Amnesty Hearings — Tzaneen — 1999-06-30

MR MBANDAZAYO: Chairperson, I will proceedand read the affidavit.
                "I,the undersigned Brian Clifford Thobejane, do hereby make an oath and state thatI am the applicant herein.  The facts to which I depose are true and correctand within my personal knowledge, unless the context indicates otherwise.  Iwas born on the 27th of December 1974 in Garankua and I grew up in Soshanguve. We were four children at home and I am the third born child and the only son. My parents divorced whilst I was still in exile.  My mother is presently workingat Garankua Hospital as a cooker, my father is unemployed.  I did my primaryand secondary education in Soshanguve.  I left school in January 1991 when Ileft the country to join APLA.  I left the country via Botswana to Tanzania. I joined PAC in 1987 through AZANIO.  I was influenced to join the PAC by thelate Senior Commander of APLA, Jan Shobe.  I underwent military training inTanzania and Zimbabwe.  In Tanzania I did my basic training and in ZimbabweI did a course of Intelligence.  I stayed in Zimbabwe from 1992 until March1993, when comrade Fihla deployed myself and other comrades inside the country. Comrade Fihla is currently a General in the South African National Defence Force. The other comrades that were with me when I was briefed by comrade Fihla wereThabo and Max.  We travelled from Harare to Bulowayo by train and we were inpossession of various arms and ammunition, including AK47's, Tokarev pistols,Chinese stick grenades, etc.  From Bulowayo to the borders of Botswana, we travelledon a bakkie.  We crossed the borders on foot and from Botswana to South Africanborders we travelled on a bakkie and we also crossed the borders on foot.  Whenwe crossed the South African borders, there was a micro-bus already waitingfor us.  The micro-bus took us to Johannesburg where we met the Director ofOperations, comrade Lethlapa Mpahlela.  Comrade Mpahlela told me that I wasto be deployed together with comrade Max in the Northern Province.  He furthertold me that comrade Prince is already there and we will work with him.  Whenwe arrived at the Northern Province, comrade Prince had already had Task Forcemembers at his disposal and they were trained by him.  The Task Force memberswere comrades Thomas Ngobeni, Donald Mukhawana and Tekwani Baloyi.  As an APLAoperative, my general instruction from APLA High Command was to prosecute thearmed struggle with all means against the then racist minority regime, whichwas undemocratic and oppressive.  The said armed struggle was in essence a guerrillawarfare, during which we as APLA cadres had to seek and attack the bastionsand minions of the aforesaid regime.  The ultimate objective of PAC and APLAwas not only to topple the then racist minority regime, but to eventually returnthe land to the majority of the people of this country.  The bastions and minionsof the then erstwhile regime were in terms of the APLA perspective the membersof the South African Police and reservists in general, the farmers as they belongedto the Commando structures over and above the fact that they occupied the farmswhich we had to drive them away from, so as to widen our territorial operationalbase, which was aimed at eventually consolidating the liberated and repossessedland, the white homes which were garrisons of apartheid.  My general instructionwas to seek, identify and attack the enemy who was seen in the context of theabove stated bastions and minions of the regime and also to train other cadresand command them in whatever operation that is being embarked upon.  In consequenceof and in pursuit of the above stated objectives, during or about 27 May ..."
        Your Worshipand Honourable Members, I think 27 April, though the date they are not sure,it is between the 27th/28th in the morning, they are not sure about the date,but it is around 27th/28th of April 1993.
        "...I was part of the Unit of APLA cadres that launched an attack on the farm ofMr Johannes Swanepoel and as a result, his wife lost her life.  Comrade Princewho was the Commander of the Unit, made reconnaissance together with Donald. After the reconnaissance was made, we called the Director of Operations andwe briefed him about the potential target and he authorised the operation. He also gave us an extra AK47.  According to the reconnaissance, this particularfarm was a meeting place of the right-wingers who were also farmers in additionto the fact that it was regarded as a legitimate target according to APLA'smode of operation.  The whole Unit met on the 26th of April 1993 and was briefedabout the operation and we proceeded to the farm and due to the delays, we arrivedat the farm around quarter to seven and the gates were already closed and thedogs were barking at us.  We retreated and waited until the early hours of themorning, as we intended to catch them by surprise.  Between five o'clock andsix o'clock am, on the 27th April 1993, we jumped the fence of the farm andproceeded to the farm house.  Mr Swanepoel came out, carrying a gun and somethingwhich looked like a camera.  I caught him by surprise and pointed him with mygun and drove him back to the house.  His wife was on the phone and I presumedshe was phoning the Police.  The Commander, comrade Prince, rushed to the directionof the wife, but outside.  She shot at comrade Prince, but missed him.  ComradePrince entered the house and he was shot at and he shot back and Mrs Swanepoeldied.  At the time of the shooting, I lost Mr Swanepoel and I tried to shoothim, but my gun jammed.  He locked himself in one of the rooms and I tried invain to open it.  We decided to retreat because we suspected that the Policemust be on their way as Mrs Swanepoel was on the phone when she was shot atand they might have heard the shooting through the telephone.  We jumped thefence of the farm and at that time, the helicopter was hovering above us.  Weran through the bush to our respective places.  I had spent about 30 minutesin my place, when comrade Prince and Donald arrived.  Shortly thereafter Policearrived and I threw a stick grenade, but it did not explode.  Comrade Princecame out of the house and there was a shoot-out and he died.   We were arrestedand later convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, amongst other thingsfor murder, attempted murder, possession of arms and ammunition and explosives. The crimes for which I was convicted and sentenced, were motivated by my politicalbeliefs and were not for self gain.  The farmers were regarded by the PAC APLAas bastions and minions of the settler regime and as such, legitimate targets,seen in the political context of the time.  I must also state that APLA modeof thinking and indeed operation, did not distinguish between soft and hardtargets, nor indeed between military and civilian targets.  We were simply fightingagainst criminals who sustained the apartheid system.  Criminals because alsoapartheid was declared by the International Community represented by the UnitedNations Organisation as crime against humanity.  Anybody who was a driver, movingapartheid forward and those that supported it, were therefore criminals.  Thatwas our thinking during the struggle.  At the time of the commission of theabove stated offence, the PAC APLA was still engaged in the armed struggle againstthe then regime.  I respectfully submit that my application complies with therequirements of the Act and that I have made full and proper disclosure of myinvolvement in this operation", signed by the applicant.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Mbandazayo, that affidavitwill be received as Exhibit A and as I said earlier, as soon as the photocopyingmachine is available, copies will be made and given to all the parties.