Human Rights Violation Hearings — Johannesburg — 1996-04-29

LORRAINE LENKOE: Dr Moritz discovered that my father was burnt.  It looked as if something had been applied on his body.  I
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think it's electric burns.

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you know anything about why your father - did your mother ever discover who had done this to your father and what actually happened in the prison cell?

LORRAINE LENKOE: My mother never discovered the perpetrators of these things because Major Swanepoel refused and said my father hanged himself.

YASMINE SOOKA: .....Mr Carlson, your mother's attorney.

LORRAINE LENKOE: Mr Carlson was deported, he was expelled from South Africa.

YASMINE SOOKA: For this case of your mother's?

LORRAINE LENKOE: Yes that's true.

YASMINE SOOKA: Is your mother still alive?

LORRAINE LENKOE: No she passed away in 1993.

YASMINE SOOKA: Could you tell me what you expect from the Commission?

LORRAINE LENKOE: I am really expecting the Commission to investigate so that a person or people who killed my father can come up and I can forgive them and they can forgive me, because this has been created by God.

YASMINE SOOKA: I'd like to thank you very much for telling us about your mother's suffering.  Your father was one of the first people who was found to have died in those circumstances and we all remember that and we will do our best to see what we can do about finding out what happened to him.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Yasmin.  Any further questions? ...(tape ends)

DR RANDERA: ... the involvement of this person?

LORRAINE LENKOE: Major Swanepoel was the person who arrested my father and all the problems in my family have been caused by JOHANNESBURG HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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Major Swanepoel.

CHAIRPERSON: Hlenghiwe Mkhize.

MS MKHIZE: Maybe you can help us so that we can understand clearly.  You said they saw him hanging, can you just tell us what happened that day, actually?

LORRAINE LENKOE: Do you mean on the 10th?

MS MKHIZE: Yes.  I know you might not be in a position to know what actually happened but I want to clear know.  Are there people who gave you some testimony that maybe on that day, the day he was found hanging, something happened before?  Or maybe from the police, did they explain what was happening?  When did they last see him?  Did they have any talk with him?

LORRAINE LENKOE: I can shortly say they last saw him the previous night when the bandits were supposed to go to bed, and they found him the next morning hanging from a belt.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, and Russel Ally.

RUSSELL ALLY: You mentioned that the lawyer who led the inquest was Joel Carlson, have you maintained contact with him?  Is he still alive?  Do you know his whereabouts?

LORRAINE LENKOE: I don't know in the past three years but in 1992 Mr Carlson appeared in the Star newspaper of November month that he is still available and he is prepared to come to South Africa to carry on with my father's case and another man from Hillbrow.

CHAIRPERSON: Dr Boraine.

DR BORAINE: Just one short question just to make absolutely sure that I understand, your mother was informed that your father hanged himself by his belt.

LORRAINE LENKOE: Yes that's true.

DR BORAINE: Your mother said that he only had one belt and JOHANNESBURG HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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that was at home.

LORRAINE LENKOE: I can't really answer that question, I was too young to remember how many belts he had.

DR BORAINE: That's fine, thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Dr Randera?

DR RANDERA: Lorraine can I just ask this last question, are the inquests' records available, do you still have them?

LORRAINE LENKOE: We don't have any document in the house, because at times even if now I was a grown up the police would just come in demanding documents.  They took our birth certificates, many things, our belongings and we had to start afresh.

CHAIRPERSON: We thank you very much.  We will try by all means to resolve these problems.

LORRAINE LENKOE: Thank you very much Sir.