Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1999-02-16

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: Yes, they were SDU members.

MR SHANE: So in fact when he was shot he had already been captured by other members of the SDU.  Is that correct?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: That's correct, sir.

MR SHANE: When you fired the shot at the deceased, had you know him?  Had you met him before, did you know him?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: It was not the first time I saw him.

MR SHANE: When you shot him you were quite satisfied that he was an informer, and an IFP member.  You knew that.  Is that correct?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: That is correct, sir.

MR SHANE: Can you remember, you say you fired one shot, Jabu Nkosi was the other person who fired.  Can you remember how many shots Jabu fired?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: The first person who shot him was Jabu.  He shot him once, and he handed me the same AK-47 and I used it to shoot him once.

MR SHANE: Do you know where you hit him?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: In the head.

MR SHANE: Did you aim for the head?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: I just fired aimlessly, because I was not well trained.

MR SHANE: Did the deceased die there and then on the spot, or can you, do you know what happened?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: He died on the spot.

MR SHANE: What did you do afterwards, after you shot him?  What did you do?  First of all what did you do with your weapon?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: We took them, we took the weapon back to the commander and we went different ways because the police were already roaming the area.

MR SHANE: Now when you took the weapon to your commander, did you give him a report that you'd killed the deceased?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: That is so, sir.

MR SHANE: Can you remember what the commander's reaction was when you told him you'd killed the deceased?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: He said that we did well if that was exactly what we did.

MR SHANE: Right.  Now who was the commander?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: It's Mr Msetla.

MR SHANE: Thank you Mr Chairman, that's evidence.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR SHANE

ADV STEENKAMP: No questions thank you Mr Chairperson.
NO QUESTIONS BY ADV STEENKAMP

UNKNOWN: Now, Dubula, did he live in your section?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: Yes.

UNKNOWN: And did he associate with the SDU comrades, the members?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: Yes, he knew them.

UNKNOWN: And how would he have come to know the spots where you hid your weapons?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: When these weapons are stored they are stored by a group of all the people who patrol.

UNKNOWN: Are you saying Dubula used to patrol with you?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: Dubula was quite an unpredictable person.  He was staying in our residential area but it was not his actual home.  He was just a person who was happened to be staying there.  And whenever he was present we used to be surprised as to where does he actually belong.  He would pretend to be participating in all the activities.

UNKNOWN: But did he patrol with you?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: Sometimes he did.

UNKNOWN: Now, I'm not too clear as to exactly where it is that you killed him.  Your evidence is he was brought to you.  Where were you?  And where did you take him to when you killed him?  Help me with those aspects.

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: We were at the Digula section and comrades brought him at Digula section and they told us that there is the Digula you've been long looking for.  Where is the firearm?  We went to consult our commander, and he gave us the AK-47.  The comrades were still keeping him at that time.  He was shot there at Digula section.

UNKNOWN: Where was this?  Was this at a house, in the veld, where exactly?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: It was in the veld.

UNKNOWN: Thank you very much.  Thank you Chair.

MR SIBANYONI: Thank you Mr Chairperson.  Mr Booi you said he sometimes pretended as if he was patrolling with you.  And at the same time you said he was in close contact with hostel dwellers.  My question is, was he really an IFP member?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: Yes, he was an IFP member.

MR SIBANYONI: How do you know that he was an IFP member?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: He's got friends residing in the hostels and also at that time no-one who was not a member of IFP would be able to enter the hostels.

MR SIBANYONI: Was he frequenting the hostels?

DANIEL MAHESE BOOI: Thank you Mr Chairperson that's the only questions.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, thank you, you're excused.
WITNESS EXCUSED