Human Rights Violation Hearings — Johannesburg — 1996-04-30

DR BORAINE: Are you alright?  Take your time.

MS DLOMO-JELE: This pain didn't end there.  I continued suffering.  When I went to the police station to report about his death I went to Jabulani Police Station.  The
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first thing they asked me, they said was your child a comrade. They referred me to Protea Police Station. The second day on the Tuesday I went to the police station. That's really I experienced such great pain although I tried to be strong.  This policeman said I had a big mouth.  I couldn't contain my child from continuing his activities, now today I make a lot of noise to them.  When they saw that my other child was getting very angry they took him away.  I think it was because they wanted to continue being nasty to me. 
 They talked a lot of things.  They said to me here it is, it's happened.  They said to me are you going to be able to bury your child.  I said yes I will bury my child, his organisation will help me, my neighbours will help me, I will not be unable to bury my child.  I said you must tell me who had killed my child.  I said are these the organisations that they were in conflict with or the police, and I said it is the police who killed my child. They said what evidence do you have to accuse the police.  I said I knew one policeman who had really been harassing and was after him.  They really ill-treated me.
 Every day I used to go to the police station and ask them why are they always bringing me here to the police station.  While my child had died I had to go up and down and you expect me to do all those things.  
 I then phoned the lawyer to ask her to accompany me to the police station because I was getting worried about going to this police station by myself.  There was a small court hearing.  These cops started whispering and they said they are going to send the cops to school where there was a mass for my child.  I asked the lawyer to take me to the school 
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because I know a lot of children will be attacked by police.  When I arrived at the school I saw there were a lot of police and soldiers.  I just prayed.  I just prayed, I said oh God don't let another child be killed by these police.  I don't want to get a bad name.  God help until I arrive home.  They continued to harass me.
 On Friday they came to demand the pocket book that they had given to me.  I said I didn't know, I don't have it, I don't know where I've put it.  I didn't want to give it to them because this pocket book had names of other children he had been working with and lawyers and friends.  So I hid this notebook.  They said we hope that you will bring this book to the police.  I didn't take this pocket book to the police, I just destroyed the papers which had the names of people.  
 But they kept on coming and they said I must bury this child and when the child is buried there mustn't be a lot of people.  I said I will not be able to stop people, a lot of people do want to come to the funeral of my child. When my child died I couldn't even mourn my child because there were lots of police and I had to go up and down and do all those things.  On the night of the vigil they said there shouldn't be a prayer and they said people must just go to their homes, there must be nobody here.  Mama Winnie tell them the police that there will be no such a thing, they cannot expect people to go away.  People are going to come to the night vigil and they are going to come to the funeral.
 We buried the child and there were lots of police.  There were helicopters in different forms.  They were also beating up other children at the funeral.  They beat them innocently.  All what those children were doing was just to 
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sing, but we buried my child.  Even when we were in the church the police came right inside the church and started beating up children, tearing off their T-shirts.  The most painful thing.  Even once we have buried our child the police followed us, they threw teargas at our food.  I nearly also lost my niece.  They threw the teargas in our bedroom and this child was foaming and suffocating from teargas.   That's a most painful - I have never, ever seen such a thing.  It's a most painful thing.  They came back again while we were still sitting there.  They said they didn't want to see crowds in my home.  If they see crowds coming here they are going to arrest me and arrest other people.  
 That's the painful experience I've gone through over my child.  Thank you for this opportunity that I am able to speak about this here.  I have told myself that today is my day to cross this bridge because many people do not know what happened to my child.  Even at the court, I didn't go, when I asked my lawyer when will I appear in court they said there will be no court hearing because I am accusing them, the police, that they had killed my child. That was the end of it.  
 Up until today I am still asking, I cry about it, I still don't know.  Even though they said that even if I heard that there was going to be people coming forward who committed all these crimes I was wondering if the killers of my child would appear here.  He was still so young.  All that they could have done was to arrest him and keep him in jail.  If he was in jail I would be able to see him. But they chose to kill him instead of arresting him.  He was a young child.
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DR BORAINE: It's been very painful for you.  I am glad that you feel that it was good to be here.  I have just a couple of questions which I want to ask you.  I will keep them very brief.  In fact perhaps you can just tell me if the information I have is correct.  Your son was 18 years old when he died?

MS DLOMO-JELE: Yes he was 18.

DR BORAINE: Which school did he attend before he was killed?

MS DLOMO-JELE: He was at Pace College.

DR BORAINE: You mentioned that he was a member of a number of organisations but you weren't quite sure, can you remember now any student organisation that he was part of?

MS DLOMO-JELE: At the school as a member of the SRC.  He was a member of the ANC Youth.

DR BORAINE: You mentioned that there was an inquest, and that you did have an attorney, lawyer, can you remember the name of the lawyer?

MS DLOMO-JELE: I cannot remember, there were two of them. One of them was Ishmail but I can't remember the other one, during his detention, but it was the Ishmail lawyer's company.

DR BORAINE: Thank you very much.  You mentioned that there was an inquest.  What was the final decision taken at the inquest, what did they say who killed your son?

MS DLOMO-JELE: I didn't go to the inquest.  I asked the lawyer finding out when would I be going because I had not received any letter informing me.  The lawyer told me that they had said there was no longer going to be any inquest hearing because I was the one who had accused them, the police, that they had killed my child.  They said they
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couldn't find anybody responsible for killing my child.  The lawyer told me to come and he told me that the case was closed.  They could not continue with the case because they didn't know who had killed my child.

DR BORAINE: If you could tell us, is there any way in which the Commission could be of help to you?