Human Rights Violation Hearings — Worcester — 1996-06-24

MR DYANTYI: When the policeman came to arrest me they arrived around about five in the early hours of the morning - they came with three vans and one hippo.  The leader of this police force was Lieutenant Van Loggerenberg - I believe he was the entrusted one.   They took me and they roam around the location with me at the back of the van.  They took one of my comrades and they took us to the detectives office.  When we arrived there, they took us inside the offices, what they did they separated us but he was not that much far from me - that's Boyiseli they handcuffed me with the table, they took Boyiseli away.
 Van Loggerenberg was the organiser of this whole thing, saying they must take away Boyiseli, they went as from five up till six o'clock in the morning, when they came back I was tired of sitting.  They came back with Boyiseli again,  they didn't cover my head at that moment when they arrived with Boyiseli - I saw it was Van Loggerenberg who was taking the leading role.  They took Boyiseli to me, what they did then, which they were sure of what they were doing to people.
 He was wearing a track suit now, he has wetted his track suit, there was another load at the back, that I couldn't identify and they said can you see, I said yes.  I asked Boyiseli what happened - he said as from today,  I am under the comradeship I've got nothing to do with that, I am leaving you alone.  They said I must leave - they  - I disregarded this and it was my first experience.  I was not afraid, I just felt that I have just to see and experience for myself, I couldn't just take what happened to somebody else and think that it would be the same with me.
 I was handcuffed, and they put on a - lighted on my head, Loggerenberg said to me - two cars should be filled with Security Officers and then I was taken to one of the vans.   I was still handcuffed, they pulled me because I was blindfolded and they said I was - they put me at the back seat, then somebody pinned me down and I could feel that somebody had his foot on my neck and also on my waist.  I didn't realise that I was being taken to my place.   I felt that I would see what was going to happen to me.
 The car was at a very high speed, and you could feel that it was travelling a long distance.  Later on I realised that there was something terrible which was going to happen to me, but I felt that I would see what was going to happen at the time.  As I was - I was lying on the car,  you could feel that the road was corrugated, and you would also feel that it was bumping over the bushes, the way in which they were in a hurry, you could feel that they were really rushing for something terrible.
 And then they took me away, they pulled me and they pulled me with my belt, dragged me because I couldn't walk - they have covered my face, you must remember that, so I couldn't go on my own.  They also took the handcuffs and then under the head you could feel that their was something heavy which was on my head.  And Loggerenberg said to me, somebody should put my - my handcuffs, the handcuffs which are on my hand, and put my knees inside through the arms and then  said somebody should pull me apart.  What he did, he put his foot at my buttocks and then he said it is enough.
 He said Amos it's Zwelethemba you are a member of the Civic Organisation, then I agreed.  He said you are the people - you are making havoc in the location, I told him that he cannot say anything that he doesn't know, because he doesn't stay there.  I knew that the Civic was the most prominent organisation in our area, we were busy because we knew that ANC was banned and we wanted to perform duties as we knew that the ANC was working underground and then the Civic Association was using the platform because they knew that they were able to speak as if they  were speaking about  civic matters.
 Matshoba, Harry Sibeko and Ivan Kholo and Abel Ligilili were also the members of the civic and we were united.   And everybody had confidence in us.  Van Loggerenberg stated that he knows what was going on in the location and he knew about our involvement and that was going to be put to and end and he stated that it is you and me inside here and the first thing that he stated was that I know what was taking place at your place, we know what was going on, we know the people who always attend meetings at your place, so you are going to tell us the truth.
 The first thing that he did was to take a cube,  when you try to push it, as it was put on - over my face, it was difficult to remove it.  Then at the end you - it was difficult for me to breath, he took the electric wires I do not know whether he poured water over those, but he end of Tape 4, Side A ... convulsions.  You could feel the shock waves in my body.  This was happening on my fingers, on my toes - a person who has never experienced that doesn't know anything, it is just beyond description.  Especially if it is done by somebody who is not considerate as if he is a hardened criminal, a merciless person.
 Then Loggerenberg you could imagine what type of a person I was dealing with.  After shocking me, he removed the cube from my face and I was screaming.  When I was calling my father - during the Truth Commission Hearings you always see that the people are requested to come forward and present their cases and confess but they never do.  
 So the other thing that I did, I was crying  in pain, because the pain that I was experiencing was excruciating,   I was praying in my language which is Xhosa and he took - he removed those electric wires from my neck and then they turned me on the other side, he opened my trousers at the back, and then they took these electric wires, put them through my einas and they inserted them deeply.
 This continued for quite a long time - it was those wires at the buttocks on the neck and this torturing was taking place simultaneously.  I would like the Truth Commission and the people who are listening here should just sit down and imagine what was taking place.
After they have removed those wires, I cried extremely, I tried to hold my breath so that I can endure the pain that I was experiencing at the time, I was praying so hard, but they didn't listen to me, they just said they have no time to play, I must just confess and state whatever is taking place there and inform them about it.  He said he is going to show me.
There is something that they always use by the contractors, I can site an example, it looks like a jackhammer, usually it - it is used for drilling the walls or to draw the concrete - to drill the concrete.  But if you look at this one, you could see that it had very sharp iron points and then they took off my trousers - please apologise me for my expression of these emotions.  Then they switched on this and also this jackhammer was being used to  torture me.  I was - at the same time, I had this plastic cube which was covered over my face and even I was trying to - even if I was trying to scream nobody could hear me properly.  When I was feeling, I had a nauseous feeling - it looked as if my intestines were going to come out, I was certain that I was disembowelled.  
Mr Chairperson and the listeners here, the audience would like to thank you for the support that you've given us today.  If you can think what happened during the apartheid regime, those repressive laws are beyond description.  The people were so evil  you could lighten them to Satan himself.
What they saw to me was that they could see that now I was weak, my body was just giving way.  They were shocked to see that I was severely injured.  Loggerenberg put his hand on my stomach and then he said let's take him quickly to the doctor and said Amos are you still alive, I couldn't answer him.  He repeated it again and said Amos are you still alive, I couldn't respond.  And then they took me and then he put - he was hugging me and he put me on his lap, he was -he had his hand over my stomach and then they were driving off quickly to the hospital.
They said to me - I was ordered to - they took me down and threw me on the floor, thereafter many police came in.  The first one took a bucket of water and threw it over me, I could feel that I was wet, I couldn't speak but I could hear what was being said, I could feel what was happening.  There were alternating among themselves trying to  revive me, the others were trying to carry me along.  The others were trying to open and stretch my fingers, apparently I had spasms.
What I could hear them saying was let's call the doctor.   The doctor came - when he arrived the first thing that he did he put his hand on my forehead - I didn't understand that my tongue was hanging outside, thereafter I could hear a sound like whap - whap in my tongue.  And then he said they must all go out, he said I want to be alone with the patient and also the - and only one Security Branch Officer.
The only thing that I could think of at the time is that I was about to die, but I was conscious all the time - physically I was dead as far as I was concerned.  You could understand that when you are [indistinct] in the sun or you are sitting around the fire you can feel the feeling when the fire is too hot now, the pain that I was experiencing was beyond that pain that I just presented to you.   I could realise that they were not yet finished with me.  
The doctors statement when he took - take them out, the reasons I am asking them to go out, I can't clearly listen - hear - hear what the doctors, what they were trying to say to me, because I was almost loosing conscious.  The doctor try his best to talk to me, it was dr Van Heerden, the reason I call you alone, this is not a mortuary, if this case could be investigated, we'll find a solution and a reason for all this that he did, I advise you to  take this person straight to the hospital.  On your way to hospital, you must take a mug or cup with you with a porridge, you must apply porridge onto his mouth through his nostrils, I for one now I am going to give him two injections.