Human Rights Violation Hearings — Beaufort West — 1996-08-13

CASE NO: CT/00580

<UNKNOWN>: SHOT &

MAPULE RAMASHALA: Good morning Mr Bonas, can you hear me?

JOHANNES BONAS: Can I - I can hear you.

MAPULE RAMASHALA: Can you stand please to take the oath.
JOHANNES NQABENI BONAS Duly sworn states

MAPULE RAMASHALA: Chairperson, Adv Potgieter, will facilitate testimony.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you very much  Dr Ramashala.  Good morning Mr Bonas.

JOHANNES BONAS: Good morning.

ADV POTGIETER: Are you fine?

JOHANNES BONAS: I am fine.

ADV POTGIETER: You are from Richmond, is that true?  Can you just move a little bit forward so that you can speak into the microphone and then we can all hear you very nicely.  You live in Richmond, is that correct?

JOHANNES BONAS: Yes, that is correct.

ADV POTGIETER: Do you have a family as well?

<UNKNOWN>: I am just going to ask the interpreter to repeat that.

JOHANNES BONAS: Yes, I have children.

ADV POTGIETER: Two children?

JOHANNES BONAS: I have two children, a boy and a girl.  One is thirteen years of age and one is two years old.

ADV POTGIETER: Your story takes us back again also to 1986 - h'm at a time when you were still working in Cape Town, is that correct?

JOHANNES BONAS: Yes, like that.

ADV POTGIETER: The incident that you will talk about happened towards the middle of 1986 - you're not 100% sure of the exact date, is that correct?

JOHANNES BONAS: I'm not sure of the date and the month when this happened.

ADV POTGIETER: Now you came back from Cape Town to - to Richmond?

JOHANNES BONAS: Yes, it's like that.

ADV POTGIETER: To Richmond, what happened there?

JOHANNES BONAS: Yes, I can explain.  In 1986 when I got to Richmond, I - there was a boycott, workers boycott, and people were holding a meeting there so I went there with my luggage.  Whilst we were standing outside in a group, policemen came driving in a hippo.  And we alerted those inside, the policemen came and did not say anything, they just chased and dispersed us throwing tear gas.
   I ran away and I decided to throw my luggage because it was very heavy - there were two bags I was carrying.  When I was next to Ms Mokoba's house that's where I was shot with a rubber bullet.  I ran away but before that I fell on my face and hit a - a fence.  I woke up and ran away - that is when the police arrested me and they beat me severely and I had two wounds on my head.  They took me - beating me - and they took me into the hippo and even there they satisfied themselves kicking me vigorously and they took me to Golfgrond - took me into a van and drove me to the police station.  There is a place called Bertie Theron - this person pulled by the neck and by the belt, hitting me on the face and then he took me and threw me into the police station. 
 And then he told Archie Du Plessis that I was there and then they took me to him.  Then he asked me about GP Kalolo - what was his position there in the location and about another principal called Mntanbu.  He asked them and I said I did not know these people because I had just come and they asked where I came from.  I did not tell them that I was coming from Cape Town, I said I was coming from the Transkei and they asked where about, then I told them I was coming from  [indistinct]  and they said I was telling a lie I knew these people and they took me and they locked me in.
In the cell it was wet, then I asked them to take me to a doctor but they refused and I was there until 4 o'clock and they took me to a doctor.  And they explained to Basson that he should not examine me,  he should just give me an injection and also pain tablets.  Then they took me back to the cell and they were telling me that Mandela was not going to do anything for me, I was trying to make myself Jesus Christ, dying for other peoples sins.  Then they took me and they locked me in.
They took me back wanting to find about these two people including this principal and I insisted that I knew nothing about these people because  I had just come.  Then they said I was stubborn, they should lock me in.  Alfred came together with Thabo and they said I was making myself  a Jesus Christ but I did not - I  ignored them.  Then they gave me two blankets, they went for the blankets - I just couldn't help myself, I couldn't even make a bed - and later on Thabo helped me to make this sleeping place and he gave me a lot of blankets and he used to bring pills for me.
I was there for fourteen days, one week in the police station and one week there in the jail.  After a while comrades came to pay bail for R1,000-00 and I went home.  Two days there after Jipie Kalolo took me and [indistinct]  with another doctor - to another doctor who examined and helped me and then I went back home.
I used to go to the police station to report in the morning and in the evening and I complained to the lawyer because I felt I couldn't be doing this up and down as I was ill and so he managed to stopped this and so I kept at home.  And then they said I was going to visit and go to Pretoria then I ran away and went to Beaufort West.  I would only go back there one the days I had to appear in court and the Magistrate found - found me not guilty. I had done nothing to the policemen.  We forwarded a claim but this claim was dismissed, they said it was late, then I went back home.  So that is as far as my story goes.  One add -  additional - additional fact  is that I did not get my clothes back.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you Mr Bonas, I'm just going to ask you one or two questions just to clarify what you've said.  Now you landed up at this meeting, that you spoke about, in Richmond purely by chance, you were on your way home from  Cape Town still with all your luggage when  you saw that there  was a meeting.
I'm going to repeat the - the question so the interpreter can just pick up again.  The meeting that you landed up at, you came there purely by chance, you were on your way home with your luggage still from Cape Town, you didn't know that there was going to be a meeting in this venue, is that correct?

JOHANNES BONAS: Yes, I had just arrived but I ask people there what was happening and they said they were on strike because of the money they were getting.  So I felt I should get into the meeting and listen to what was happening because there at home people are unemployed and those who are working they are getting a little bit of money - about R30.00 per week - so I also had a interest in what was happening.

ADV POTGIETER: But basically all that you did was to - was to listen, to try and find out what was going on, you did nothing else, in fact you did nothing wrong, not so?

JOHANNES BONAS: Yes, it's like that.

ADV POTGIETER: When the police came on the scene, everybody just basically ran away, including yourself.

JOHANNES BONAS: What happened, we called on the people inside when we saw the police, so that they should not be locked inside the room.

ADV POTGIETER: And then the police arrest a number of people, with - together with you?

JOHANNES BONAS: The first people to be arrested was me and another girl and she was dismissed there at the police station.

ADV POTGIETER: You say that you got shot as you were trying to get away, on which part of your body were you - were you struck?

JOHANNES BONAS: If you want me to show it to you, I can show it to you.  I have a mark here that is the shape of a the hoof of a horse.

ADV POTGIETER: You to show that, is entirely up to you in fact if you want to do that then it's fine, I don't have any difficulty but I don't want to - I'm - I'm not insisting that you should show that to us, you can in fact just describe it to us as well for my purposes. But if you want to show it, it's - it's your choice really.  So you can either just describe it to us or what ever way you want to handle it.