA: Standard 10. Okay, thanks very much, Shadrack. Thanks very,very much for your story. I would like to hand it over to our Chairperson now.

MR LYSTER: Thank you, Dr Magwaza. Are there any questionsthat anyone else would like to ask? Thank you both very much for coming heretoday and telling us your story. I made some remarks earlier on today aboutthe police force and the role that the police force played in our country overthe last - over the past years. And the defence force has also played a verynegative role in our country, and it was used to support the work of the police,and to harass and assault people who opposed the policies of the Government,and this should never have been allowed to happen, and we must guard againstthat sort of thing ever happening again.
And it's very ironic that in two short years the defence forcehas changed from being the sort of organisation that you have described, ithas changed, transformed into the sort of organisation which by and large isplaying a role in protecting and preserving our new democracy here. We fromKwaZulu-Natal have recently had our local government elections, and it was statedin the paper after those elections went off successfully that the defence forceplayed a very, very crucial role in ensuring that violence did not happen, sowe are certainly very glad that the defence force has managed to start transforming itself from the organisation it was when you weredetained and assaulted, to the sort of organisation that it is now.
We will try and investigate what happened to the cases thatyou initiated against the people who assaulted you, and we will try and findout who was responsible and why those things happened. We will also make recommendationsto the State President concerning assistance to people like yourselves who havesuffered injuries as a result of human rights violations. 
So again that you very much for coming in, thank you for beingpatient. You've waited a long time to give your evidence today, and we hopethat by the telling of your story in public that you feel that you have liftedin some way some of the burden which you have been carrying for these years.Thank you very much.

MR LYSTER: Thank you very much for coming in today,Mr Bolane. Can you hear me through the earphones? Are you able to hearme? Thank you. Thank you for being patient. You are the last person who willgive evidence today, and you've waited the entire day, and we thank you forthat. You will be telling us a story relating to what occurred to you as anANC member in exile, and it's a story which took place over a number of years,five or six years. We don't expect you to relate every incident in any detail.You have, as you are aware, given us a detailed statement. It is late in theday, and there are witnesses who have to travel a long time to get home. Wecertainly don't want to rush you through your evidence, but because yours tookplace over a long period of time we'd like you to try and highlight the mostimportant incidents - highlight those incidents which you feel are the mostimportant that you'd like to tell us. I am going to - before you give your evidenceI am going to ask you to please stand and take the oath.

MR B BOLANE: (Sworn, States)

MR LYSTER: Thank you very much. One of my colleagues,Mr Ilan Lax, is going to assist you in giving your evidence.

MR LAX: Good afternoon, Mr Bolane.

WITNESS: Good afternoon.

MR LAX: Thank you for coming. Can you just tell us briefly your ageplease?

WITNESS: I am 36 years old.

MR LAX: Thank you. You've told us in your statement that you left SouthAfrica in 1985 to join the ANC in Lesotho, is that correct?

WITNESS: Yes, that'scorrect. Why did you do that? --- I went after a long period of oppressionthat I went through when I was still in South Africa. What made me take thisdecision was that I have suffered, and I couldn't get my identify document asfrom 1977 up to 1985. Where I was staying in Thaba Nchu each time I go to geta pass they would tell me that I am a Xhosa from Transkei. I asked them, "Howcan I get to Transkei and get an identity document, because I wasn't born inTranskei?" They told me I am a Xhosa, I should go back to Transkei. I was workingin Mafikeng. I went to Mafikeng to get an identity document. They referred meto Bloemfontein so that I could get my identity document there. In Bloemfonteinthey made me a temporary document. My ID took a long time. I went - I took thistemporary ID and went to look for work because I couldn't get any work. LuckilyI got work. It had already expired. I went on trying to change the date so thatit would be extended so that I could get some work. When I went to check ifmy ID had arrived they told me that I must go to the nearest South African town,which was Lichtenburg. I went to Lichtenburg. When I got to Lichtenburg, afterstanding in a long queue for my ID, when I got to the window I was balancingon the window as I am indicating. There was a black person at the counter. Heasked me what I was looking for. I told him I am looking for an ID. He justclosed the window without any care. He told me that I should see that it's lunchtime. I told him I didn't know it was lunch time, but he nevertheless closedthe window and left me standing on the counter. We waited until such time thathe came back from lunch. He started attending to me. He told me that I wasn't supposed to be there, I was supposed to be in Transkei.I told him, "I don't know anything about Transkei, I wasn't born in Transkei.I was born in South Africa, so don't keep on referring me to Transkei."

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... a moment. Can you tell us when did you eventuallyget an ID document?

WITNESS: I ultimately went outside of the country without gettingmy ID. I only got it when I came back from exile in 1992.

MR LAX: Would you now - there are a number of incidents that happenedwhile you were in exile that you told us about, which start in Dakawa TransitCamp in July 1985, is that correct?

WITNESS: Yes, that's correct.

MR LAX: Would you, as briefly as possible, try and tell us about whathappened there? We will then thereafter move on to the other incidents thatyou've told us about.