Special Hearings — Children's Hearings — 1997-06-12

PROF MEIRING: Mr Molekane, thank you for travelling all the way from Cape Town to be with us today.  You are in a hurry.  Do you have time for one or two questions or should we cut it short?

MR MOLEKANE: No, I will take questions.

PROF MEIRING: Maybe - I have only one question.  You were very young when things started for you in 1976, you were about 15 years old.  The one thing that is in my mind - how did children of your age cope with what was happening to them, the trauma, the torture, what made them go on, and on, and on?

MR MOLEKANE: Well, at least in the 1970's until the late 1970's you still had semblance of organisations, for example you had an organisation of parents, I think it was called BPS, Black Parents' Convention, which was doing much of what the DPSC was doing, because they had mobile clinics and they were assisting with stress and trauma of young children and in that way, young people got to adapt, but also at the same time, in the whole of Africa or in Southern Africa, there were a lot of positive things that were happening.
 For example in Mozambique, in Angola and also the struggle around Namibia, and also Zimbabwe, those things motivated young people to think of speeding up the pace of getting independence as well.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much.  I will hand you over to the Chairperson, maybe there are some of my colleagues who want to add a question or two.

DR RANDERA: Raphu, sorry in my rush to introduce you, I forgot to say that you are also a National Member of Parliament and that is why you are rushing back.
 I just want to take you back to this question what you call re-education camps - Dr Coleman this morning referred to them as rehabilitation camps.  Can you just from your own experience tell us a little bit more about this?

MR MOLEKANE: The youth camps were mainly organised by the South African Defence Force in conjunction of course with the police.  They should be looked at as part of the broad strategy of the regime at that time through what they used to call the Joint Monitoring Councils to try and brainwash and also to influence young people to move away from the struggle and to inculcate them with what they used to call this "Christian, democracy" of apartheid.
 Now they would take young kids from schools and take them out in camps in Magaliesberg was the most famous one which was used, the Magaliesberg camp, and from there then they would begin to teach them about communism, anti-communism.  They would teach them about the ANC, they would teach them about the struggle in general and begin to recruit them against - so that they should become spies for the police or also to join the organisation and become provocateurs within the organisations, so that they would become more radical and become elected into leadership positions and reign organisations in their march towards freedom.
 The were a number of them also in the Northern Transvaal in Mesina, they also used to take people there.  I can't remember the exact name of the camp, but there was a camp also in Mesina that they used to take kids.
 You also had an organisation  called Youth for South Africa/Jeugkrag which was exposed when there was this Inkatha scandal thing, Inkatha gate scandal that it was funded and formed by the police.  And then it disbanded afterwards.
 It also used to organised similar camps and similar things also used to happen in those camps.  I myself attended one.  I see Fivi is there, she also attended one of those camps.

DR RANDERA: Thank you.

MS MKHIZE: Thank you very much for coming all the way from Cape Town.  I should think what you have said - it really gives a context of what you have been struggling with for the whole day today.  And also I want to really affirm you and say as a young person who saw a lot quite early in life, it is amazing how you seem to talk about this difficult issues in a very calm and contained sort of way.
 Just one thing which I want to share with you is that we have had many submissions, even from professional bodies, international professional bodies, talking about long term consequences of torture and I will really say it would be important for you as well to create opportunities for yourself to look at where you come from with an aim of facilitating healing in your own personal life.  Thank you very much for coming.

MR MOLEKANE: Can I conclude by also saying that whilst we appreciate the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and say that it is doing a very good job in trying to bring about reconciliation in our country, I think there should be a realisation that young people who had gone through that period, angry as they were, they have shown a willingness to forgive and to reconcile and that this is one step in trying to also cement that, thank you.