Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pretoria — 1996-08-12

MR MASUKU: He is working for Get Ahead Foundation.  Presently this two weeks August Beklele is sick, is ill.  He is just in Lee Pasture Hospital.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Thank you.

MR MASUKU: Thanks.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Masuku I am sorry to take you back.  I have three, two or three follow-up questions really from the questioning of Dr Russell.  In the first paragraph you give a summary of your encountering, the first paragraph of your statement, your encounters with the police and specifically the Security Forces, your detention and so on.  You say that you were initially arrested under Section 22 of the Terrorism Act.  You spent, you say, about three months and were then charged with public violence.  What was the content of the charge?  What was the framework?

MR MASUKU: Well, firstly, 1977 they said it is the
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
19 E O MASUKU
Terrorism Act under Section 22 and saying some clauses, sub-clauses which were actually talking about terrorism, you know, in their things, in that we are instigating the students.  We are actually doing those acts, you know, burning, instigating students not to go to school, boycotting classes and promoting the ends and objectives of a banned organisation.

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry, I was referring to the follow-up.  You say you were later charged specifically with public violence?

MR MASUKU: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Were you convicted on that charge?

MR MASUKU: No, no.  I was never convicted.

CHAIRPERSON: You were found not guilty?

MR MASUKU: Not guilty.

CHAIRPERSON: And there was a second charge you referred to on allegations that you were planning to leave the country.  That was prior to your being arrested at Swaziland Border.

MR MASUKU: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: At Piet Retief.

MR MASUKU: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: You were charged then and again were the charges dropped?

MR MASUKU: Yes, actually they dropped me, they dropped those charges.

CHAIRPERSON: And then just a last question.  You, in response to Dr Ally, you said that the role of the Councillors at the time, they were asked to step down and if they did not they were forced to and with other means and you referred to their houses being stoned.  Were you involved in that leadership and this pressure kept on on the PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
20 E O MASUKU
Councillors?

MR MASUKU: Well, I may say that when that time I was still a student, there was a Civic leader which was heading the campaign of the Councillors, you know, and I was just amongst the marchers, ordinary marchers there.

CHAIRPERSON: Do you have any idea why the police, except for the fact that you were in leadership later, were taking so much notice of you from 1977 through 1989 as you have put it.

MR MASUKU: I may say that if you are involved, you are an activist and then you are known, you are outspoken they actually notice you.  These guys were making a record of all the activists and also during the funerals of people who had died during those, during the struggle they were taking photos.  They come with their video cameras and so forth, take photos of activists and I think they go back and analyse those people and when they were arresting us I may say that also maybe they analysed the cases that now this person has been arrested so many times and we cannot have proof, we cannot have witnesses to testify against this person.  The best thing is maybe to do something about this particular person.

CHAIRPERSON: Okay.  Mr Masuku thank you very much for coming to us.  We have taken more than the time that we initially allocated to you.  Thank you very much.  We will follow through and we see what additional information we can get on this.  We will be reporting to you.

MR MASUKU: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG