Human Rights Violation Hearings — Venda — 1996-10-03

THOMAS MANTHATA: And you have never been subjected to some therapy of some kind where you can begin to accept that at least one eye can still see?

KWINDA TSHINANE: What made me accept this was that one Reverend came to me and preached to me so that I could repent.  Although I still find it very difficult because now, that is over now.  I was crying over the fact that the
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people who did that, should at least have come to me so that we shall reconcile and all of us will be free.
 Whosoever did, could also ask for forgiveness from God that whatever they did, was wrong.

THOMAS MANTHATA: You see, our point here is, we would love to take you back to a position where you can be, you know, a full member of the community, work productively and accept your  personality.  It is for this reason that our main concerned will be just how to get that, to get you to accept the situation in which we are and that this has nothing to do with your brain, because like you are resiting here, I mean, you seem to remember almost every minute, you know from the day when the students sent you back home, you know, even the following day when they called you back, when the police attacked you, you know you have that chain so well, that one gets to understand that you are a very strong integrated person, intellectually.
 And it is for this kind of a reason that we would love to see Kwinda, these things have happened, but they have not hurt your dignity.
 Because what has happened, it is quite true.  I mean one would even ask, what did the teachers do when the police attacked you as you were marching out of the school?

KWINDA TSHINANE: The only evidence that I can present was that there was no phone at this specific school where I was, they used the Rondani Secondary school, perhaps they were very afraid that the school kids were going to damage the property, but we didn't have that in mind.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Yes, but what did your teachers say?  Have they ever been to you right through that process of pain?

KWINDA TSHINANE: The teachers sat down with me, giving me that VENDA HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
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kind of consolation about what happened.  I did accept that, but it was difficult for me to take that into, because I had to leave school because of this problem.

THOMAS MANTHATA: And what about your school mates?  What did they say to you?

KWINDA TSHINANE: People were no longer coming to me, because they were afraid of being witnesses.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Not necessarily as witnesses, but perhaps just for saying how are you, you know, to keep making you realise that you are part and parcel of the main stream of the youth of the town?

KWINDA TSHINANE: My friends used to come to me just to console me although they had a problem on which eye is hurt because it was not clear as to which eye was badly damaged, because they were not able to realise that the other eye was not really functioning.  I just told them that I was hurt, because I was not very seriously or severely hurt, because people couldn't realise which one was really hurt.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Kwinda, I have no further questions thank you.