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

THABANG REGINALD MOPELOA: If I remember very well, it was on the 17th of June. It was during the school holidays.  In Lebaleng, Makwassie, there was a quiet time.  There was no unrest at all and the youth were not that intelligent to be involved in political matters. They didn't know what the ANC was, what the IFP was, and what the National Party was. They only saw such things on television, you know, the violence taking place in different parts of the country.  The Black people used to chant freedom songs.
 On that day, if I remember well, on the 17th, there was a song.  The youth was singing freedo songs and I must say the township was just quiet, no unrest of any kind.  As they were singing, it so happened that the township went dark.  It was for about one and a half hours.  After that darkness in the township we only heard a lot of shouting.  We heard cries from families. It was the time where the families were attacked and the boers were beating children. 
 These were faceless people. No one could identify them because they were wearing balaclavas, they were wearing big jackets.  They had plastic batons and they hit all the equipment they used to beat the children.  
 On the morning of Thursday, at about three o'clock, I heard the boers knocking at the door at my home.  As they 
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were knocking my mother opened the door for them. After opening the door they got into the house and asked where was Reginald. She asked them where do you know Reginald from, why do you want him, who are you?  They said woman, don't waste our time, we want Reginald. She came to point me out as I was sleeping.  I can't even believe the way I was woken up.  They beat me up as if they were beating the cows that didn't want to get into the kraal. Baton sticks and everything was on me.  
 When I tried to open my eyes, I saw a large crowd of people. I didn't even know who they were.  But among them I saw one of them who was a colleague of my father, a so-called Piet Scheepers and after being threatened by those plastic Zorros, he said dress, we want to leave with you.  I woke up, I dressed and we left.
 On our way they were assaulting me and they rounded the whole township, driving along with me.  They were picking up every boy, picking up every girl, saying at the ultimate end we will tell them the truth. We don't know what truth they were referring to. 
 They took me to the municipal police at Lebokeng.  That is where I was tortured.  On my head I was butted with those plastic batons. They then took me to Makwassie police station. I was expecting them maybe to charge me on something. Instead, they interrogated me.  They asked me as to who were the people I was with. I asked them a question. I said who are you referring to, who are these people you are referring to, the people I don't know.  They said we are talking about the people you were with when you were planning to go and burn the municipal offices. I said to them you are coming with a new story, I do not know 
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anything, I was not present on that day, even when they were chanting the freedom songs, I was at home sleeping, I didn't even have an interest of joining that group.  Because at that time I didn't belong to any organisation. I didn't even know anything about politics.  
 For about three days they kept me in the cells at Makwassie police station.  I was assaulted every time, I was choked, electric shocks and they said I was the leader of the ANC at Makwassie.
 I asked a question, I said, if you say I am the leader of the ANC, do you have evidence of my activities. They said you think you know better, but today we will give you Mandela.  They assaulted me, and they took me out of the group we were arrested with and they put me into one cell and they handcuffed me at the roof of the cell.  That is where they applied electric shocks on my private parts. This really damaged me.  I even regret, why didn't I become one of the personnel of the past government, maybe I would have done the same thing to some people.
 After the three days that I spent at Makwassie, my parents were trying to get hold of me, to come and visit me. But unfortunately I was badly beaten and assaulted and they wouldn't even recognise it was Reggie.  They didn't allow my parents to see me.
 After those three days, they took me, together with a group and they said to me if you do not want to tell us the truth, they said they were going to throw me in an old shaft at Stilfontein.  As they were saying this they put me into a room, into a van and they threw a tear-gas canister and they closed the cells.  We couldn't breathe at all, we were suffocating, until we were in Stilfontein and that is where 
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I was badly assaulted.  I couldn't bear the pain. I have been through hardships.  
 In Stilfontein I was assaulted and tortured and I even asked God to take my life.  They poured water on me and they made me lie in the bush and they said I should roll.  They said I should sing and I was singing a song "God we praise You", and they put a hosepipe into my mouth, they said you are singing nonsense, why don't you sing the Mandela song, we want to listen to that.  I said to them I do not have an idea of what you are talking about, I can't even sing those songs.  They forced me to sing and I kept on singing the hymns. 
 They said you don't want to tell the truth, we want to show you now that you will tell us the truth.  They took this hosepipe, they put it into my mouth and they opened the tap. My tummy was full of water and I felt as if it was going to burst. I couldn't breathe.  Thereafter the so-called Piet Scheepers came closer to me and he said I am now showing you Mandela. He used his boot to kick me on the stomach and the water came out of the mouth and the nose.  It was just a terrible state.
 After that they made me run along the cars that were parked in a circle. There were soldiers and policemen, whom I do not know, but I only knew Scheepers.  Everybody I come across, used his stick to hit me. Each one of them wanted to have their share on me.  
 I spent five days under the terrible conditon of assault. I was told that I was a leader at Makwassie.  After those days that I have mentioned, I was now taken and they said to me they were taking me to a regional court at Wolmaransstad.  I was expecting at the court of law to give 
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my statement.  But no statement was taken from me.  What actually happened, was one of the prosecutors came to me and he intimidated me and said if I do not agree to the charges against me, that is public violence, I will be sentenced for five years.
 We were so scared of the boers at that time, and I was so scared of prison and when they mentioned five years, I got a shock of my life, and I have seen many people who have come from prison, whose lives have been turned into tragedy.  I confessed after that intimidation from the prosecutor Jordaan, and I said yes, I was present.  You know I just wanted to be free.
 That is what I know.

DR RANDERA: Thank you, Reginald, for sharing that with us.  Now this incident that you are relating, is the same time that Kitt Bone was arrested.  Were you part of that same group?

THABANG REGINALD MOPELOA: Yes, it was one group, Kitty Bone was part of our group, but in the cells we were separated.  There were male cells and female cells.

DR RANDERA: Okay.  I also note that you know, it was the 17th of June.  Was there any commemoration services for JUne 16th?   Was that why young people were singing in the streets?

THABANG REGINALD MOPELOA: The day was already gone. I do not know what motivated the youth to be that happy. I do not know the jubilation of the day, I can't really predict.