Human Rights Violation Hearings — Klerksdorp — 1996-09-25

PROF MEIRING: Mr Lantsela, are you comfortable, can you hear me?

GEORGE LENTSELA: Yes, I hear you, Sir.

PROF MEIRING: Mr Lentsela, you brought somebody with you, sitting on your right-hand side.  Would you like to introduce him to us?

GEORGE LENTSELA: Excuse me?

PROF MEIRING: There is somebody sitting on your right-hand side, a friend or a family member you brought along. Please introduce us to him.

GEORGE LENTSELA: The one who is sitting on my right-hand is Daniel Lentsela.  He is my brother.

PROF MEIRING: Very welcome to you, Mr Lentsela.  Now Mr Lentsela, before we ask you to tell your story, will you please stand to take the oath.

GEORGE LENTSELA: (Duly sworn, states).

PROF MEIRING: Thank you so much.  Now Dr Randera, over to you.

DR RANDERA: Mr Lentsela, good morning.  Good morning, Mr Lentsela.  Can I just ask, you say your brother is with you.  Is this your brother, Daniel?

GEORGE LENTSELA: Yes, this is my brother.

DR RANDERA: He is in fact the father of Buti Nijana Letsela, is that right?
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GEORGE LENTSELA: No, he is the father to Richard Lentsela.

DR RANDERA: Richard Lentsela. I greet the father of Richard Lentsela as well, and I welcome him.
 Mr Lentsela, you are from Ipelegeng, Schweizer-Reneke?

GEORGE LENTSELA: Yes, I come from Ipelegeng, Schweizer-Reneke.

DR RANDERA: You have come to talk to us about Richard Buchi Lentsela.

GEORGE LENTSELA: That's correct.

DR RANDERA: Before I ask you to tell us about Richard and what happened to him, can you please tell us something about yourself, are you working, are you married, how many children do you have.

GEORGE LENTSELA: I was working, I do not work presently.  I am married, but I am not married legally.  We have three children.

DR RANDERA: Do you belong to any political organisation, Mr Lentsela?

GEORGE LENTSELA: I am not a member of any political organisation.

DR RANDERA: Mr Lentsela, take your time, this is your opportunity to talk about your nephew, Richard.  Tell us what happened to him.

GEORGE LENTSELA: Richard was a student at the University of the North in Pietersburg. In 1984 he came home to Schweizer-Reneke.  In that same year of 1984, he was employed at Vryburg as a teacher at Magamang High School.  It took about six months in the same year 1984, and Richard came home in a car with three men.  He was the fourth.  He only greeted us and he said they were going somewhere.  He was asked at home now what about your job. He said no, the job will have to wait for some time.  He didn't spend a lot of time at
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home, it was about ten minutes and they drove off in this white Mercedes-Benz car.  That was the last day we saw him.
 Thereafter police came in large numbers.  They were troubling me at least twice or three times in the week.  Both in daylight and at night.  They would be carrying guns, looking for him. They asked us whether we know his whereabouts and we said no, we do not know.  They were impatient when we told them that we do not know his whereabouts.  They would come in the night and they would surround the house.  
 There was just one White person called Potgieter.  We were told he was from Klerksdorp.  He would come into the house alone and he would search all the rooms in the house.  Where my sisters are asleep he would pick up the blankets with the torch in his hand and he would search even underneath the beds.
 One day, you know, I do not know them, but one day it was during the day, when he came in with a policeman I knew, and this policeman worked in Schweizer-Reneke before, it was Zipo Khatela.  He was tampering, he was just a pain in our lives.  
 In 1986 I met this other gentleman called Wesley Maklopane.  He was working at Kimberley.  He said to me he knows Buchi Richard Lentsela, and he said to me man, I think Richard has been killed towards the Warrenton direction.  He said it was just a rumour, he will investigate this matter. I stood still.  He said Potgieter has been saying that wherever he meets him he is going to kill him.   
 I must tell you, in that year of 1986, Potgieter was so quiet, he didn't come to pester us at home any more. I stayed in that condition. If I don't forget, after about two KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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months the Vryburg branch of the ANC held a rally at Schweizer-Reneke and there were pamphlets.  Now in these pamphlets names of four people were written. These are the names of the people who were killed.  He was the last to appear on that pamphlet, Richard Lentsela.
 I got the shock of my life. I said what Wesley told me was the truth.  At the same time there were people wearing T-shirts and on their T-shirts the death of Richard Lentsela was printed. It came to my mind that this White man must have killed Richard.
 I went to Vryburg, because I was told the pamphlets were from Vryburg. I went to the constituency office of the ANC and on my arrival they told me that they only heard.  They said they didn't even see it with their eyes, they were told that he was killed in Warrenton and the police themselves buried him.  I do not know are they the police in Warrenton or is it Potgieter, because he was actually the person hunting this boy.
 Even this year, in July, I have been to Vryburg, trying to get to the root of this matter. I was told that this matter is still under investigation, they want to investigate as to who killed him and where was he buried. I told them, I said please get hold of the perpetrator.  I further told them that if they had identified the spot where he is buried, I would request the government to help me to exhume his body so that we can bury him in our traditional way.  It would be much better to take his remains to come and bury them at home.  That will be the end of my story.

DR RANDERA: Thank you, Mr Lentsela. I would just like to ask a few questions and clarify and add to what you have said already.  Can you please tell us, did Richard have
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any brothers or sisters?

GEORGE LENTSELA: This is Richard's father.  They were two children at home, the only two boys.  He was Richard and the other one who is still surviving.  Last year his mother passed away.

DR RANDERA: Thank you.  Can you tell us, was Richard involved in political activity at Turfloop or at Vryburg?

GEORGE LENTSELA: We do not have an idea, but according to my speculation, this car that they were driving with, was not known at Vryburg.  This car, the same car that I have referred to at the beginning, and we didn't know the occupants of the car.  We only heard later by Petrus that the car was full of ammunition, and I realised that this person was involved in politics while he was still at Turfloop.

DR RANDERA: So it came as a surprise to you when you - did you see these leaflets that showed the pictures of Richard and these other three people?

GEORGE LENTSELA: That's true, I saw the leaflets.

DR RANDERA: And you have a copy of that?

GEORGE LENTSELA: No, I went to Vryburg and they said to me they will make me a copy, but unfortunately the Truth Commission wanted to see me urgently and I had to leave the matter.

DR RANDERA: Now you said that there was an ANC branch meeting in Vryburg, when these leaflets were given out.  This is 1987, is that right?  Are we talking about the right ...

GEORGE LENTSELA: No, it was in 1986 towards October month, that is when the Vryburg branch held a rally at Schweizer-Reneke stadium.  That is where the leaflets were dished out and these pamphlets actually forced me to trace this matter.
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DR RANDERA: Did you speak to anybody at the time in Vryburg who printed the pamphlets, to find out a little more about what had happened to Richard and his friends?