Human Rights Violation Hearings — Worcester — 1996-06-24

MR KARIEM: It was an Essa Madikiri - we were at this persons house and  this person said that there were problems at Sohnge and some of the people at Sohnge wanted to boycott and others didn't want to boycott.
We then all decided that on the next day, the 20th August which was also the birthday of the UDF that we would all go there and that all three schools would march towards the Sohnge College.  That was the Worcester Secondary School as well as the Breede River Secondary School and they all came together at the third school and from there we marched with the various placards to the Sohnge College.
When we arrived at the Sohnge College  we deputised some people to meet  with the SRC of Sohnge College.  And while we were busy with this meeting we saw the Riot Squad arriving outside and they were all gathering around outside.  We immediately adjourned the meeting.  Sohnge SRC could not make a decision whether they were going to boycott or not so on that day when we came out of the meeting at Sohnge College, the officer in charge of the police at that time spoke to us over the bull horn - the loud hailer and then he told us that we only had 10 minutes to disperse and to return to our schools.
A few seconds later - not even 10 minutes later as we were granted, having refused to leave there he gave a signal with his finger, he just dropped his finger and then the first person who shot that day and that person is also in this hall today and I am going to mention his name and that is Captain Willis, he is a Captain today,  he has a rank, today he has stars on his shoulder and I got nowhere in life because of what they did.  
On that day he shot the first tear gas canister and they also shot with rubber bullets and we were all chased apart like wild animals.  They chased us from Sohnge College, most of the school children ran behind Sohnge College and if you go up to the old Sohnge College building, if you behind it, you'll see that there is a cemetery and we had to run there through the cemetery to escape from the police.
I ran into the New Hope Centre, which was a new building of theirs in Leopard Avenue, behind the school and most of the school children ran back to Esselen Park Secondary School.  We were about 3,000 schoolchildren who were at Sohnge College that day.  Our parents were standing outside when the boers -  the police started shooting on us.

ADV POTGIETER: Were any of you arrested?

MR KARIEM: Yes, some were arrested.  About six of the schoolchildren were arrested and most of them were young children, they were std 6 Orr 7.  They also made a video that day of what happened on that day.  We were being peaceful - it was a peaceful march.

ADV POTGIETER: Were you able to escape?

MR KARIEM: I managed to escape on that occasion, because I ran into the New Hope Centre and most of the school children also ran into the New Hope Centre and we must thank the people who worked there in the kitchen y helped some of the schoolchildren to hide them there in the cupboards where they put the food and so on.
Then when I returned I locked myself into one of the toilets in the New Hope Centre and some of the school teachers helped.  The police came through and they ran past the toilets because I was the only person who was hiding in the toilets and the other people ran past and the police were hitting them with sjamboks on that day, especially the girls they were - they hit the girls.
A particular girl who was hit that day by the police was not alive anymore.  She died in a vehicle accident.  There were also some of the Sohnge College Students who ran with us on that day but the ones who did not want to boycott were standing by the Rector because that time they had a white Rector at the college.

ADV POTGIETER: So you escaped that day from the police?

MR KARIEM: Yes, I escaped and while most of the school children ran back to Esselen Park Secondary School, when they arrived there the children picked up rocks to defend themselves because it was the police who first started shooting.
Now we didn't start throwing rocks at them first, they began shooting at us first and that was the beginning of the violence in their eyes that is in the eyes of the police because in our view it wasn't violence because we thought it was our right  to defend ourselves against them.
That is the day on which the violence started and it had continued since then.  The schools were then closed by the then Minister of Education Carter Ebrahim.  At that time myself and a friend James Mathee were in the City and we were attending some of the SRC meetings in the city.  There were pamphlets we wanted to return to Worcester because we wanted the schools to open on the 17th September which would have been a Tuesday in 1985.
We decided that with our parents and with our teachers, we were going to open the schools ourselves, all of us worked together on this.

ADV POTGIETER: So the two of you then returned from the City with those pamphlets.

MR KARIEM: Yes, and I have a copy of the pamphlet with me.

ADV POTGIETER: You may hand that over to us later.

MR KARIEM: On the Monday we returned, the 16th September.  We hiked from Cape Town and received a lift with a truck until the entrance of Worcester at the robots.  We were safe the whole day.  I wasn't at home, I didn't sleep at home at that time and also with James - we - neither of us slept at home.
But that evening we were going to meet with Ferdie Fourie at Industry Street at the Games Centre, which was located there at the time.  On that day there were no incidents of violence in Worcester.  Ferdie then told us that there were pamphlets at his home which we could distribute.  Ferdie joined us in the car and we were six of us all together in the car.
We entered the driveway at Ferdie's home in See Street and as we drove into the driveway we all saw that there were some people there who were disguised with golf caps with a little pom-pom on the top.  It turns out it was Lt Niewoudt who then pointed his gun at the driver of the vehicle and took the keys.
When we climbed out of the car they asked Ferdie who he was and they said here you are and they took him under Section 29.  They arrested him under Section 29 and then they took all of our names as we had to get out of the car.  It was Robert Weir and another friend of mine who has since died, Neil Jefta.  They took the names of everyone who was in the car and when they got to James - when he said his name James Mathee then  Niewoudt said also known also Buba, aren't you Buba?.
So that was where he swore at him and then he told James to stand on one side apart from the rest of us.  And when I got out of the car he also said okay  Gobie that - now we've got you because that was my nickname.  We then went into Ferdie's house and then a further two policemen came with -  I think one was  Friar  who has a sort of AWB style beard.  He still has that beard and he is still here in Worcester.  And also a Symington who also joined them - so they took us into the house at Ferdie Fourie.
I was then handcuffed by the left hand to James Mathee's right hand and we had to put our hands behind our necks.  After about five  minutes Symington arrived with a Skyline.

ADV POTGIETER: Is Symington also a police officer?

MR KARIEM: Yes, but we could smell on them that evening that they were drunk, that they had had alcohol on that evening, especially Symington.  We had to sit in the back - it was an automatic vehicle, this Skyline, so he would drive with his one hand and with his other hand he would point the gun at us.

ADV POTGIETER: Is this Symington?