Human Rights Violation Hearings — Klerksdorp — 1996-09-25

PROF MEIRING: Mr Dikoko, would you please come to the forum.  Mr Dikoko, are you comfortable, can you hear me?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: Yes, I can hear you.

PROF MEIRING: You came all the way from Bloemhof to be with us.  Welcome, and I hope you find it is a healing experience to sit here in front of us and tell your story.  You brought somebody with you on your right-hand side.  Would you like to introduce him to us?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: This is the community secretary at Bophelong Town Council, his name is Patrick.

PROF MEIRING: Patrick, a word of welcome to you too.  Thank you for honouring us by coming.  Mr Dikoko, before I ask Dr Randera to lead you in your testimony, will you please stand to take the oath.

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: (Duly sworn, states).

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much.  Now Dr Randera will help you with your testimony.

DR RANDERA: Mr Dikoko, good morning again.   Are you comfortable?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: I am comfortable, thank you.

DR RANDERA: I thank you for coming all the way from Bophelong this morning.  I know having driven to all these towns that it is not around the corner.   Mr Dikoko, before
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I ask you to tell us what happened to you in 1985, will you please tell us something about yourself; are you married, do you have any children, what is your work at the moment, what political organisation do you belong to.

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: In 1985 I was working at the Protea Pharmacy.  Because I wasn't schooling at that time.  On Thursday morning when I was on my bicycle to work, at the bridge, past the Indian centre, there was a Skyline car.  These were the new Skylines on the market.  He came very close.  When I was still on my way to town, then I realised that they are not overtaking. It seems they want to push me out of the road.  Then I get on riding until I got to work.  When I arrived at work, then they entered also.  Then I began to realise that these people are members of the security forces.  Then I rushed to the owner of the pharmacy.  Then I said to him these people are members of the security force and they are coming to fetch me, would he please deny. Then he said to me there is nothing he can do, if the security forces are there they have to do their work.  Then they told him that they want to meet this guy.  He agreed.
 Then we entered the car.  Then they took me to the river.  It was outside the boundaries of where people are working. I was handcuffed.  Then they began to beat me with their fists and everything that I should tell them that what was happening in the township. Then I told them the truthful answer there, that the chairperson of the (indistinct), though I was working, but it was around political issues.  We were trying to organise ourselves.  The beating went on.  After two, I don't remember well. From there they made me enter the Skyline again.  Then they showed me a sack, a bag which is full of fresh blood, because that blood was 
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stinking.  If I don't tell the truth then I will be the same as those people who were inside those bags. 
 Thereafter they took me to the police station.  There are rooms in the police station at the back.

DR RANDERA: There is a note from our translators that they have a problem.  It seems that you are speaking a mixed language and that they have a difficulty to interpret that.  They asked whether you can either take the ear-phones off or whether you would stick to one language, please.

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: Okay, I will try to stick to Tswana.

DR RANDERA: Thank you very much.

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: When we arrived at the police station, they carried on with their torture.  They were applying these electrical appliances on me and they switched them on and they were electrocuting me. I was naked at the time.  They were continually asking me about Bophelong and I explained everything to them.  This lasted for about 20 minutes.
 We left the police station.  They put a balaclava on my head or some copper of some kind.  They said I should go and point out where the members of the MCD were residing.  I went to show them where the members were residing, the secretaries and other members. 
 From there we went back to town.  They dropped me off at the bridge that is leading to Christiana.  I was swollen, I was full of blood, but I managed to walk until I got home.  From home we went to Dr Rallie and he gave me an injection and the tablets.  
 I do not know who they are up to this day, these are the faceless people, but I know was that they were the security force members.

DR RANDERA: Do you wish to add anything else to what you
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have said already?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: Since that incident I suffered from depression and tension and I have been to hospitals. I still suffer from tension and distress.

DR RANDERA: I just want to come back to what I said earlier. Can you just tell us something about yourself. Are you married, do you have any children?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: I am married, I have two children.

DR RANDERA: How old are they?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: The boy is 12 years old and the daughter is four and a half years old.

DR RANDERA: And what is your work at the present time?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: I am a teacher.

DR RANDERA: Mr Dikoko, you say that you were the chairperson of the Bophelong Youth Congress at the time, the Bophelong movement.  Can you tell us what else was happening in the township around that period?  You were - in your statement you say you were mainly involved in the youth political issues.  What else was happening in the township that the security police took such an interest in what you were doing and what was happening in the township?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: I was the chairperson of Bophelong student movement. Even though I wasn't a scholar, but I was involved.  The main reason was to mobilise the students with regards to politics.  The council of the time was not favoured by the people and the youth was not in favour of such a council.

DR RANDERA: You also mention that after - sorry, how long did the torture go on?  You were first, from what you were saying, assaulted almost in the street by the security police and then you were taken to the police station. How
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long did the torture go on for?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: They took me to the river side, that is where they assaulted me.  I think we left that area at about past two, and from there we went to the police station, and that is where they applied electric shocks on me. They were switching them on and off, from time to time.

DR RANDERA: How long did that go on for?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: I can't even tell but it was quite some time.  If I have to estimate it can be 10 to 15 minutes of torture.

DR RANDERA: Subsequent to all this that happened to you - this was in 1985, were you harassed continually after that or did the police leave you alone?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: The security forces in Bloemhof was putting an eye on me, but in 1986 I went to further my studies.

DR RANDERA: Where did you go and study?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: I went to Bonamele College of Education in QuaQua.

DR RANDERA: You also said earlier on today that after the torture and the assault, you were taken to poit out other activists'homes.  Were these activist arrested subsequently?

THABO JOSEPH DIKOKO: No, they were not arrested.

DR RANDERA: Thank you, I have no other qusetions. Perhaps my colleagues would like to ask some questions.

PROF MEIRING: Mr Manthata?