Human Rights Violation Hearings — Klerksdorp — 1996-09-24

DR RANDERA: Godfrey, good morning.

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Good morning, Sir.

DR RANDERA: Are you comfortable?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Yes, Sir.

DR RANDERA: Godfrey, you have come from Ikhutseng this morning, which is outside Potchefstroom?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Yes, that is right.

DR RANDERA: Can you please tell us who the lady is who is with you?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: This is my mother, Sir.

DR RANDERA: Welcome and good morning to you as well, mother of Godfrey.
 Godfrey, Commissioner Yasmin Sooka is going to help you in telling your story.  We are, of course, going back to the time when you were only 10 years old.  Before I ask her to start helping you, could you just stand to take the oath, please.

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: (Duly sworn, states).

DR RANDERA: Thank you, Godfrey.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you.  Godfrey, are you able to hear me properly?  Switch on the mike for him, please.  Thank you.  Godfrey, will you please tell us what happened to you on that day which has left being blind, at this point in time.
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GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: It was in 1986.  We were standing at a street corner.  At each corner of each street there was a group of youths and we were chanting freedom songs, but no stone-throwing was taking place.  As we were chanting, after a few minutes I saw a police Hippo coming and they started firing. I am referring to the soldiers.  We took different directions and people went to nearby places and I decided to run towards my home, because the tear-gas was now burning in my eyes.   I got into the house and my mother saw me and I was shouting "my eyes, my eyes".  She closed the doors and she applied Vicks and other ointments on my eyes, but they couldn't help at all.
 In 1987 I have been to doctors and this other one was Dr Van Graan and my mother explained everything to him.  She told him that I was tear-gassed and my eyes are troubling me.  He said my mother must not tell that it was tear-gas that affected my eyes.   He said he will transfer me to St. John's and the tablets that he gave me were very strong.   Every time I put my glasses on I would be dizzy.  We went back to him to explain to him that I feel very dizzy every time I put on these glasses.  He then took me to St. John's. I was told that I will have to undergo an operation.  Yes, they operated me at St. John's and after the operation I lost my eyesight until at this stage where I cannot see.
 Even now, I am suffering.  I should have been at school but I cannot, because my eyes are itching at all times and I am in and out of the hospital.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you, Godfrey. I am going to ask you some questions, just to make sure that we get your story clearly.  Could you tell me, at the time before this happened, you were 10 years old.  In what standard were you at school?
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GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: I was doing Std 1.

YASMINE SOOKA: At that time did you have any problem with your eyesight?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Not at all.

YASMINE SOOKA: Were you able to see normally until the tear-gassing incident?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Yes.

YASMINE SOOKA: Dr Van Graan who treated you, was he a doctor in your particular area?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Yes, he is a medical practitioner in our area and he is an eye-specialist and he hands out glasses, spectacles for people who have eye problems.

YASMINE SOOKA: You mentioned in your evidence that he did not want you to say that the problem had happened because of the tear-gas.  Why was this?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: I really do not know why he didn't want me to reveal that it was the tear-gas.

YASMINE SOOKA: But did he say that the problem you were having with your eyes was because of the tear-gassing incident?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: No, he didn't say anything.

YASMINE SOOKA: Did you give you a proper examination after the tear-gassing incident?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: No, I can't say he examined me. He just looked at me and he said I should get glasses and then he took me to the machines and I waited for a pair of glasses thereafter.

YASMINE SOOKA: The glasses didn't actually help you to see?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: These glasses helped me but they were very strong.

YASMINE SOOKA: Godfrey, how long after the, after you had seen Dr Van Graan, did you go to St. John's Hospital?
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GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: It was in 1987 and in the same year I went to St. John's, but I have forgotten the month.

YASMINE SOOKA: That is all right. When you went to St. John's, what did they tell you, what was wrong with your eyes?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: I do not know, they didn't even tell me what the problem was with my eyes.

YASMINE SOOKA: You were then completely unable to see?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: That's correct, that was after the operation, until now I am totally blind.

YASMINE SOOKA: Were you able to complete school?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: I can be in a position to complete my schooling, that is if I get some kind of assistance, you know, maybe to go to special schools for blind people.

YASMINE SOOKA: Tell me, at the time when this incident happened, was there trouble in the township, between the soldiers and the community?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: It wasn't a problem between the soldiers and the community.  I must say people were complaining about so many deaths that were taking place, you know, the people were just shooting at random.

YASMINE SOOKA: At that time, were you a member of the comrades or any other political organisation in the community?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: At that time I was doing what the community was doing.

YASMINE SOOKA: What was the community doing at that time?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: They were unhappy because the police were shooting people in the township as they wished and people were dying.

YASMINE SOOKA: Godfrey, how old are you at this point in time?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: I am 21 years old.

YASMINE SOOKA: I notice in your statement that you say you
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attend school at the Bartholomew School for the Blind. Is that correct?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: That's correct.

YASMINE SOOKA: Are they teaching you skills at that school?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: We are taught like normal school children, but the skill that they are giving me, is the typing, you know, computer.

YASMINE SOOKA: And how are you being treated for your eyes? Do you still attend any hospital?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Yes, I still go to hospital for treatment.

YASMINE SOOKA: And is that helping you?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: No, I don't get help, it doesn't help at all.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you, Godfrey, I don't have any more questions.  But I am going to ask my fellow Commissioners if they want to ask you any questions.

DR RANDERA: Godfrey, I just want to ask you one question.  Can you remember how many days went by between the time that you were shot at with the tear-gas canister and you actually going to see Dr Van der Graaff?  Did you go the next day or did you go the next week?  Would you like a drink of water?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: Yes.

DR RANDERA: You told us that you were shot in 1986 with the tear-gas canister. And afterwards you ran home to your mother and your mother put some Vicks into your eyes, and then you went to go and see Dr Van der Graaff.  How many days from the time of the shooting had gone by before you went to see the doctor?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: I can't remember, but I think there are records that will show when did I exactly go to the doctor, but I can't remember.

ADV POTGIETER: Godfrey, just one question. Do you remember
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about when in 1986 this incident happened?

GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: I forget the day and the date. I have also forgotten the month, I only remember the year.