Human Rights Violation Hearings — Cradock — 1997-02-12

MR SANDI: Then in 1985 when you were a member of the UDF and the ANC did you say you were detained again by the security police?

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: Yes Sir in 1985 when I returned from one of my outstations, Noupoort in the neighbourhood of Graaf Reinet, I pulled my car into the car port at my home and the security police pounced on me immediately...  (end of side A tape 16)
(side B of tape 16).....inquired as after my whereabouts by telephone to the other security policemen along the road from Middelburg to Graaf Reinet and they  sent through the message that I was on my way, and at my car they approached me and said that I was under arrest and they did not allow me to enter my house or to see my wife and family.  They shoved me on to one of the caspars, together with other comrades of mine and took me to the police station at Graaf Reinet.

MR SANDI: Then can we talk about the humiliation to which you were subjected when you were in detention, what happened to you when you were in the police cells during 1985?

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: Yes Sir it was a much worse experience for me at Middelburg.  They held us at Graaf Reinet's police station for ten days, about twenty of us locked up in a small cell without any toilet facilities, there was one bucket that served ablution purposes and we were all crowded together in that cell for 10 days without being able to was or clean ourselves and with only that bucket as an ablution facility.  We slept amongst one another and it was a horrible experience.  I told this Sergeant Stander, when he came into the cell that it was a disgraceful state to which we were being subjected and were they not going to see to it that we were at least allowed human facilities.  He said that he would see to that and that was the last that I saw of him at that time.
 That was at Graaf Reinet, from they transported us to the prison in Middelburg.  There are colleagues that were with us at the time in this audience here today, and we were locked up in the prison at Middelburg and there we served over six months.

MR SANDI: Was anyone of your colleagues at that stage forced to take off all his clothes?

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: Yes in prison we were at one stage instructed to strip ourselves to the skin, we were naked all of us, naked, and we were told to lean against the wall of the cell.  It was a very very humiliating experience for me as a Christian minister, some of my colleagues were members of my church and to have been exposed in such a manner created great pain and humiliation for me.

MR SANDI: Who was doing this to you?

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: The captain of the prison.  I cannot remember his name.  He instructed all the other warders who came dressed in the uniform that they put on when they were busy with onslaughts on prisoners.  They came and told us to undress, the captain of the prison led this squad.

MR SANDI: Did they give any reasons for this order?

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: Sir I don't know what happened, I don't know whether some of us peeped through the window, we were disallowed to do that I think, but something must have happened to have disturbed them to the extent that they instructed us to strip naked.

MR SANDI: Is that the end of your testimony Father Hufkie.

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: Yes Sir, I would just like to mention that my premature retirement from teaching, as I mentioned at the beginning landed me in financial difficulties, because I deprived myself of substantial financial benefits and at this stage I retired from the Christian ministry as well now, I'm  no longer active in the ministry, although I still serve when the church needs me for communion and baptism and marriages, but the paucity of my present pension as a teacher is absolutely inadequate for me to meet my commitments and I depend to a great extent my children to support me.  So I feel that as a result of my premature retirement, I deprived myself of financial needs which create difficulties  for me at the present time and I wish to appeal for a small pension.  I believe there is a pension for those who had committed themselves to this struggle for liberation in the past, to be rewarded with a pension, a small pension to supplement my present teacher's pension will be deeply appreciated.

MR SANDI: I take it Father Hufkie, that that is the end of your testimony.

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: That is right Sir.

MR SANDI: Thank you very much Father Hufkie, I will now return you to the Chairman.  Thank you very much Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: Father Hufkie, we are grateful that you have come to share your experiences with the Commission.  We are aware of the kind of humiliation that you suffered and as you know, many people who dared to oppose the system of apartheid were subjected to those kinds of experiences, and even worse. We are grateful that you have shared this experience with us and with the people of South Africa.
 We have noted the request that you have made.  We are going to be sitting down and analysing all these submissions and see if they fit into the definition of what the Act requires us to do in terms of the gross human rights violations and make recommendations to the State President who then will take the final decision on these matters.  For now let me just say that the Commission is grateful that you have made this submission, and indeed you belong to a few of those who were not so disadvantaged but preferred to identify themselves with those who were on the side of disadvantage.  Thank you very much.

FREDERICK EMMANUEL HUFKIE: Thank you Sir.