Human Rights Violation Hearings — Witbank — 1997-06-05

MR LEWIN: Am I correct in saying that you tried in 1987, you tried then to get compensation?  Could I ask how you find this lawyer?  Who introduced you to this lawyer?

UNKNOWN: We got a friend of ours who assisted us and who referred us to the lawyers with the hope that our child should be assisted because we really did not know how we should assist him.

MR LEWIN: This was a lawyer in Pretoria?

UNKNOWN: Yes.

MR LEWIN: And because you weren't able to pay, or you did in fact pay a deposit, but nothing happened.

UNKNOWN: No.

MR LEWIN: And in the same way, after your son died last year, you couldn't get the post-mortem because you didn't have the money to pay for that?

UNKNOWN: Yes, we couldn't because we were preparing for the funeral.

MR LEWIN: Did anyone tell you what was in the post-mortem?

UNKNOWN: No, nobody.  We tried to ask the policeman, the White policeman there.  We just wanted to know what the cause of his death was because when we woke up he was dead.  They told us his lungs couldn't just stop because his problem was with the head.  That was the response from the policeman.

MR LEWIN: So, you think there was a very direct link between the original incident when he was shot and the fact that he finally died?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I think there was a connection that's why I was not satisfied.  I could see that he was damaged in the head.  What I fail to understand is that even if my child is dead I still cannot get the truth surrounding his death.  Really, I cannot understand it and I cannot come to terms with it.

MR LEWIN: He must have been twenty one when he died  Ma?

UNKNOWN: He was going to turn twenty one in July.

MR LEWIN: Thank you Mrs Kgalema.

MR MALAN: Mrs Kgalema, just for our records, how do you spell you name, your surname?  With  a Kg or just a G because I see the correspondence from the lawyers is Kgalema, Galima?  We would like to have the correct spelling of your name for our records and I just want to make sure.  Should we check this with you later?

UNKNOWN: The spelling is right.

MR MALAN: Kgalema.  Just a second question also referring to that letter of the lawyers.  To me it sounds from the deposit that you've paid, as if they were seeking legal aid.  Indeed in the last paragraph, they are saying to you, in Afrikaans, if you cannot get your hands on the necessary fund for the deposit, please come and see us urgently so that the writer can make an appointment to arrange for legal aid support for your case.  I would suggest somehow, I'm not sure whether we will have the resources to follow this up but I would suggest that you make contact with the lawyers again to find out what happened with the case because if they indeed did issue summons, they would still be able to pursue the case.  I'm just bringing your attention to that aspect.  Thank you Chairperson.

DR RANDERA: Miss Mkhize?

MS MKHIZE: I would like to take you back for clarification.  In your statement you stated that the person you referred to as Bafana, who is said to have shot the boy, is an unknown man.  According to your statement you stated that he is a neighbour.  This Bafana, you stated that he is an unknown man but during that time he refused because it during the difficult times.

UNKNOWN: Even the lawyer indicated that we should bring him along to give evidence but he refused because during that time they feared for their lives.  Even now, we tried to talk to him but he refused to come and stand in front of the Commission.  He was also a witness to the two kids, mine and one of another family.  We know him but he refuses to come forward.

MS MKHIZE: The -  one was he injured at that time?

UNKNOWN: No, if I'm not mistaken he got injured in 1976 when the riots started.

MS MKHIZE: What happened because it seems that in most cases he was a witness to those incidents?

UNKNOWN: It's difficult to tell because when it happened to my child, it was near to his home and he knew him.   The shop was nearer to Bafana's home.

MS MKHIZE: Another thing, you state that it was during the stay-away.  What is the explanation that Bafana gives?

UNKNOWN: He just told us that he found him lying on the ground.  He cannot tell how it happened.

MS MKHIZE: Does it ever happen in the township that a person gets shot and then there are no people to witness the incident?

UNKNOWN: During that time, it was possible because almost everyone was running away for his or her safety.  It was very difficult.

MS MKHIZE: The last question.  Can you please try to explain to us what let to his mental disturbance, that is, after the shooting.  Can you just explain the changes of his condition.

UNKNOWN: At times you would think that maybe he understood you when you were talking but he would just come back and ask, what did you say?  I could see that there was something wrong.  He was sort of forgetful.  Most of the things that he was doing, you would doubt.  It would seem as if he's a young child and as a parent you know your child.  You know the changes within your child.  You could tell that this is not what my child used to be like.

MS MKHIZE: Towards the end of his life, can you just explain because it seems as if there is something that you are suspecting regarding his death?  Was he not with you during that time?

UNKNOWN: He was at home but as an adult he was staying in his own bedroom.  When we slept he was okay but in the morning when I went to see him, I found that he was dead.  He hadn't said anything nor had he indicated that something was wrong.  He used to complain that it seemed that there were things falling from his head.

MS MKHIZE: Thank you.

DR RANDERA: Mrs Kgalema, I just want to ask two questions.  The first one is for clarification.  Earlier on when you were speaking to my colleague, Mr Lewin, you said there was unrest in the township, the children were fighting in the street with the police.  We have heard this said so many times.  Can you tell us what the elders were doing?  What were the parents doing while this was going on in the streets?

UNKNOWN: It's difficult to answer that question concerning the adults.  I was coming from the butchery.  I was coming from the abattoirs so I didn't know whether there was something that had taken place during the day while I was away from home.

DR RANDERA: Thank you Ma'am.  My second question is related to the Mandate of the Commission which is to do with recommendations.  We have to make recommendations to the Government.  You are someone who for ten years looked after somebody, your son, who was disabled both physically and mentally.  I have no doubt in my own mind that there are hundreds of other young people and parents like yourself who are also looking after disabled young people from the conflicts of our past.  Are there things that you would like to actually tell us that we could recommend to the Government which will assist these parents and young people in the future, who have the disabilities that your son had.  I'm sure it could not have been very easy looking after somebody.

UNKNOWN: It's not been very easy for me as you can see.  This is not my body.  My health has deteriorated.

DR RANDERA: Is there anything else you want to add, Mrs Kgalema?  Ma'am it's okay.  If you don't want to say anything else, it's fine.  Mrs Kgalema thank you for coming.  First of all I just want to apologize to you because at the beginning I said your son was still alive but paralyzed.  Our notes don't indicate that he had passed away and I'm very sorry for any offence I may have committed.

UNKNOWN: When I submitted my statement he had already died.