Human Rights Violation Hearings — Rustenburg — 1997-05-07

CHAIRPERSON: We welcome you all to our second day of hearings in the North West.  Yesterday we were in Zeerust where we started, and today we are here in Rustenburg and tomorrow we will be proceeding to Mabopane and these will be the final hearings in the North West.
 Before we start, I want to introduce our Commissioners who are at this table.  First is Dr Fazel Randera, who heads the Johannesburg office and the Johannesburg office is in charge of four provinces in his region and he is also a member of the Human Rights Violations Committee.  Next to him is Professor Meiring who is a member of the Reparations and Rehabilitations Committee.  I am Joyce Seroke, a member of the Human Rights Violations Committee, and on my right is Dr Ally who is also a member of the Human Rights Violations Committee.  
 We have changed the programme today to allow us to follow the chronology of events that took place here in Boputhatswana.  As you know that our mandate from the Act is that we should consider our Human Rights Violations, gross Human Rights Violations, that were committed from 1960 to the 10th of May 1994, so we have rearranged this programme to sort of start from 1963 right up to 1993.  So the procedure is going to be as follows.  
 We are going to start with Phillip Makgala.  He is number one.  Followed by Louisa Malebo.  Followed by Priscilla Moje.  And then we go to Mkhokho Legare and we proceed to Nnanabo Tukubong.  And then we proceed to Hellen Moteane and we will have Phillimon Maledu.  Then we will have Kevin Dowling; followed by Elizabeth Sekati; followed by Aletta Ramosepele and ending with Solomon Bokaba.  That is the procedure we are going to follow today.  
 I apologise that our procedure should follow chronologically in terms of the events which has happened in Boputhatswana.  We are going to listen to today, the testimonies we are going to deal mainly with the
Coup of 1988 in Boputhatswana and the state of emergency here 1990 to 1991 in Boputhatswana and most of these will reflect on Phokeng mostly and some of the people in Mmabatho and Tlhabane.  So without any further waste of time, let us proceed.  We will ask Phillip Makgala to testify first.  
 We welcome you Sir.  Before we start, we will ask Dr Ally to lead you in your oath.

RUSSELL ALLY: Good morning, Mr Makgala, if you would please just stand and raise your right hand.

PHILLIP MAKGALA: (Duly sworn in, states).

RUSSELL ALLY: You may sit down.

CHAIRPERSON: Dr Randera will lead you in your evidence.  Do you hear us well?  Are you going to talk in English?

PHILLIP MAKGALA: I will talk in English.

DR RANDERA: Mr Makgala, good morning.

PHILLIP MAKGALA: Good morning, Sir.

DR RANDERA: Welcome.  You are going to be taking us through almost the entire history of this Commission.  We are starting in 1963.  Before I start, let me say by introduction, you are a teacher, you are married and you have four children that are ranging from 6 to 13 as I understand it, is that right?  But as I have said you are going to take us all the way through from 1963 when your first gross Human Rights Violation took place.
 You are also taking us through 1976, the important part of history and then what happened to you just post the 1988 Coup in this part of the country.  
 So Mr Makgala you have got all the time, please tell us in your own words what happened so that we can understand your suffering and what happened to our country.  Thank you very much.

PHILLIP MAKGALA: Thank you, Sir.  First thing, I want to greet you all as you have heard, my name is Phillip Makgala from Phokeng.  In 1963 I left school when I was doing standard five.  I went to Springs and then I found work there.  It was at their aptitude test centre.  Once I was still there in the same year, that is 1963, it was in the morning of the 10th of April three people came to me.  They asked me my name and I told them.  They said let us go, we want you at the police station.  Then I was taken to the first police station.  From that police station, once I was still there, people were looking at me were I was kept.  I did not know what I did at that time.  I was scared because I thought maybe something has happened at home.  Those who were peeking at me, kept on saying.  They said is this the coupist?  Those were White police men.  I asked myself many question why I am labelled, what did I do?  The three people came from Basten back and they were policemen, I still remember one of them who is Mr Hore.  He was an old person.  When he arrived there, he said to me.  Are you Mr Makgala?  I said, yes.  Then he said, proceed.  They took me to the back of the van and they handcuffed me to the bars of that van.  We came at night when we arrived at Rustenburg it was 9 o'clock in the evening.
 It was after four months after I left home that when I came to see Rustenburg in that way, I was emotionally disturbed.  Then I said to myself, what did I do in Rustenburg?

DR RANDERA: Take your time.