Human Rights Violation Hearings — Karoo — 1996-10-09

STANFORD DILATO: I would appreciate that a lot.   Thank you.
ADV POTGIETERMr Dilato often when one listens to a testimony it is like we have awoken from a very bad nightmare, but this Commission is there to try and  find out and understand what has happened and what has gone wrong so that we  wont' land up in the same sort of situation again.  I am just trying to find out why was your wife burnt up?  Was it because she bought at a shop during the consumer boycott?

STANFORD DILATO: Yes, sir, it is so.

ADV POTGIETER: You were a community policeman at that stage, not so?

STANFORD DILATO: Yes sir, that is so.

ADV POTGIETER: Did you have problems with the community before this incident happened to your wife?

STANFORD DILATO: I did not have a single problem.

ADV POTGIETER: Did the difficulties only start when your wife bought that meat at the butchery.

STANFORD DILATO: Yes, that's when the problems started.

ADV POTGIETER: Your wife, you had that particular job, but your wife, where was she working, what was she doing?

STANFORD DILATO: She was a garage, she worked at a garage.  She was a tea lady there.

ADV POTGIETER: Was she in any way involved in the political conflict, and the political situation at the time?

STANFORD DILATO: She used to toi-toi now and again, but she never went to meetings.

ADV POTGIETER: Did she toi-toi with the comrades or what?

STANFORD DILATO: Yes, she would see the comrades toi-toiing, then she would join in.

ADV POTGIETER: But what I just want to be 100% clear about this.  When was she aware of the consumer boycott?

STANFORD DILATO: She says she was not aware, because of most of the time she was at work and she would go home late.  This happened on a Saturday.  On Friday she had gone home late from work.

ADV POTGIETER: So she was not deliberately breaking the consumer boycott, disregarding the consumer boycott?

STANFORD DILATO: No, it was not on purpose.  She did not know.

ADV POTGIETER: Now when she was found with the meat that she had bought, contrary to the boycott that was going on at that stage.  What happened to her then.  Was she assaulted, what happened to her?

STANFORD DILATO: She was not assaulted.  They just grabbed the meat and stamped all over it.  
ADV POTGIETERAnd did she go lay a charge?

STANFORD DILATO: Yes, she laid a charge at the man who grabbed her meat.

ADV POTGIETER: And was that a problem.  Was that which gave rise to the toi-toiing at your house and stoning and the situation that you described earlier.

STANFORD DILATO: I am sure it is.

ADV POTGIETER: What did you do about that charge.

STANFORD DILATO: I went to my wife's work place.  I took her to the police station.  I asked that the case be erased all together.  They then did not continue with the case, but they still continued to burn my wife.

ADV POTGIETER: So that case was withdrawn before your wife was killed, but in spite of that, the incident still happened.  She was still killed.

STANFORD DILATO: Yes sir.

ADV POTGIETER: Nobody came to your house and discuss this matter with you, talked to you about the consumer boycott.  Said to you there was this consumer boycott and asked you not to act in breach of it.

STANFORD DILATO: Not a single person came.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you very much

STANFORD DILATO: Thank you Sir

MARY BURTON: I just want to add my thanks and we realise you and your family had a terrible experience.  You lost your wife, your children lost their mother.  Your children lost their home and it was not possible for you for a long to live in your home and in your area.  We take note of this and we recognise the divisions and the tensions that was rampant in the community at that time.  And we hope that at least coming to tell us what happened ha to some extent eased your suffering.  Thank you very much.

STANFORD DILATO: Thank you very much ma'am.