Special Hearings — Children's Hearings — 1997-05-22

MR BOTHA: I would say that at the time which was 1986, about, there were 
people, there was an organisation, something like the Truth Commission who went 
from door to door and appeared to be interested in assisting people whose rights 
had been violated and they were working in co-operation with attorneys here in 
town.  We then instituted a civil claim and we kept going back to them and they 
would keep saying to us that we would be unable to charge the police, because 
police cannot be prosecuted and there was nothing else that my parents could do.  
They did not know what more they could do.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: I do not know if you can remember, Zamikhaya, 
that who the attorneys were.  Do you recall?

MR BOTHA: The people who were assisting in this matter, just excuse me for a 
minute please.  Let me ask my mum.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Zamikhaya is still asking his mother who the 
attorneys were trying to assist him in this matter and his mother will try and assist 
him.

MR BOTHA: I would say that I know what the address is of the place where we 
always use to go. My mum says that she knows that there was someone by the 
name of David, but someone else who could help clarify this whole thing, who 
assisted us lives in the, use to live in the same street.  Not exactly in the same street, 
but not too far from where we stay.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Are there any names which were mentioned of 
people who had anything to do with your injury?

MR BOTHA: I beg your pardon.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Names of persons who were involved in your 
injury.  Do you know of any such name?

MR BOTHA: Like witnesses?

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: I am talking about the people who injured you.  
Do you have any names or are there, did you recall any names being mentioned at 
the time when you were trying to institute action?

MR BOTHA: Their names were unobtainable, because they were in a caspar at the 
time, but the Comrades who assisted us at the time by going to report the incident 
to my parents, took the registration number of the caspar from which we were shot 
and when we got to Guguletu Police Station the police who had shot me were 
present at Guguletu Police Station at the time.  So they phoned the ambulance.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Thank you very much Zamikhaya.  I am now 
going to hand you back to the Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  Before we proceed can I just sat that 
the next two witnesses are both going to be speaking in Xhosa so if there are 
people who have headphones who understand Xhosa, can I please ask you to give 
your headphones over to people who do not understand so that as many people as 
possible can participate.  Do any other members of the panel have questions?  Mrs 
Burton.

MARY BURTON: Mr Botha, I would like to ask if you can remember the name of 
the hospital that you went to?

MR BOTHA: Conradie Hospital.

MARY BURTON: Thank you.  That will help us to establish the records and get all 
the details about your case.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Thank you Chairperson.  Zamikhaya, thank you 
for having come here today to come and share your pain with us.  You lost things 
that are very important in life and it is very painful.  What is even more painful is 
when you loose things like your sight or any other crucial part of your being, you 
loose your life as you have so correctly put it.  The life that lay ahead of you 
changes in an irreversible way and that is very painful.  It is very difficult to 
articulate or put into words the extent of damage done as a result of the gross 
violation of human rights of young people like yourselves.  We do not have the 
sufficient words, at all, to do that.  In fact I do not believe there is any language that 
defines appropriately what the damage is to youth.  I would just like to thank you 
for having come and we would like to ask Xola and Viola to lead you off the stage. 
 Thank you very much.  
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