Human Rights Violation Hearings — George — 1996-06-18

MR PIENAAR: Thank you doctor, I - I hope not to speak for  too long, because this is just a background statement of  somebody speaking  who use to speak  for people during the times of  dark depression when often the only way people had to have their messages here heard, was through lawyers.  So I'll try to be quite brief as I understand it this is the time for people themselves to tell their stories.
But just as a matter of background I worked in the Knysna, George, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn area during 1986/87/88 when I moved to Port Elizabeth and continued to work on some cases in the area.  But some - something that stood out as quite horrific from this area, apart from many cases of police torture that were reported in some cases, Supreme Court action was instituted - the large scale, the tensions without trial that took place in small places even like Plettenberg Bay, was the presence of the kitskonstabels.
And they were from what I understood  speaking to  people living in Bhongolethu which was also received it's share of kitskonstabels just like Mossel Bay and other towns, were often people from the area who were poor, and who actually were recruited by advertisement or  so and went for  a short period of training at Koeberg at the time.
And a statement that has always struck me was for  me somehow to understand the need for  kitskonstabels at that very time in our history and I  am talking  about largely untrained people who were merely given six weeks training and then issued with a lethal shotgun with SSG shot -  double - it was a semi automatic shotgun with live ammunition.  A tear gas canister, handcuffs, a rubber baton and  a aerosol can of tear gas.  With hardly any training these people were sent into the  townships and the statement that seem to capture it for me was statement in Die Burger of 28 September 1986, which reported that Minister Louis le Grange the then Minister of Law and Order was reported to have said that the Transvaal Nationalist Party Congress that Minister Le Grange to have said that 1,000 special constables that had a instant course of three weeks to learn how to  become  policeman, law officers, were going to be sent into the townships with fire arms and sjamboks in the black townships in the struggle against the comrades.
And what happened to me as an attorney in practising Knysna was - I started working in Oudtshoorn and apart from doing bail applications and defending people on charges at the time and public violence, arson, and other unrest related charges, was an increase in complaints and incidents about problems with kitskonstabels assaults, tension, harassment, confiscation of - of goods and documents, entry into people's homes without good reason.
And these complaints during early 1987 just increased and increased when the members of Bhongolethu community came to see me and I also spoke to them and asked what - what in the world could we do to try and quell the - the unlawful actions that they were suffering from - kitskonstabels.
The Bhongolethu inhabitants at the time were particularly fearful that the presence of the kitskonstabels this was  now  during mid 1987 would - their presence and their actions would cause -  would cause tension to rise in the township and would  cause them to spiral down into the violence which was experienced in Bhongolethu during the 1985's - the time when I was not present or in the area.
Community members also complained that one of their problems was that the area was - hardly had any legal assistance, it was halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and local attorneys refused to represent people who  were arrested for  unrest related charges.  
Another peculiar or not  peculiar but common complaint was - and I just read from the statement -  affidavit that was made by Mr Skosana who at the time was the field worker for the Council of  Churches based in Bhongolethu, Mr Skosana had to say
Through my work I had come to realise that the laying of
charges against the police to be investigated by the 
police, had not served much purpose.
Often the people who had been assaulted and [and he 
means by the police] were drunk and are also with respect 
humble people.  Sometimes they in a minor way 
precipitated the assault and were then beaten up far 
beyond the limits of self defence.
These people them became the accused in a trial for 
resisting arrest and for  assault on a policeman and they 
were usually duly convicted.
In many cases people are assaulted in confinement 
without any witnesses present and also  often people 
simply fear worst victimisation should they lay a charge.
[In short Mr Skosana said]
I can speak on behalf of most of the Bhongolethu 
dwellers and we have given up hope to see the culprits in 
the Police Force suspended from their service or even 
being convicted on charges of  violence against us.
[Mr Skosana said]
We had at the time we had no faith in the South African 
Police Force and it is for them to set the records 
straight.
[Mr Skosana also just further reported that he wished to point out that the facts that beside the attempts to police the  township]
The kitskonstabels were in actually fact day facto 
vigilante's who have now been officially licensed to 
terrorise any inhabitant of our township who have 
divergent views from their own.
And he said he made these observations from all his  experiences and from reading and helping and taking a number of statements.  So during this mid July 1987 a whole range of affidavits were taken of  alleged unlawful activities by kitskonstabels and on the 24th of July.
A urgent Supreme Court application was lodged in the Cape Town Supreme Court, asking the Court to  give a order interdicting the police from acting unlawfully - it's a strange country where one goes to the  Supreme Court to ask the Court to stop the police from unlawfully arresting, detaining, assaulting, seizing of possessions, entering into people's homes, threatening and insulting and intimidating.  
And this order was asked to be granted against the police so deployed in Bhongolethu and specifically against the  sixteen kitskonstabels who were mentioned by name in the application.  Unfortunately the Court did not grant an interim order but by agreement the matter was postponed and the police gave an undertaking that the members of the police force in Bhongolethu will not without lawful reason, arrest, detain, take documents, papers etcetera.
But despite those undertakings and as Doctor said in the police's own records, just to give you a few examples, the state of play with regard to the kitskonstabels were - this was reported in the Bhongolethu police station incident book.
On 16th May 1987 the brother of Cedric Salman reports that
Salman fired at him with his shotgun, while apparently 
drunk.
23rd May 1987 a kitskonstabel called Livi reports for 
duty drunk and is sent home.
16th June 1987 kitskonstabel Barnard reports that 
kitskonstabel Zicina shot at him with a shotgun.
1st July 1987 kitskonstabel Kolana reports that his 
brother had shot himself with his shotgun.
7th August a kitskonstabel Mdamba reports that he was 
fiddling with a grenade pin and it went off by accident in 
his hand.
8th August 1987 after a scuffle at a water tap 
kitskonstabel Zicina is  taken to hospital after being hit 
with a shotgun by kitskonstabel Mdamba.
24th August, kitskonstabel Mdewu has three holes in his 
head.  
He was hit by his  wife a bottle according to 
kitskonstabel George he wanted to  shoot her.
This is just in the space of May, June, July to August -  and these were the types of incidents and  actions that were going on, this was after - some of  them after the police gives the guarantee and one further incident which we will all remember was the Saamstaan reporter Patric Nyuka who was shot  by a kitskonstabel on the 19th of September 1987 and  seriously injured.
And these incidents just  went on from week to  week, the Supreme Court matter was postponed for trial on the 20th of February  and on the 16th of January 1988,  one of the worst incidents happened and this was when three persons died after kitskonstabels went on a shooting spree and then others were injured.
One of the people who was seriously  injured died some months later and was a dear person called Moses Mvimbi who was a teacher from Bhongolethu, who died as a result of the wounds from that shooting spree.
And so this  shooting spree then erupted and we then drafted another Supreme  Court application through the night and had it lodged in the Cape Town court the following morning, and then only finally  only managed to get an interim order in terms of  which the Supreme Court interdicted the kitskonstabels from any unlawful actions against the inhabitants in Bhongolethu.
At this time kitskonstabel complaints and court actions were also lodged in Molteno and Aberdeen for instance in the Eastern Cape on the 14th of - on the 12th of January a final court order was granted interdicting kitskonstabels from acting in any unlawful matter towards inhabitants in the Aberdeen township. 
So the presence of kitskonstabels and the problems around them was something that was pervasive throughout small towns in the area.
The  final and I'll shortly stop run down of the Bhongolethu supreme court application was that on the 18th of  February 1988 an undertaking was given by the Minister of Law and Order - Mr Adriaan Vlok that the kitskonstabels for the Southern Cape districts and the kitskonstabel  [indistinct] in the Supreme Court application would not unlawfully, arrest, detain, assault, seize possession etcetera.  And this undertaking was then made a final court order.
The agreement of settlement further stated that the respondents, the Minister of Law and Order agreed to the final order without admitting liability and without admitting directly or indirectly the correctness of the allegations that were contained in the affidavits.
And also said that if the trial was to proceed it would be of a lengthy nature involving large costs with concomitant withdrawal of a large portion of the available Police Force from the area as well as the acknowledgement by  both parties that the relationships in the area should be improved.
So without admitting much the - the application brought  a great deal of  publicity about what was going on in Bhongolethu  but  did not really see to police officers being charged or  suspended from duty.  In fact just on the day before the case was finally settle, Pumulelo Vena on the 17th of  February was allegedly assaulted by kitskonstabels and beaten up with the kitskonstabels reiterating to  him that they were the law in the township.
So that is just a little bit of background if you'd like to ask any further questions to  some of the issues that - that were at play during that time in Bhongolethu.