Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-10-25

WITNESS:   My mother was old and she was very strict.   She didn't like things like politics, it wasn't easy for me to tell my mother of anything that I used to do privately.   More especially, when it comes to politics, because she was a Christian.

CHAIRPERSON: When she discovered that you, in fact, were a member of the UDF, what was her reaction?

WITNESS:   She asked me why I decided to join in politics.  I explained to her why.   Firstly, I used to admire things that we couldn't get.   When you grow up, you realise things that things that are happening to other people and not happening to yourself and then you try to do something about it.  And some times we used to visit other places and they couldn't allow us to enter those places because we were black.  So, I wanted to know more why we were not allowed to have other things.   Even in shops, if you get there, if you hold the toys, then they tell you not to touch anything, but a white child can touch everything.  I used to ask my mother what's going on and my mother used to tell me, no, it is nothing.   And one day I came across one lady, she was an ANC member, she is late now.  I asked her why are these things happening.   So she explained to me, that's where I got an interest in joining UDF.

CHAIRPERSON: You also say that because of this your mother was constantly harassed and interrogated by the police.  She was tortured.   Do you want to tell us a little bit about what you know about what happened to her when she was tortured?

WITNESS:   What she used to come back and tell me is that she was given an electrical shock and she couldn't remember what they used to use hitting her head.   Other day they put a plastic over her head and she couldn't breath, and one day she told me one white man came and he tied her and then he hit her, and even after she died, she had bruises all over her ribs.

CHAIRPERSON: You also told us that they constantly asked her about where you were getting arms and ammunition from.   Was this correct, were you actually storing arms at the time?

WITNESS:   We used to receive arms and ammunitions but they were just passing, I only know where they were going.  And they used to describe those people who were supposed to receive the ammunitions and then you just go to the place because you didn't even know the person you are going to meet.   And they used to arrive the same way.  And after my mother died soldiers came to my house and they were searching the yard, every where.   I couldn't get rest.  And after that they used to come continuously. Even the child that I had, I couldn't have time for my child.   Some times I used to use my child to hide weapons and transport those ammunition.

CHAIRPERSON: Nomhle, you yourself was detained in the police station for six months without being charged.   I know that it is painful for you to tell us about what they did to you, but it is important for us to know what the details of what happened.   Are you able to share that with us?

WITNESS:   At the time when I was detained, there were certain times that they would blindfold me just before they assaulted me.   There was a rag that they used to blindfold me.  At some stage I was put on a chair and they would handcuff my hands behind my back and start assault me.   And they would tell me that they were going to kill me if I wasn't giving them the information that they wanted.   And at times it would have - it would happen for quite long periods of time, and they would give me water that looked like starch.   And at times they would put a tube on my head for quite a long time.   At times they were take the child and put it in a separate room, whenever the child wanted to suck I couldn't make the baby suck because she was in another room and I was in the next room.   When they couldn't get what they wanted, they opened up the window and they would grab me by the throat and tell me that they were going to throw me out of the window if I don't tell them what they wanted to know.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ...

WITNESS:   Yes, there was a time when they arrested me together with the baby.

CHAIRPERSON: Describe for us what it means when they put a tube over your face?

WITNESS:   They would first tell me to do the frog jump and whenever I was sweating, it was then that they would put the tube over me and the tube would stick on my face because I was sweating at that time and my face was wet.   And when they were doing this, they would assault me at the same time.   There was a certain small room, almost the size of the toilet, and whenever they were assaulting me I couldn't block their assaults, I couldn't protect my body or my face and they would take a very big wet towel and one would grab the towel from the other end.  I used to stick my hands up inside the towel and one would pull the towel from the other end, and the other one would pull it from the other end.  Then one policemen said they must just kill me and throw me in the forest because I did not want to speak.  They took me in another night and they put me in a van.   They took me to a certain place, it was next to a dam, but I am not sure what this place was.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you ever recognise any of these policemen who did it to you?   Are you able to tell us who they are?

WITNESS:   They would be white policemen who I don't know, I could not recognise them.  There wasn't a single black man, except the one who were coming at my place.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ... prison ... (inaudible) ...

CHAIRPERSON: (NO FURTHER RECORDING ON SIDE A)

CHAIRPERSON: 2B/0 (START OF SIDE B)

CHAIRPERSON: (Recording commenced quarter of the way along)

CHAIRPERSON: ... get any food and there was a time where I couldn't wash for three days.   They never allowed me to drink any water.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ... was the baby able to feed properly, how did you manage with the baby in prison?

WITNESS:   I ended up stopping breastfeeding him and he also didn't want to suck because he was not used to it by then.   He got very sickly, but he managed to grow up to be a man.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ...

WITNESS:   He is 15 years old now.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ...

WITNESS:   I sat down with him one time and explained to him, because he had a lot of questions that he always asked me.   But what I noticed, his behaviour changed and he doesn't like talking about whatever happened in the past, he is very short-tempered. And whenever he asked the first question was, "How come the boers were always coming to our place?" and one time we had to gone to a certain party, where there were children of different races.   He always said he didn't want to play with the white children, he always played with black kids as well as coloured kids.   Now, he is in Standard Six.   But throughout I would go to the children to find out how his performance was and when it is recess he never wanted to play during play-time, he just wanted to stay in doors.   Even at home, I forced him to have friends and try to coerce him into associating with his peers, but he just doesn't want to do it.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ... out of prison, did you ever have any kind of proper medical check-up afterwards, do you receive counselling yourself?

WITNESS:   I never got any treatment, neither did I get counselling.   I have never been to a doctor ever since.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ... presume hasn't received any counselling either?

WITNESS:   He also hasn't received any treatment.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ... earlier in your evidence that you also had to take care of your one brother.   Was he also politically active?

WITNESS:   I was the eldest and I could influence them.   And they ended up following me.

CHAIRPERSON: (Inaudible) ...