Human Rights Violation Hearings — Krugersdorp — 1996-11-12

CHAIRPERSON: Is it?

DR RANDERA: No, she is not coming.

CHAIRPERSON: She is not coming?  Percy Christiaan Stellenberg.  Percy, we welcome you and would like to know who has accompanied you today.

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: It is my wife.

CHAIRPERSON: It is your wife

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Welcome Mrs Stellenberg.  I will hand over now to Dr Randera.

DR RANDERA: Percy, good morning.

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: Good morning.

DR RANDERA: And to your wife.  Welcome.  Percy, you are from Toekomsrus which is not that far as well.  Before I hand over to the Chairperson, can you just stand to take the oath.

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: (Duly sworn in, states).

DR RANDERA: Thank you Percy.

CHAIRPERSON: Yasmin Sooka is going to lead Percy.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you Joyce.  Percy, you have actually come to tell us about the shooting which has left you in the state that you are and we know that this happened during a time in Toekomsrus when there were riots.  I wonder if you could tell us a little bit about yourself.  How old you were KRUGERSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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at the time, what you were doing with your life, whether you were a member of any political organisation and then if you can tell us about the incident itself please.  Thank you.

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: I am Percy Stellenberg and at that time I was 36 years of age.  I lived in Toekomsrus in Randfontein and on the 18th of October of 1990.  It was involved with the very high rent and the water and lights.  On that particular day we decided, after having been at a meeting.  I attended meetings very regularly to find out what the arrangements were with regards to the water and lights, whether it was going to be switched off or not and then eventually this led to riots.
 On that particular day our employer said that we were not allowed to come to work because there were riots in our area.  The day past and at around four o' clock in the afternoon, maybe three o' clock, maybe four o' clock in the afternoon, I was sitting at my cousin's house.  It then became unrestful and we decided that it would be better for us to return to our homes.  During that time I was walking home with some of my friends, some other men who worked with me.  
 As we were walking down Diamond Street or Diamantstraat we saw exactly how busy things were and when we asked people what was going on, we were told that Canon was killed and that the Panzer vehicle had driven over him.  The armoured vehicle had driven over him.  There were many children as well as grown men and we all decided to say that we had to chase off the soldiers since they had already killed one child.  It then happened that we approached the armoured vehicles.  We spoke with the soldiers and asked them please see what you have done.  You have killed one child already.  KRUGERSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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Why do you not rather leave otherwise there would be increasing violence.  The children will become more angry and they will start throwing stones.  The soldiers refused to listen to us despite us having spoken to them for ten minutes.
 While talking to them with a couple of these white men in the armoured vehicles, I did not notice that a person came out from the top of the armoured vehicle and then he shot me on purpose in the face.  I cannot remember anything beyond that.  When I awoke I was in hospital.

YASMINE SOOKA: Can you tell us what was damaged by the shooting and what your own state of health is now?

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: Having been shot or after they shot me, one of the men got a private car which they stopped in the road as it passed and they put me in this car.  I was then taken to Lenmac Clinic and there Dr Valley performed and emergency operation on me.  Dr Valley then said to his colleagues that he though that my brain had been damaged one way or another because I was not calmed down by the anaesthetic and that I continued talking.  He thought that my brain was damaged and that I would have to be taken to Baragwaneth Hospital.  I was put in the ambulance and taken to Baragwaneth Hospital.  That must have been between seven and nine o' clock at night.  I cannot remember.  I did not have a watch at that time.
 I arrived at Baragwaneth Hospital Thursday evening.  I was put in a machine which they call a Scanner and after I came out of this machine I stayed in Baragwaneth for that Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then on the Monday, no one in the hospital helped me with washing or anything else.  I was lying there in deep pain, I was given a pill 
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and as I complained about the pain which I was experiencing, that is the only response.  When my wife arrived at the hospital I asked her whether I could not return to Dr Valley or she could not return to Dr Valley and asked him if he could somehow address the problem since I was experiencing a lot of pain and receiving no assistance.  
 My brother then took my sister to Dr Valley at his rooms and Dr Valley told them that under the circumstances they would rather bring me to him since he knew that I was badly hurt.  I stayed in Lenmac Clinic for two further days.  Then Dr Valley returned and said to me, Percy, you have been badly hurt.  Your entire skull has been cracked and that several operations would be necessary.  I then told Dr Valley to do whatever he could to return me to a state of proper health.  
 The first operation he used wires to heal the cracks in my skull.  He then told me that a second operation would be necessary since my bottom jaw had shifted.  I am not sure exactly how long this operation lasted, but after the operation when I woke up I asked Dr Valley what my circumstances were now.  He told me that he used screws for my lower jaw as well as plates in my cheeks so that my face could return to its original state since I was now misformed.  This continued and after a further year I needed an additional operation since I was no longer able to breathe through my one nostril.  They removed something from my ribcage and placed this in my nose to open my nose so that I could breathe.  I am now able, again, to breathe properly.  However, in Winter time I experience pain in my face.  In Summer I smell a bloody smell and when I blow my nose there is hardened blood or what appears to be hardened 
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blood that comes from my nose and I continue to smell this smell of blood.  As Summer continues the one side of my face swells up as it gets warmer and in Winter I experience pain.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you very much.  I am going to ask you some questions so that I can just make sure that we all understand what happened in Toekomsrus at the time.  It seems from what you have said that people were protesting against the rents, the water and electricity.  At that particular time was there a Management Committee structure in Toekomsrus?

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: Yes, such a structure did exist.

YASMINE SOOKA: Were the people in favour of that or were they opposed to that structure?

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: The people were against the structure.

YASMINE SOOKA: Why was that?

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: The reason for this was that it effected mostly the old people such as the pensioners.  A pensioner would have received R200.00 a month.  Then they would have to pay R160.00 rent, water and lights and from the remaining R40.00 what would this old woman live off?  So logically, who could live from R40.00 a month?

YASMINE SOOKA: Was there a Civic structure in Toekomsrus?

PERCY CHRISTIAAN STELLENBERG: Not as far as I can remember, no.

YASMINE SOOKA: I see from our own documentation that there was a Crisis Committee.  Were you part of that Crisis Committee?