Special Hearings — Trojan Horse Hearings — 1997-05-20

SHARIFA FRIDIE: Yes, we were present at the inquest.  At the inquest it was the White policeman who admitted to having fired, but they spoke about it in such a way and they helped him in such a way that in the end they said that they shot two people, or two persons had fired and then he said no, he didn't shoot at Abdul Kariem.  No one else had been wounded that evening.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: ... White policeman and the Coloured policeman as you said, what were they saying to each other and was this in the court inquest?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: Yes, they mentioned it in the inquest.  The Coloured policeman said that he had told the White policeman to fire because the White policeman was a better shot and had a better aim.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: The Coloured policeman said to the White policeman you rather shoot?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: That is exactly, he told him he to shoot rather because he was a better shot.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Okay.  What happened afterwards at the funeral and how did you obtain the body and so on?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: The police phoned to tell me that only 50 people would be allowed at the funeral.  I then said to them this was impossible, I phoned (indistinct) in Wynberg and he said to me not to worry about it, not to answer their questions and that he would make the arrangements.  He then took further steps to obtain the body.
 But we could only get hold of it late on the Friday afternoon.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: On the day, on the Friday, but you had the funeral then - did you have the funeral on the Friday or the Saturday?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: It was on the Saturday.  It was late, we received it late in the afternoon on the Friday.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: What was the behaviour of the police at the funeral like?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: I was not at the funeral since we women stay at home during the funeral.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Did anyone tell you about what happened at the funeral?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: It was a very large funeral, there were many people there.  It could be 5 000 or 10 000 or 50 000 people, but there were a lot of people.  I saw photographs in the Argus and in the Times and I've kept these, since it was a very large funeral.
 The police always accompanied them as they carried the corpse to the funeral, the police walked along with them.  As I could see on the photograph, there was a helicopter circling over the funeral all the time.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: I believe at City Park, is that so?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: That is correct.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Evidently the City Park was quite crowded, the sports field was very crowded with people?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: Yes, the people who came from the funeral of the three children also went to this funeral.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: So the families and the community from the Trojan Horse event, after that funeral joined the people at your husband's funeral?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: That is correct.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: How has this event affected you and your family?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: It has left me very emotionally unstable as well as my child who was only 18 months at that time.  Up to today he cannot accept the events.
 I've never really been able to express my feelings about this.  I've also had considerable financial difficulties.  I wanted to continue my studies, but when I was - I had to go and do extra duties and additional work to be able to get hold of additional finances, I wanted the following year to continue with my studies, but until today I found also that I can't remember things well and I seem to suffer from loss of memory and I feel that I've never been properly healed about this event. 
 It all happened to quickly and I've not been able to accept it.  My child sometimes asks me  I haven't got a daddy, I haven't got a daddy, the other children all have daddies and brothers and sisters and fathers, but I don't have.  And I say but I can't help and then we just like close the conversation and don't talk further.
 I can see that this has made him emotionally unstable, he is now 13 years of age, but he is a very tense young person and I believe that is because he is unstable due to these events.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: ... to explain to him difficult because you yourself didn't understand or know why it is that your husband had to die in this particular way, so it was hard for you to be able to explain to your young growing child why he doesn't have a dad?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: Yes, he was 18 months at the time.  By the time when he began to ask questions, he was five years old.  My wound had only just started to heal, then he began to ask the questions and then that opened the wounds which have remained open.  It is difficult for instance to take care of the school fees and so forth.
 One wants to give one's child the best.  You have make and sell extra things.  I have said that it is better for me to have difficulty now, but to provide in his education.
 We have continued in this way, Dr Akoojee often also came back to me to check on me and when I went to college his surgery was just across the road, when I had a headache I went to Dr Akoojee, but I did not always feel that I should go to him, because he never wanted to take any money from me, but I did not like that, I did not like going there because it appeared as if I wanted to go for free.
 But Dr Akoojee always checked up on me and the community was very supportive.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: ... husband when you have an 18 month old child and you also wanted to - what were you wanting to study?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: I am not sure whether I can see this.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: And you were at nursing college?  That's fine you can say that.

SHARIFA FRIDIE: Yes, Heideveld.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: If you were to think of what you would like to get out of the process, I know it has been hard for you to come and talk to us about the death of your husband and how hard it has been to rear your child, what would you like to see come out of this process?

SHARIFA FRIDIE: I would like very much for the TRC to go and look into this matter very thoroughly because at the inquest every one could see that the police were actually guilty, but they under the old regime were privileged, and I would appreciate if you could thoroughly investigate it and discover whether they were in fact guilty.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Thank you very much.  I don't have any more questions, I am sure the other panellists might want to ask you some questions.

CHAIRPERSON: Mary Burton?

MARY BURTON: Thank you Chairperson.  Mrs Fridie, I hear from what you say that you were very distressed at the lack of any success of the outcome of the inquest as far as you were concerned.  I would like you to know and it applies also to the other families who have testified here today, that one of the things that we do in order to try and establish the truth of what happened, we received a statement from you, but that isn't all, we have a very active investigation unit and they have followed up all the things that you have told us in your statement, they have retrieved many of the records, the medical records, the inquest documents, the statements that were made at the time.
 And when the Commission comes to make a finding, which we don't do at an occasion like this, we do it at a later stage, all of those facts will be taken into consideration and in a way also all of those facts will be part of the history of the events that happened.
 So that our task is not only to give you the opportunity to speak, but also to follow up.  To make sure that we establish as much as we can, the correct fact and I just hope that that will bring you some additional consolation.

SHARIFA FRIDIE: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Ms Wildschut.