Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1999-10-12

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: In the whole category I would say one Friday afternoon I had three traffic departmental gentlemen who actually wrote me out a ticket once as well, I had two firemen and I had five security policemen.

MR RICHARD: Was that all on one ...(intervention)

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: That was all one Friday afternoon.

MR RICHARD: And how often would that happen?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: They seemed to like their Friday afternoons drinking from about 3 o'clock in the afternoon whether they were allowed to come off early from work or whatever the case.  Maybe it seemed to be that was the trend on a Friday afternoon everybody had to come to the bar from about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

MR RICHARD: And on a Friday afternoon at the periods between 3 and 6 p.m. how many people in total would be in the pubs?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Many people.

MR RICHARD: Approximately?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: 60, 70, maybe a 100.

MR RICHARD: Now on the evening in question how full were the various bars?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Very full.

CHAIRPERSON: We've got the numbers, Mr Richard, she said there were in her estimation approximately 180 in Magoo's, 160 in the Why Not and plus minus 200 in Garfunkel's.

MR RICHARD: Right, now of that concentration of people, how many in your experience might have been so to speak Security personnel?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Well in the early stages of the evening, we start our shift at 4 o'clock, some at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the bars only start filling up at about 7, 7.30, 8.  Magoo's especially, they come in to get their seats because it gets packed and that fills up very fast, that's the fastest bar that we had that evening.  Why Not was a little bit slower and during the course of the evening you see the same faces as well as people you don't know filtering into the bars and by about half past eight the Why Not bar was pretty full.  We'd also had a very big reception at the door because there were youngsters having a 21st or a university party or something and we remembered pulling over a few more tables and chairs to accommodate them so it was very big and as far as Security personnel, well I didn't see any that evening.  Not one, if they were hidden or if I did not take notice, that is all I can say.

MR RICHARD: Now on that night at sometime around half past nine, what sort of activity would there have been outside the hotel?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Well ...(intervention)

CHAIRPERSON: I think it's better to ask that question directly, Mr Richard, you know what activity was there, did you see?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: The normal, I think normal every day, every night you have a lot of people walking up and down the golden mile as they call it, they do pub crawling from pub to pub, not only that, there's a lot of tourists walking around looking at buildings, taking photographs, there's a lot of pedestrians, there's a lot of traffic, there's a lot of noise coming from the parade itself.  The Why Not bar's a noisy bar but Magoo's bar is very noisy, you can actually hear the loud music from the street, the old fashioned windows in Why Not bar used to open up those days, you could actually see exactly what was taking place from the pavement and weekends was very busy, I'd say they were very busy, the beach front, always has been.

MR RICHARD: Were the windows up that evening?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Yes the windows were up.

MR RICHARD: Now parking outside the hotel, would it have been an easy matter to find car park?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: No, no, there was never easy parking at the Parade Hotel, it was always busy and always full.

MR RICHARD: Now somebody walking up the road, past the hotel, would they have been able to see into the hotel?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Yes if the windows are up, there were the old fashioned windows, we didn't have the two way glass at the time.  You can see people sitting in there from the street level from outside.  There often conversations took place between the people parked in their cars or standing outside the motor car into the windows.

MR RICHARD: And if you had looked into the Magoo's bar would you have been able to see in from the street?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: No, the Magoo's bar had a very heavy glass and you can see shapes and sizes and hear the music and if you went up very close then you can see through the glass but from the street you can't see how packed it is until you get into the foyer but the Why Not bar was a totally different bar.

MR RICHARD: Now were you ever politically aware?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Of?

MR RICHARD: Apartheid?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Yes, very much so.

MR RICHARD: What is your attitude to what was known as apartheid?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Well I was brought up in a different way, my parents brought me up to respect everybody, as a little girl, regardless of colour.  The first and utmost thing in life is respect, if you respect somebody else you will receive respect and ...(intervention)

MR RICHARD: Now - carry on?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: We often spoke on the subject, there were lots of ladies that frequented Why Not bar, there were gentlemen such as Jonathan Jeffers, I've known him for many years as one of the patrons.  So do I known Carl Hayden who was injured, a German chappie that used to love the Why Not bar and a lot of other people and the feeling I got was that I would say that sixty percent voted for Helen Suzman at the time.

MR RICHARD: So there were political discussions within the Why Not?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: There were to the extent of whose going to vote and who do you vote for, it was actually on a very easy basis, it wasn't, it wasn't something that we discussed because we always told everyone we don't discuss sex, politics or religion in bars because this led to very, very bad relationships in pubs.

MR RICHARD: Did you ever have any such bad relationships?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: No, not really because we tried to stop something as soon as it started, same as bad language, same as bad behaviour.

MR RICHARD: Now personally, did you support apartheid?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: No, not at all, we can say that now as everybody says but we were the minority and if you ask yourself what could we do?  Well, that was possible that we could do?  I actually was the one who started, Mr Brian Watermeyer at the time took over from Mr Russel Davidson at the Parade Hotel and asked me what should we do with the back rooms, Helen?  And I said let it to the people, let me handle it and we did and it was 90 percent black people that stayed at the Parade Hotel in the permanent residence.

MR RICHARD: As at June 1986?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Absolutely.

MR RICHARD: Now would there have been any difficulty whatsoever in ascertaining any of these facts?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Not at all, the records are there, the rooms were booked, it's all down in black and white, it's all on paper.

MR RICHARD: Now if somebody were so to speak to conduct a reconnaissance, would it have been difficult or hard to ascertain who was in your residential rooms?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: Not at all.

MR RICHARD: Would it have been difficult or hard to ascertain whether there were many people inside on a Saturday night?

HELEN BLOSSOM KEARNEY: No, not difficult at all, you only have to walk through the front door which was open all the time.

MR RICHARD: Would a person of colour be stopped at the ...(intervention)