Human Rights Violation Hearings — Venda — 1996-10-03

RUSSELL ALLY: Daphne, thank you very much for coming forward.
 As I said to many other witnesses that it is really the President and through him, Parliament who will be responsible in the end for reparations and for rehabilitations.  We only make recommendations.
 But I am sure that one of our briefers here will try to assist as best as possible, especially in this request in your statement about a disability grant.
 I am sure that the Truth Commission will be able to assist you in pointing you in the right direction in making proper enquiries and to establish your rights with regard to VENDA HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
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a disability grant.
 Also the Committee on Reparations, although it is only at the end of the work of the Commission that it will perform recommendations, but there is also provision for what is called, urgent interim reparation, that is where people need assistance immediately and desperately. 
 Those who have been found to be victims of gross human rights violations and that policy is in the process of being implemented, so I hope that quite soon the Committee will be able to announce something.
 In the mean time I will request that you maintain this contact with our briefers and that they, I am sure, will try and provide as much assistance in helping you to go through the right channels.
 But, thanks again for coming forward and for telling us what happened to you.
 That was then our last witness for today.   We will start tomorrow again at nine o'clock, but before we close, just to remind people of what we heard today.
 And I think we did get a glimpse and that is only a glimpse, because remember we only heard a small number of statements, but we got a glimpse of what life must have been like in the former Venda land.
 The harassment, the detentions, the torture, the killings often just the arbitrary way in which the police and the security police went about their business of someone who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and was shot in his shoulder, accused of being a so-called terrorist, of  Daphne her now, during school boycott, then losing her right eye.
 Of others being killed, who was suspected of being 
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members of Umkhontu weSiswe and one of the appeals which came forward constantly from the survivors of these abuses, was that they would like their torturers, those who detained them, those who were involved in the shootings, those who were involved in the killings, to come forward, to come to the Commission and to come and explain why they did what they did.
 To come and give their version, their account of what happened.  And we can only endorse that appeal.
 But I also want to make absolutely clear that while the Commission is committed to reconciliation, we are also committed to finding out the truth, because people want to know and although we put out this request and invite people, it is important to know that the Commission also has powers.
 That it has powers to actually subpoena people, in other words to force people to come forward, to assist in establishing the truth and it is with that in mind that I just want to read to you extracts from a statement that was put out today by the vice-Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Dr Alex Boraine, just to give an indication of the seriousness with which the Commission takes this search for truth.
 The Truth And Reconciliation Commission will tomorrow begin the process of issuing subpoenas summoning the former Minister of Law and Order, Mr Adriaan Vlok and former high ranking police officers to appear at investigative hearings of the Commission.
 The subpoenas will be issued in terms of section 29 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act which grants the Commission power to call upon any person to appear before the Commission, to give evidence or to answer 
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questions relevant to the subject matter of the hearing.
 This decision to issue subpoenas follows receipt today of a letter from Generals Johan van der Merwe, Mike Geldenhuys, Johan Coetzee, Hennie de Witt all former Commissioners of Police.
 In their letter the Generals say that their own knowledge of gross violations of human rights is based on general information.  They say that any possible involvement in violations on their part, may be restricted to limited instances.
 And even in those instances proper legal advise would have to be obtained.  
 Section 39 of the Act provides for penalties for any person who fails to appear in response to a subpoena without sufficient cause or who fails or refuse to answer fully and satisfactorily to the best of his or her knowledge and believe and question lawfully put to him or her.
 Those guilty of offences in terms of the Act, are liable to fines and to imprisonment of up to two years.
 It has already been publicly reported that the list of policemen upon whom the Commission is considering serving these subpoenas, includes Generals Van der Merwe, Geldenhuys, Coetzee, Lieutenant Generals Basie Smit and Johan le Roux and Major Generals Krappies Engelbrecht and Bertus Steyn.
 The Commissions' National and Regional offices already have more extensive lists of subpoena candidates which they will act upon as and when deemed necessary.
 So while again as I say the Commission appeals to people to come forward out of their own free will, if people don't come forward, in order for the Commission to establish VENDA HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
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the truth, we will seriously consider subpoenaing such individuals.
 Once again, I want to thank people, particularly our witnesses and their families.  I want to say also that there is a little type of questionnaire which some of the staff of the Commission has to ask people to fill in where they express their views on what they feel about the hearings and how the hearings went and other things relating to the hearings.
 If people can please get those forms and fill them in, they will assist us in our work.  I will ask us again please to stand and to allow the witnesses to leave before we go and then just to remind people to please leave the headsets.
 They are of no value to anybody outside of this hall, if you can please leave the headsets behind, these things which we were using for the translations and they will be available again tomorrow for those who come.
 If we could please stand while the witnesses leave, thank you.

MR LYSTER: People, just leave the headsets just on your seats, just leave it right on your seats, thank you.