Human Rights Violation Hearings — Krugersdorp — 1996-11-12

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much Mrs Sekhoacha for your testimony.  You have been telling us two stories.  Maybe we can talk about the first story first, what happened 33 years ago to yourself and I would like to ask you a number of questions on that, to clarify that.  Afterward we will turn to the story, what happened to your son and there will be a number of questions about that.  If you can just rethink that incident in 1963 when you and Maria, your friend, were arrested by the police.  The first thing I want to know is do you know the date?  You said it happened in 1963, but the month and the day, do you know that?

MRS SEKHOACHA: I can only remember the month.  It was in November because in November we write our examinations, but I do not remember the date exactly, but it was in November, towards the end of November.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much.  The second thing I want to know is were there any witnesses when you and Maria were
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accosted and taken away?  Are there any witnesses of the scene?

MRS SEKHOACHA: People who were passing by, we did not know them because this was a busy road.  At that time, whenever somebody was arrested by the police, you would run away.  Nobody wanted to be a witness.  People were scared for their lives.  I do not think there was ever a witness.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you so much.  About Maria, your friend, who probably died.  Do you know what has happened to her family?  Are they still in your area or have they left?

MRS SEKHOACHA: At the moment I am married, I am staying in Mohlakeng.  Maria's family originates from Zeerust.  As I have mentioned in my statement, people were coming from all over, as far as Lesotho.  You would not ask as to where are they from.  You were just happy to accommodate them in your yard and you would live in harmony.  That was the problem.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you.  Now, again, talking about yourself.  After that horrible experience were you able to go back to school to finish with your studies?

MRS SEKHOACHA: No, I never managed.  I only went as far as Form three.  I intended to study towards Law, but my father who was supporting me was mentally disturbed and could not support me furthermore to further my studies.

PROF MEIRING: Was he ...

MRS SEKHOACHA: He passed away in that state, being mentally disturbed because of me.

PROF MEIRING: Was it because of what happened to you that he was mentally disturbed?

MRS SEKHOACHA: That is true.  My father use to love me very much and he had high aims as far as I am concerned.  When he saw me, blood-soaked, he was the first one who collapsed.
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As I have said, he collapsed due to this.

PROF MEIRING: And then afterwards you became a nurse?

MRS SEKHOACHA: I became a nurse.  That is when I decided to be a nurse because I could see the ill-treatment that people were given in hospital.  When I sat down with management in the hospital to try and address this illtreatment, that is when I was dismissed and assaulted by the police.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you, but you did marry eventually, you have children of your own and were you able to?

MRS SEKHOACHA: I became a nurse whilst married and had children as well.

PROF MEIRING: How big is your family?

MRS SEKHOACHA: It is at Mohlakeng in Randfontein at the moment.

PROF MEIRING: How many?

MRS SEKHOACHA: I have got five children?

PROF MEIRING: Five children.  Now, let us turn to the other story, what happened to your son.  Is he the oldest or in the middle or the youngest of your children?

MRS SEKHOACHA: He is the last born.  At the moment he is doing Form one.  He is the last born.

PROF MEIRING: And was he severely injured or can he go on with his life?

MRS SEKHOACHA: What I do not know clearly is if you asked him to help you with ordinary things like garden, he cannot and he cannot study even at night.  Even when you look at me, when you look at him you can see that he is semi-blinded.  Even at school he has got problems with that.

PROF MEIRING: So you and your family are still in need of medical attention?

MRS SEKHOACHA: Yes we do, quite a lot.  We need a lot of
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medical treatment because even myself, I cannot even do washing for my children since I was beaten in prison.  I was married in this status, my rib is still giving me problems.  I cannot take care of my children like any normal mother.

PROF MEIRING: In your statement you said that you also have problems with your teeth.  Is that correct?

MRS SEKHOACHA: I do not eat peanuts and apples even when I envy them.  Sometimes when I wake up all my set of teeth would shake.  I do try and treat them, but in vane.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you.  A last question.  You said that your child was treated by a doctor and I did not catch the name.  Was it Morula?

MRS SEKHOACHA: It is Doctor Morula.

PROF MEIRING: Morula.  Where does he practice?

MRS SEKHOACHA: His surgery is in Mohlakeng.  In the corner of Lembetie Street in Mohlakeng.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much Mrs Sekhoacha.  Those were my questions, but some of my colleagues, I am sure, would like to add a number of questions from their side.

CHAIRPERSON: Yasmin.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you Joyce.  Mama, I am going to ask you a few questions about the first incident that took place in 1963.  How old were you and Maria at the time this happened?

MRS SEKHOACHA: As I have said we were born in the same year, but I was a month older than her.  I was born on the 1st of January 1943.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you.  Could you tell me, I just want to make absolutely sure, that you were kept in, you were kept in the cells for approximately three days.  Is that right?

MRS SEKHOACHA: Yes, it is true, three days.

YASMINE SOOKA: But the last time that you saw Maria was on the
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first day when the two of you were ...?

MRS SEKHOACHA: It was on the second day.  That is when they took Maria to a different cell and they left me alone in this cell.

YASMINE SOOKA: And that was the last time that you saw her?

MRS SEKHOACHA: That was the last time I saw Maria Gobganie.

YASMINE SOOKA: At any time in the three days did you hear anything from any other cell?  Do you think she was in a cell next door to you or quite far away from you?

MRS SEKHOACHA: I could not hear properly.  They only thing that I would hear would be this bunch of keys when they opened doors.  I could not see the other cells when we were being put here.  I only saw my cell, but I could hear the sound of the bunch of keys when they were opening.  That is when I realised that there might be cells that they are opening.

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you know what the name of the police station was where you were being kept?  Was this is in Krugersdorp or in Roodepoort?

MRS SEKHOACHA: It is in Krugersdorp because Paul Kruger's statue is in Krugersdorp.  That is where we were arrested, but I cannot exactly point out where the buildings were, but it is in Krugersdorp Police Station.

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you know the names, at any time when you were taken, did you hear the names of the policemen who had taken you?

MRS SEKHOACHA: There was no way you could ask the name of the policemen because of their manner.  You could not ask anything.  We were not there to lay a charge, but we were not asked anything about our names and any detail.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, after this incident, once you had got
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home, you said that the investigations to find Maria were not successful.  Can you tell us some of the things that were done by Maria's family?

MRS SEKHOACHA: My parents and her parents tried their best, but in vane.

YASMINE SOOKA: Did they go back to that police station?