Human Rights Violation Hearings — Winelands — 1996-10-16

WENDY ORR: Good afternoon Mr Fredericks and also your friend, Poppie Bless, we would like to welcome you both.  Could you please stand to take the oath.
HENDRIK FREDERICKS Duly sworn states

WENDY ORR: Thank you very much Mr Fredericks, I'd like to hand you over to Denzil Potgieter.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you very much Dr Orr.  Mr Fredericks good afternoon, you were also involved in the shooting incident.  You were injured in the shooing incident of he 24th of November 1990 in Wolseley?

MR FREDERICKS: That is correct.

ADV POTGIETER: We heard something about the circumstances surrounding that.  Would you like to explain us - to us specifically what happened to you?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes sir, it is as the previous speaker said according to the time and everything where the Captain issued the - the order for them to shoot and hardly 5 minutes thereafter they started shooting.  And I went to hide at the walls and moved that way but before the people started dispersing I walked passed them and about 4 feet away from the corner I felt a shot against my head and I fell.  
 And I rolled under a vehicle and I'm sure I lost my consciousness at the time.  When I regained consciousness I was in the hospital - in Eben Donges Hospital.  And the Sunday morning I was laying there and a doctor came and took X-rays of my head and it was found that I had bird in my left finger as well.
 They took X-rays and I could see the - how the bird shot had disintegrated in my head and it looked like clouds in the sky.

ADV POTGIETER: Just to understand how the shooting incident took place, you first tried to find shelter behind a wall?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes we all stood there but when the order came that they were going to shoot I moved in a southerly direction past them.

ADV POTGIETER: So when the police said you've got 5 minutes to disperse you started walking and you walked away immediately?  And it was while you were walking away that you were shot from behind?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes.

ADV POTGIETER: Were there any warning that you were going to be shot?

MR FREDERICKS: According to the order which he gave I got curious and found that they were actually going - they were actually shooting and that's where I was also shot.

ADV POTGIETER: So were you shot in the first few rounds of shots that were fired?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes.

ADV POTGIETER: And you say that bird shot was found in your left index finger and is that - is that bullet still lodged in your finger?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes.

ADV POTGIETER: And you said that you had bird shot in your head - has it been removed or not?

MR FREDERICKS: There is an X-ray which I have included and I've submitted to the Commission which will show.

ADV POTGIETER: But according to your understanding of it there's more than one bird shot lodged in your head which - which penetrated from behind.  And it's still there?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes.

ADV POTGIETER: Does it bother you?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes, it bothers me, my head itches and I keep scratching.

ADV POTGIETER: Does it pain a lot?

MR FREDERICKS: Some times.

ADV POTGIETER: So some times your head pains and your finger?

MR FREDERICKS: I cannot move it very well.

ADV POTGIETER: Were you admitted to hospital?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes, with the other people that were shot.

ADV POTGIETER: How long were you in hospital for?

MR FREDERICKS: It was the Saturday and the Sunday morning I was discharged.

ADV POTGIETER: So after you were shot you regained consciousness in the hospital without knowing what happened?

MR FREDERICKS: That is correct.

ADV POTGIETER: Or even how you got to the hospital?

MR FREDERICKS: Yes.

ADV POTGIETER: Did the injuries which you sustained - the - have any other effect on you?  Could you proceed with your work as usual?

MR FREDERICKS: I was out of work for approximately a month, we had to visit the district sergeant.

ADV POTGIETER: Did you any - did you receive any compensation for the injuries?

MR FREDERICKS: Nothing.

ADV POTGIETER: Is there anything else which you would like to add or which you would like to mention to us specifically?

MR FREDERICKS: No not at the moment.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you very much Mr Fredericks.

MS GOBODO: Thank you Mr Fredericks for coming this afternoon.  Yes, you also demonstrate along with many others before you the extent to which the heaviness of metal in peoples bodies is weighing heavily on the nation.  Your carrying of bullets in your body is a symbol of the heaviness of the history of this country.  We appreciate that you have come this afternoon to share with us that experience and we thank you that you have been able to way in this heat and come towards the end of this session.  Thank you very much.

MR FREDERICKS: Thank you.