Amnesty Hearings — Boksburg — UNKNOWN

CHAIRPERSON: Very well, thank you, Mr Shongwe, you may return to your seat.
WITNESS EXCUSED

UNKNOWN: Mr Chair, is this a time convenient for adjournment for lunch?

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry, we will take the lunch adjournment and come back at two o'clock.
COMMITTEE ADJOURNS

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, Mr Madasa?

UNKNOWN: Thank you, Mr Chair, I then call applicant No 8.

CHAIRPERSON: No 8.

UNKNOWN: Rodrick Singo.

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: (sworn states)

UNKNOWN: Mr Singo, how old are you?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I'm 29 years old.

UNKNOWN: How far did you go at school?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I did standard six, but I did not pass that standard.

UNKNOWN: In the SDU, what rank did you hold?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I was an ordinary member within the SDU.

UNKNOWN: No, what I'm asking, were you an operator or a patroller?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I was not an operator, I was just patrolling.

UNKNOWN: Okay.   In 1993, where were you living?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: The beginning of 1993, I was staying at Khumalo Section.

UNKNOWN: In December 1993, where were you living?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: In December, I was staying here at Moleleki Section, sir.

UNKNOWN: Which block?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I was staying at block E.

UNKNOWN: Now, did you take part in the capturing and killing of the victims?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I took part, sir.

UNKNOWN: Let's start with the capturing first, is there any person that you captured, you personally, to take that person to the shack?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: No sir, there's no particular person.

UNKNOWN: Did you accompany anybody to capture people in order to take them to the shack?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: No sir.

UNKNOWN: Were you present when the people were taken from the shack that was near the forest to the open field to be killed?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Yes sir, I was present.

UNKNOWN: At what stage did you join the killing?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: May you please repeat your question?

UNKNOWN: At what stage did you join the other members of the SDU to take those people to there for killing?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I joined them in the morning.

UNKNOWN: The day the victims were killed?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: That is correct, sir.

UNKNOWN: On that particular morning, where did you go, where were they when you joined them?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: It was like this, in the morning when I wake up going to work, I passed through Blanko's place, then I found people assembled there, I found that Blanko's shack has been burned, many people were crowding the area.   When I entered in, I found Blanko sitting on the chair, burnt to death.   That is where I joined.

UNKNOWN: Now did you subsequently joined the group of the SDU members who were removing the victims to the open field?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: From there, I learnt that there is another person who has been killed.   When I arrived at block F, I found that it was Bulelwa.

UNKNOWN: Did you join the people who were guarding the victims who were put in the shack?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Yes, I was one of them, sir.

UNKNOWN: Were you invited to join?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I was standing next to the door of that shack.

UNKNOWN: What did you do personally to those people?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: There's nothing I did, I was standing there.

UNKNOWN: Were you armed?   Sorry, I didn't hear, were you armed?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I had a sjambok.

UNKNOWN: When those people were removed from the shack to the field, were you still there?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Yes sir, I was still present.

UNKNOWN: What did you do, did you go with the people who were taking them to the open field?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Yes sir, I accompanied that group.

UNKNOWN: How did you accompany them?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: When we took them there, some of them I beat them with that sjambok.

UNKNOWN: Were you escorting these people?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Yes sir.

UNKNOWN: Were you told to do so?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Do you mean in which way we were told, in which way and what?

UNKNOWN: Did anybody give you a command to escort those people to the open field?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: As we were there, we were given an instruction that we should go with them.

UNKNOWN: Who gave the instruction?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: That's Commander Mchebe.

UNKNOWN: Did he tell you what you were going to do with them?
...(TAPE ENDS)

UNKNOWN: At the spot where they were killed, did you do anything to them?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: When we arrived in the veld, they were instructed to sit down.   They were tied with rope.

UNKNOWN: Did you kill any one of them, you?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: No sir, no-one.

UNKNOWN: Were you present when they were killed?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Yes, Your Honour, I was present when they were killed.

UNKNOWN: Why did you not kill?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I played a role because I was present when they were killed, but in the actual killing, I did not take part.

UNKNOWN: Did you hear the order by Dondola that they should be killed?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I heard when he said they should be killed.

UNKNOWN: So why did you not comply with your order?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I associated myself with the order, because if I did not associate myself with that order, I could have left.

UNKNOWN: Now why did you associate yourself with the killing of these people?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I associated myself with the killing because of what they did, yes because of what they did.

UNKNOWN: Did you know which political organisation they belonged, or organisation?

CHAIRPERSON: Just before you reply, you say you associated yourself with the killing because of what they did?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: That is correct.

CHAIRPERSON: And I take it you're referring to the deceased?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: To what they did to Bulelwa and Blanko, because I learnt that they are responsible for the killing of Blanko and Bulelwa.

CHAIRPERSON: You associated yourself with their killing because they had killed Bulelwa and Blanko?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: That is correct, sir.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

UNKNOWN: Did you know to which organisation they belonged, that is the victims?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I learnt that they were members of the ANC Youth League, who killed Bulelwa and Blanko.

UNKNOWN: What was your political objective in killing them, in participating in their killing?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: In other words I do not understand to explain what, as to whether my role in politics.

CHAIRPERSON: Sir, can you repeat your question, I don't understand what you mean by the political objective?

UNKNOWN: What did you want to achieve by complying with Dondola's order, what did you want to achieve?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I expected nothing, sir, when I carried out Dondola's order.

UNKNOWN: Why did you comply with his order?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I complied to his order because he was a commander, he said these people have killed, they must be killed too.

UNKNOWN: Did you know any of those people, the victims?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: I did not know those people.

UNKNOWN: Do you know why they were killed?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: Yes, as I have already said, that they were killed because they killed Bulelwa and Blanko.

UNKNOWN: Is there anything that you benefited from killing them?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: No sir.

UNKNOWN: What was, in your understanding, what was the role of the SDU towards the community of Moleleki?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: It was supposed to protect the community.

UNKNOWN: Was that killing part of that duty?

TSEKIMYANA RODRICK SINGO: As they killed, I knew that they would continue killing.   As they killed Blanko, they would continue to kill each and every member of SDU, as they pledged to do so, that's the information I received.