Human Rights Violation Hearings — Cradock — 1997-02-12

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: It was at twenty past nine.  I decided to switch off the lights and to close the other door.  When I tried to take cover, I noticed two police caspasrs in front of my shop.  Just in front of this hippo, seemingly their lights were not that bright, there were two policemen wearing navy blue uniforms and short sleeved shirts.  I was standing there in the dark and they were throwing stones and others were picking up stones and passing them to these two. On top of the caspars the police had guns. When I went back to my house again, I had my son there who saw another police caspar in front of my house when he peeped through the other side, also armed.  It was obvious that if we went out they were prepared to shoot.  But fortunately we decided not to go out and the children went to another room.  One of my grand children got injured in his knee.
 We came to Cradock where I phoned Mr Bouer who was an attorney, he said I mustn't pick up anything pick up anything that was disturbed there, I should leave them as exhibits, he was going to send somebody to take pictures.
 On a Sunday afternoon a hippo came and the occupants were wearing soccer uniforms and wanted to see the damage that they had caused to my house. There were other children from Konsville where my child is living who told him that he must tell his mother that the Reverend and the teachers were all arrested and then they said that at 12 o'clock they were going to get Mrs Kekana's rubbish from the township.

REV XUNDU: Who gave you this message?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: My child's schoolmates.

REV XUNDU: What was his aim?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: After the children had gone I asked who are the people who are arrested.  I was told that most of the teachers and the church ministers were picked up from the coloured areas.

REV XUNDU: Who was Fiksie?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: Fiksie was a member of the Special Branch.

MEMBER OF PANEL: Where is Fiksie now?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: He is in Graaf Reinet.

REV XUNDU: Is he still a policeman?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: I'm not sure but I think he is still working for the government.

REV XUNDU: Your house and your belongings, how much damage was caused to your property?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: While I was still watching that I fell asleep on Sunday because I was waiting to hear more about my rubbish that was going to be picked up at 12 midnight.  I had a daughter that I told that if ever they start knocking they must start first by protecting her door.  Fiksie came and just said to me, "Mrs Kekana, state of emergency!"  While I was still dressing he started with his politics saying that even Boesak my leader in Cape Town is arrested.  I dressed up and I don't know what made me call my son Buiso. He said, "What's your name?", and my son replied, "I'm Buiso".  He said, "Thank you, thank you, thanks God, I've got this Buiso!"
 Seemingly they've been looking for this Buiso from his school for a long time and he decided to arrest both of us under the state of emergency.  We stayed 14 days in the cell at Graaf Reinet, I was transferred to Middelburg where I stayed three months and three weeks.

REV XUNDU: And then who was looking after your property?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: Everything was just open, I hadn't started cleaning up and trying to cover my place.  My daughter tried to help and when I asked what happened to the stock in the shop she replied that the people were just doing whatever they liked but she had sold some of the things.

REV XUNDU: In all how much damage was caused?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: The damage was so big that last year when I tried to put my shop inside my house, I spent over R3 000 and I haven't finished yet, I haven't even put in a ceiling.

REV XUNDU: Let's talk about your arrest, what was happened during your arrest under the state of emergency, were they harassing you?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: At Graaf Reinet they used to visit us and take our particulars and they would interrogate us.

REV XUNDU: What about Buiso?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: Buiso was also arrested with the others at Graaf Reinet but he was never transferred to Middelburg.

REV XUNDU: After how long were you released?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: After a week Buiso was released.

REV XUNDU: Can I take you back, can you tell us about yourself, who were you, what was your contribution or your role in the township?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: It is because I was involved with the UDF organisation, the community decide to elect me as a leader of the DPS.

REV XUNDU: What is that?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: It is about the parents who pay the detainees a visit.  I was responsible for going to the police station to those who were arrested and see to it that they have got clean clothes and food, so I was working with certain groups in the townships.  Among us we has Reverend Chris Nissen.

REV XUNDU: Thank you Mam.  What happened to your attorney?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: While I was still going to him he made an appointment that I must go to the police station.  When I arrived at the police station I talked to the station commander who was Mr Danny who was later transferred to Uitenhage at the time. What I asked Mr Danny what he had to say about my shop because that shop is like my husband, I also educated my child by the profit that I got from the shop. Mr Dennis said to the other policeman whose office was just across the passage that he was going to send somebody else for quotation and they came, took me in private car to a place called Federated Timbers.  They made those quotations and they wrote them down and we went back to the police station where the police said they would come back to me after reading it.  I'm still waiting today.

REV XUNDU: Is your attorney still alive?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: Yes Mr Bouer is still alive but I decided to leave him because I could see that he was not prepared to take further steps with my case and I wanted my file to consult another attorney.

REV XUNDU: Thank you Mam, what is your request that you would like to forward to the Commission?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: In may just before I decided to renovate my place, I've been staying there for eleven years with my house in that kind of condition, even my shop.  I decided to try something.  When I go to the police station I usually ask for my file of 19 July 1985.  They told me to come after three days and when I did this, Mr Jackson who is a station commander told me that the present law now says that each and every year all the files should be destroyed, so my files are not available, they were destroyed. I asked him if he's expecting me to believe that but he asked what I expected of him.  I asked him if he destroyed my statement and he asked the person who was taking the statement and I said that the file would give him that information.  That was the end.

REV XUNDU: What is your wish in one word.

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: I'm not sure because I am still paying debt even today, knowing very well that there is nothing they can do for me but the perpetrators, I'll feel better especially that Fiksie, but I didn't see him breaking my house but I can implicate him in lots of things, him and Mr Stander because they were saying that as the Special Branch they were protecting the residents but they were protecting them by killing the people and destroying their property.

REV XUNDU: Thank you Mam, I'm going to hand over to the chairperson, maybe he'll have some questions.

MR SANDI: Thank you Mr Chairperson, what I would like to know is, what was the role and the response of the community councillors in this chaos?

PAULINA MASELEPE KEKANA: They used to label me as a perpetrator who was telling the people not to pay their tariffs and taxes.

MR SANDI: Are they still continuing that or are there no longer councillors?