Human Rights Violation Hearings — Tembisa — 1996-11-26

HENRY RAMAHUTA: There is a difference, there is a lot of improvement up to now.  Up to now I see a lot of difference.  I want to be somebody within the community so that I will be able to work together with all those people.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you.  I am going to ask the other Commissioners if they have got questions for you.

PROF MEIRING: Mr Ramahuta only one question, are you married?

HENRY RAMAHUTA: No I am not married.

PROF MEIRING: Any children?

HENRY RAMAHUTA: I have one child.

PROF MEIRING: How old is the child?

HENRY RAMAHUTA: He is 11 years old.  My parent and she has since died.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mr Ramahuta is there anything that you would like to tell the Commission?

HENRY RAMAHUTA: My detention in 1986 and then also the Chairperson the local community was arrested also then it happens that he was charged.  Because we were from the same section it seemed as if we are working together.  It looked as if both of us were leaders.  When we went to court there was not enough evidence which proved that I was involved in political activity.

YASMINE SOOKA: Alright.  And what would you like us to do about finding out about that?

HENRY RAMAHUTA: Do you mean what do I want you to do?

YASMINE SOOKA: (Sound disappears)

HENRY RAMAHUTA: What makes me to say that is because the
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policeman were pressuring me, he says I only know him amongst those people who were torturing me.  I didn't have a choice of going or not going, if I don't cooperate with their decisions.  It would be possible for them to take any action which was going to be heavy for me and then they said I should not say anything and then they made me to sign.  Then I could see that I was not protected.

YASMINE SOOKA: (The speaker's microphone is not on) - were forced to sign a confession.

HENRY RAMAHUTA: Yes.

YASMINE SOOKA: So I think that what we know what happened during those times is that often people were kept in detention for long periods of time and during that time they were forced to sign confessions and the confessions were then used by the State to convict them or to convict other people.  That was a practice that was quite common during that period and I don't think that you should feel responsible for the fact that you were compelled to sign that statement.  Does it worry you?

HENRY RAMAHUTA: I was given dog food there.  When I refused to eat this, and it seemed like I didn't cooperate with them, the food that was prepared for prisoners like us, there were those who were already in prison uniform were given this food prepared for prisoners.  However we were given only bones to eat at this prison.

YASMINE SOOKA: It's a major problem that the people were not treated properly in prison and a lot of what you are saying and what other people who come to testify before the Commission is saying is highlighting the problems that exist in our prisons, and also the wrongful things that were done to people while they were in the custody of the police.
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These are matters that the Commission is looking into.  The Human Rights Commission is looking at the way people are treated in prisons.  You have given us various names in your statement and they are names that seem to be quite common in all the evidence that is coming from the people in Tembisa.  We will from our side in the Commission try to track these policemen down to find out what actually happened and who they were getting their orders from and what it is that they were trying to achieve in the townships.  You have suffered terribly and you suffered while you were very, very young and we can see the effect that this has had on you.  We are happy that you are receiving some kind of disability grant and that you are in fact receiving medical treatment, psychiatric treatment as well, but I know that the pain of knowing why all of this happened is still with you and we will try and see what we can do to get some kind of answer to you.  Thank you for coming today and telling us about what happened to you.  Thank you.