Human Rights Violation Hearings — Rustenburg — 1997-05-07

CHAIRPERSON: We are now going to call upon Elizabeth Sekati.

DR RANDERA: Elizabeth, welcome.  Have you brought somebody with you?  Are you accompanied by someone?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Yes.

DR RANDERA: Do you want to introduce the people or person who is accompanying you?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: The other one, is my uncle.

DR RANDERA: Welcome to your uncle.  Elizabeth, will you please stand and raise your right hand.

ELIZABETH SEKATI: (Duly sworn in, states).

DR RANDERA: Thank you.  I give you back to the Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: We are now going to as Mr Meiring to administer the testimony.

PROF MEIRING: Mrs Elizabeth Sekati, you have a very harrowing, horrible story to tell us.  It happened on the 8th of November 1992.  Please tell us in your own words and take your time and tell us your story what happened to you in the police cells.

ELIZABETH SEKATI: In 1992, it was in the evening, the police came to my house.  They kicked the doors when they arrived.  When we woke up with the children, my first born, that is a boy, opened up the door.  When he opened, the police entered the house and they asked me whether that was Skitiboane's(?) place.  I said yes.  And then they said I must accompany them.  I asked them where we were going.  Come with us, you will tell us the truth when we get to our destination.   Because I was in a night dress, I took a blanket to cover myself.  When I came outside, I saw a van parked at the gate.  Inside that van there were three women and two men.  One of them was a chief.  There were four women.
 That van drove to Phokeng Civic Centre.  When we got at Phokeng Civic Centre, they put us in the Civic Centre cells in groups of two.  There was another policeman, if he could come out now I would recognise his face.  He beat me up and kicked me.  My next door neighbour who was with me in a cell was also beaten up by the other policemen who was with this policeman who beat me.  This policeman, I say I know, he had sex with me by force in front of that other lady. I could not take the case anywwhere. I did not even tell my family.   We stayed there until the morning until they opened up the cell.  They made us sit down on the chairs in the Civic Centre and they waited until the offices were open.  They also called us to one man's office.  I can still remember he was from Tjaneng.  He worked at that office.  They asked us what we were doing there.  We said we do not know what we are doing there.  This other man said to us, last week, I do not know on which day, you held a meeting in the township, that is an ANC meeting.  That is why you have been arrested.  We want you to tell us what you were discussing at that meeting.  And then we said no, we denied that we were ever at that meeting.  And this man said to us, your case is going on.  Even at this present moment while we are still waiting for them.  
 The way I got kicked by this boy, I ended up having a weak chest.  Even at the present moment I am not working.  When the weather is overcast, I have to get under the blankets.  That is where I will end with my story.

PROF MEIRING: Elizabeth, thank you for trusting us with your story.  It must be difficult to relive that experience and to tell it to all of us.  I want to ask a number of questions.  The first one is, why did they come to you?  Were you known as being politically active?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Yes, they knew.

PROF MEIRING: But were you a member of the ANC?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Yes, I was.

PROF MEIRING: Did you hold a position?  Were you a secretary or a chairperson?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: I was just an ordinary member, Sir.

PROF MEIRING: But they knew that your were politically active.

ELIZABETH SEKATI: That is true.

PROF MEIRING: The other question I want to ask you, are you married?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: No, I am not married.

PROF MEIRING: I want to ask about your children.  How many children do you have?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: I have four children, Sir.

PROF MEIRING: Were they in the house when you were taken.? You speak of one child, but ...(intervention)

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Yes, they were all of them there.

PROF MEIRING: What do they, have they spoken to you afterwards?  Were you able to explain to them what happened to you and why it happened to you?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: I did not tell them anything because I was scared.

PROF MEIRING: Did you speak to your family about the whole thing?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Yes, after the Civic Centre, yes I did.

PROF MEIRING: I was wondering, after this happened, did anybody offer professional help, did a psychiatrist or a social worker or perhaps the priest speak to you and help you to work through everything that happened to you?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Nobody, Sir.

PROF MEIRING: Would you like that?  Do you have the desire that somebody should come and sit with you and speak, take the whole thing through for you?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Yes, I am in need of that Sir.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you.  There is, you refer to a man, you say that he was called, if I read correctly "Baas", was that a nickname that was given to the policeman?  I am not quite sure whether it is "Baas or Boas"?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: That is "Boas".

PROF MEIRING: Can you identify that person better?  Do you have another name for him?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Yes, I can identify him.

PROF MEIRING: What is his name?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Many people know him as "Boas", so I do not know other names, but I can identify him.

PROF MEIRING: You said that you were not alone that night.  You were picked up and there were a number of women with you and also a number of men.  Were they treated equally badly that night?  Were the other people, otehr women also raped that night?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: They were beaten.  One of them even took the case to the magistrate.

PROF MEIRING: And what happened to the case?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: It was just dismissed.

PROF MEIRING: Only one more question, Elizabeth, this happened some years ago, how did you cope in the years that went by?  Were you able to go on with your life or was it very difficult for you?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: Even now, I am not able, because of the weakness I have.

PROF MEIRING: And looking other people in the eye?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: I feel shameful all the time.

PROF MEIRING: It is a difficult thing.  It often happens when a woman is being raped, she feels ashamed, she feels that she cannot look other people in the eye.  Of course it is totally, totally unnecessary.  It was not you fault.  You can look people in the eyes.  But I realise that what you feel, many other people in similar circumstances also feel.  But if you have the opportunity to speak to people and to discuss and work through the whole bad experience, hopefully that will help you a lot.  But thank you, that was what I wanted to ask.

CHAIRPERSON: Dr Randera.

DR RANDERA: Elizabeth, this gentleman that you call ....

INTERPRETER: The speaker's microphone is not on.

DR RANDERA: Will you switch on ...

CHAIRPERSON: I am trying.

DR RANDERA: Okay.  I think I am on anyway.  This gentleman that you call Boas or Baas or whatever, is he still working for the police?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: I am not sure now, because he is no more at Civic Centre where he used to work.

DR RANDERA: You also say in your statement, and I am sorry to, about asking these questions, because I am sure it is very difficult for you, that it was very common, and I am quoting you, for Boputhatswana policemen to rape women they had arrested.  Can you tell us a little more about that?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: They used to do that.  I was not the first one to be raped by them.

DR RANDERA: Do you know other women who have made statements to the Truth Commission on this particular aspect?

ELIZABETH SEKATI: They did not come here, but those, I know of some people who were raped, but I am not so sure that they made the statement to the Truth Commission.