Human Rights Violation Hearings — Ladybrand — 1997-06-25

WITNESS:   Maybe you are right.  You know, my problem is I was a shepherd, I cannot write, and I forget all these days, but I still - can I repeat what I just said earlier on about the harassment?  Now, listen very carefully because I am telling you the story now.  On that day it was at night of the date you have referred to.  A person arrived and he knocked.  When I answered the door burst open, and I said, "Who is knocking so terribly?"  He answered, he said, "Police," and I said, "What police are knocking on my door in this way?"  He forced his way through with many policemen.  The door was already down.  Three policemen were black and the rest were white, and they referred to us as kaffirs.  Many of them were whites.  They were together with big dogs, two in number.  They said every door of the house should be opened.  They pulled clothes from the wardrobes.  I said, "When a jackal gets into the sheep it does not do this.  Please unpack neatly and pack them back neatly."  They did not provide an answer, they pushed us outside.  I fell on my shoulder.  I asked them, I said, "What do you want?", but they never provided an answer.  They pushed us outside.  It was terribly cold on that day.  The children were woken up.  I said to them, "Will you provide me with the money to take these children to the doctor?"  They did not answer.  I said to them, "Please, the policemen are not supposed to behave in this way."  I said, "When a policeman goes to a farm he starts first at the farmer's house.  If the farmer doesn't allow them entry they leave.  Now, where do you get the permission from to get into my premise, break the doors?"  Is this the way you conduct your affairs?"  When I looked thoroughly the door was not just kicked, it was even broken down with the gun butts.  Even to this day the doors are still broken, that my children took pity on me and in this year March they bought a new door and the new frame, and we had to get another person to come and fix the door.  This was the kind of harassment I went through.  At sunrise life began to be easy.  They wanted to cut open the wardrobes that were locked, and I said to them, "How dare you cut open these doors?"  I said to my children, "Prepare tea.  Prepare coffee for these people.  They are hungry."  I asked them, "Can I offer you beer?  Can I offer you drink?  Can I offer you boerewors?  Are you hungry?"  I said, "These people are hungry.  I have to provide them with food."  I said to them, "You are not policemen, you are just boers."  One of them pushed me outside.  That is where I fell on my shoulder and injured myself.  I was not supposed to speak that way, I admit, but because I was hurt and disturbed on that day I spoke wrong words.  I said, "I know you policemen are thieves.  You want to take us outside so that you can implicate us.  I know you are going to leave behind diamonds and dagga, and you're going to drop them behind and implicate us."  I said, "You bloody policeman."  That's what I said on that day because I was hurt.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... please.

WITNESS:   I ended up saying to them, "Look here, my whole family is standing outside.  It is cold.  I want you to kill all of us now.  I'll be very glad if you'll kill us all."  They were - I am sorry I - you know, it's a pity I don't have a stepladder.  I will take you to my home to investigate.  And I was asking the policemen, "What do you want?"  They did not provide an answer.  I told them, "I don't have diamonds, I don't have dagga.  What do you want?"  No answer was given.  I said to them, "You want to leave after breaking my doors.  When are you going to come back and fix them?"  They said,  "APLA, we'll fix them up."  I asked them, "What is APLA?"  No answer was given.  I do not even know what APLA is.  I am expecting APLA even to day to come and fix my door.  Now, it was just about sunrise.  My son, Thomas Mufihli said, "No, go and search in my garage."  They said, "Where is the garage?"  He said, "Wait, I have to get a key," and he said, "You must be very careful, don't just scratch my car."  They searched the garage and they let their dogs search.  These were fierce-looking dogs.  After searching the garage he said to them, "You are not yet finished.  I have got another place where you can search.  That is I have a foreign(?) house.  Go and search."  He said, "I have a supermarket.  Go and search it too, because you don't seem to get what you want."  And they left with him.  Now at sunrise they were still at home.  He asked the, "What exactly do you want?"  They arrested him for the whole month.  His business stood still, there was no income for that month.  We were not given any explanation as to what happened.  I was asking myself, "What are these policemen doing here?"  I was scared of their guns.  The three kaffirs were - there were only three kaffirs, just like myself, and the rest were white.  They had many vans.  The vans were lining the whole street.  I do not know how many were they in number.  I could not even see the registration numbers.

MR LAX: Mr Likotsi, you've made a reference to APLA.  Was your son Thomas connected to APLA or the PAC?

WITNESS:   Yes.  Thomas was connected to the PAC.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... to PAC activities?

WITNESS:   Yes, he was connected to the PAC.

MR LAX: He was arrested for about a month you said.

WITNESS:    /That is

MR LAX: That is correct.

MR LAX: Was he charged with any offence?  Did he appear in court?

WITNESS:   I do not know, but after a month he was arrested again.  He was taken back home.  They were driving a private car.  I do not know whether they attended a court case.  You know, an uneducated person is just dull, you cannot follow anything, just like the whites referred to us as dull donkeys.  I do not know many things.

MR LAX: He would have told you if he'd been to court though.

WITNESS:   Can I give you an answer on that?

MR LAX: You may.

WITNESS:   I taught these children, but because I provided them with education - the whites used to say we have short hair, and our brains and minds are just that short.  Now, these children do not tell us anything.  They just go on their own and we just see things happening.  They don't provide you with any information.

MR LAX: Now, can you - can you tell us what - you said you fell on your shoulder and you indicated you were injured on your shoulder.  What other injuries did you sustain?

WITNESS:   I was not injured anywhere.  The other problems are the usual problems, but on that day specifically I fell on my shoulder and I cannot even carry a spade to do gardening.  I am undergoing treatment at Botshabelo Clinic.

MR LAX: You see, in your statement you mention ... (intervention)

WITNESS:   And furthermore I am not sick.  That is the usual sickness.

MR LAX: In your statement you mentioned that you were injured in your ribs.  I am just helping you remember.     /---   Are

MR LAX: ---   Are your aware that a shoulder is related to the

MR LAX: ribs?

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... remember, father.

WITNESS:   Thank you.  Now, you said that some of your furniture was damaged in that raid, and that your doors were broken.  Approximately how much did these things cost, or what did it cost to repair them?  Do you have any idea of that?    ---   I am taken care of by my children.  I do not know what amount did they spend to repair the house.  I think Thomas can be in a good position to estimate the cost, but because of his businesses he could not come.  My wife is not here today because she cannot work.  The jackals went into my house on that night trying to bit us.  I know things are expensive.  We all know you cannot get a door that costs less than R50,00.  Prices have gone up.  I don't want to lie.  I don't want to commit myself.