Human Rights Violation Hearings — Uitenhage — 1996-08-28

CHAIRPERSON: We are now going to call upon Patrick Lulamile Kinikini.

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: (sworn states)

PANEL MEMBER: Welcome once again.  Your evidence, your story, relates to your experience in detention, one of torture and assault, which happened in 1985.

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: It is like that, Sir.

PANEL MEMBER: Is it correct that you were arrested at home on the 21 November 1985?

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: That is right, sir.

PANEL MEMBER: Would you like to tell us what happened after that?

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: Yes, I can say.  Firstly in August, I was at Hinsa and it was day time and it was in August.  Policemen came to my home, but I was not there.  My mother told me that policemen had come to my home and they were connecting me to a murder that had happened in Wamsa.  This happened before November in 1985.  On the 21st, I was then arrested and the police came to my house and they shot my dog, whose name was Gypsy.

PANEL MEMBER: Thank you Mr Kinikini, you can go on.

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: My dog was shot.  The police shot this dog.  We were taken out, it was me and my brother.  The police took us out.  They loaded us in the hippo.  There was a
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policeman by Brent Sibuko and Faleni Enmasini.
They then took us to Church Street and they put us into separate offices together with my eldest brother, and when I was in one of the offices, on the wall there was some blood, there were some sjamboks and some handles of some picks in this very office.  There was an interpreter for Pence, and he said to me that I should tell the truth otherwise this detective was going to beat me to shit.  Then I said that I didn't know anything about the allegations.   Then he asked Masiba to go and get his own things otherwise I was going to be beaten to shit.  Then he came in with a bucket of water and some soap and a plastic bag.  As they had handcuffed me from behind, he then covered my head with this plastic bag and they tied this plastic bag here on the neck and they poured this soapy water on top of my head and this suffocated me and this water ran down my body and this man said, you tell the truth or this White man is going to beat you to shit.  
 Then I said to him, that I knew nothing about it.  Then I kept on saying that he must tell this White man that I know nothing about this allegation. Then he said that he could see that I didn't want to tell the truth and he is going to make me tell the truth and then he took some car jumpers and he connected them to a plug, trying to administer some electric shock.  And the next time I regained my consciousness I was in the cell, and I had marks even here on my arms, and my legs were swollen.  
 Then, while still in the cell, we were transferred to Channel Pants and we were given some tickets there.  Then a certain man came and pulled me by the chest, then I said that he mustn't hurt me because I was swollen and then he 
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assaulted me with a baton.  The head of the prison warden, Myburgh said to me that I should give him that ticket that they had given to us previously.  I gave it to him and then I thought he was going to protect me as they were assaulting me.  They Myburgh said, take him into the cell, in solitary confinement and they chained me and fed me on soup.  And then in the daytime they would give me three spoons of porridge and then later they would give me just ordinary water.  
 I was there for quite some time and released in December from the cell and I was taken to the section and I was there for 1986 to 1989 and I was sentenced in February 1988.  And on the 22 February, we were to appear before the Supreme Court in Grahamstown and the Judge said our parents had died in a car accident, so this court case had to be postponed to March 1988.
 We then went there to court in March, and the Judge in the Supreme Court, Judge Van Rensburg sentenced us like cowboys.  Our advocates, Shedi and Vanessa were there and then the Judge just said that I am going to sentence them anyhow and then he said that we were going to be hanged.  And some of us were give sentences of three years, and some were going to be given six years.
 When I was released in 1990, I discovered that I had no mother and I had not even attended her funeral because she died when I was in jail and when I went out of jail, when I asked other parents, they said that they had got some compensation to the amount of R21 000, some R14 000, but we didn't get any money for our mother because she died of an accident.  Even my father used to frequently consult and go and see Dr Kalstin because he had a heart condition until 
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he died.  So I was left with my brother at home who is very sickly, in fact he is insane, there is no one working there. In fact I am the only one left, as if I am the oldest.  We live by selling some things to the Whites, and in one day we are therefore able to make a living out of the R50. I have to take care of my other sister and we just make small groceries with this R50, so we are really struggling.
My brother who got burnt, his name was Mzokholo, he was living with my fathers brother.
 That is what happened.

PANEL MEMBER: Thank you Mr Kinikini, for a very moving and incredible story.  I just want to clarify one or two things.  The police who were involved in your arrest, and all those assaults and the torture, could you name them to us, are they still policemen here in Uitenhage?

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: Pentz is still there, Masiba is still there, Zibiko is still there,  Faneli is still there.

PANEL MEMBER: Have you at any stage laid a charge against them, for what they have done?

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: When this happened, the policemen were working together, that was at the time when these incidents were happening, so it would be impossible to go and lay a charge against another policemen, you would be wasting your time by so doing.

PANEL MEMBER: I understand what you saying about 1985, '86, but at this stage, how do you feel about that?

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: Even my voice, this is not my natural voice, my voice became like this as a result of the assault,  I don't normally speak like this.  This is not my natural voice.

PANEL MEMBER: Could I just also just clarify one other
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thing, how long were you in custody?  Were you ever given bail, or did you spend all that time in prison?

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: I was on trial for 5 days without any bail.

PANEL MEMBER: Just before I conclude, Mr Kinikini, we have listened to everything that you have said, but is there anything in particular that you want to raise, that you want us to have a look at, that you want us to attend to?

PATRICK LULAMILE KINIKINI: I would like to ask this Truth Commission to investigate my mother's case, because we used to be referred to the lawyer by the name of Cronduur and Vanessa.  If only you could investigate about my mothers matter.
 Again, if you were to help me with the upbringing of my brother, because we don't have money, and my eldest brother is insane so we are really struggling as a family.  There is just no one working, so we are asking this Truth Commission to assist us as a family, because even now, we don't have a water supply, because we are unable to pay.

PANEL MEMBER: We have heard what you have said and thank you for the evidence that you have given, I will hand you back to the Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: We thank you Mr Kinikini.  We are going to look into the requests that you have forwarded to us and we shall try to the best of our ability to attend to them.   Thank you, you can go back to your seat.