Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pretoria — 1996-08-12

MR MASUKU: Well, I may say that in the year 1986 when things were very hot in our community of Atteridgeville and Saulsville due to the students politics and civic politics.  I may say that the people who were against the struggle for freedom were actually terrorising or attacking the activists in our community and arresting us, harassing us and bombing houses of the activists.  In the year 1986, as I have already indicated, my house and other activists houses were
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bombed.  
 On the fifth of March 1986 at 01:20am my family house was bombed and my mother died in the incident and I was actually injured.  I was shot on the side, on my left- hand side and also just behind my collar bone on my right-hand side and even now I am still having shrapnel lodged on top of my main nerve on my right-hand.  My hand, presently, is paralysed.  I cannot use my right hand and I have been a right-hand person and I like to inform the Truth Commission that during that incident I was sleeping in an adjacent room just outside in the verandah of our family house.  My other family members were sleeping inside the main house.  Then I heard a sound and my neighbours dogs barking.  Then from there I started to scream because I knew as a activist that there are people who are actually attacking the homes of activists.  I heard a hissing sound like a spray in our verandah.  Then from there when my mother inside the house went to the main switch to switch on the lights then there was an explosion.  The house was ripped off.  The windows, the sitting room windows and my main bedroom, the room that I was sleeping and the door was having a lot of holes, you know, it is shrapnel holes and maybe bullet holes because I cannot tell those people whether they were using only guns or hand grenades, but they used that to try to eliminate me.
 People, actually, our neighbours came running to assist us.  People who were very far away, they heard the sound in the community and then they came running.  The police arrived within a few minutes to my home and they started actually trying to block people coming to the home and my neighbours actually helped me to take me to the hospital.  They used their, our neighbours car to take me to the 
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hospital.  I was taken unconscious and I have learnt that others also helped to carry my mother to the hospital.  Unfortunately, during that period I could not see my mother until Friday, this happened, if I am not wrong, on Tuesday morning, until I was released from the hospital on Friday, the day before the burial.  
 When I was still in the hospital there were people who were looking after me and I told the doctor who was in charge that I would like to meet my family doctor who is a Dr Umkomot.  He came to the hospital.  He asked these nurses who were in charge about what happened, what have they done and so forth.  It seems they did not give him many answers which he was needing to address and some nurses told him that they removed a shell from my side, my left-hand side and they have put it in a bottle with some sort of liquid.  I do not know that thing whether it was, they said it is a shell, a bullet shell.  Then Dr Umkomot tried to get that shell, but he could not trace it.  It was nowhere to be found in the hospital.  Then he tried, actually, they tried their level best to remove me from that hospital, Kalafong Hospital to another private hospital, but due to time it was still a short period and I was not then informed that my mother had already passed away.  
 Then came some Special Branch guy called Do Santos who came to my hospital bed together with an African police guy called  Lesley Mogotsi.  They demanded me to make a statement and I refused to make a statement.  I told them that they must go to my lawyer who was then Priscilla Jana and that actually ended up there in the hospital.  
 Then came the day when I was released from the hospital, Friday.  I went home and a few minutes after I
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have arrived at home they police came to my place with, on driving a Caspir, Hippo having a court order restricting the night vigil saying that only 50 people are allowed to attend the night vigil.  They had manned some roadblocks throughout all the entrances of our community.  Then again, the very same day, they brought another court order saying that tomorrow during the funeral, you are only allowed 200 people.  I have all those documents here with me.  They were written by van der Westhuizen, the Magistrate then.  
 The following morning, it actually started on the night, on Friday before the burial.  The police were patrolling our streets intimidating people, beating up people around and actually they even reinforced the police force by bring people, policemen from Soshanguve and that reinforcement was actually headed by Iqambule.  He was one of the police guys, a notorious guy there.  Then these people actually started by harassing people the very same day when we were going to the funeral.  My mother's corpse was taken to ANE Church and there was another person who was killed during that period, Mabena.  Actually it was a joint funeral in a way and there were some restrictions from that Magistrate that this should not be joint funerals and we must not, we must use the shortest roads to the cemetery.  Only 200 people are allowed to go there.  
 On our way from the church to the graveyard the police were actually escorting us.  There were some guys and the guy called David Modau and Lesley Mogotsi and this Do Santos and the other white police guys and this many African police from Soshanguve and around Atteridgeville were on top of the Caspirs.  This Lesley Mogotsi and David Modau they pointed R5 rifle to me when I was in the family car.  They 
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harassed people, the mourners who were wearing t-shirts of my late mother because the community organisations there printed t-shirts bearing the face of my late mother.  Then they were doing all funny sorts of intimidatory things, acts, you know, gimmicks and so forth.  Then we went to the Saulsville Cemetery where they refused people to go in.  They were only allowing a few people to go in.  Roughly about 200.  
 We buried my mother and then we came back to my home.  Whilst we were at home this police guys, they were on the other side of the street.  There were two streets, the other street which actually goes along parallel with the railway line.  They started spraying this purple water into the tent and into the food and then the other police actually started attacking the house and beating everyone, old, young, women, children and they damaged a lot of things at home.  You know, lamp shades, furniture and so forth.  You know, it was chaos and I may say that, unfortunately, at this present moment one of my friends from Japan, Dr Horie, who was a representative of Japan in South Africa, managed to video the whole activities and, unfortunately, left with that video cassette, but he filmed that, all the existing thing. 
 I may say that many people, scores of people, actually, get injured.  Some, they are paralysed now like one guy called Lunga.  He is from Cape Town.  He was a migrant worker in Pretoria and he attended that funeral because he was just staying next to my home and he went back to Cape Town now.  They beat him until he got semi-paralysed, you know.  I may say that since that day after the funeral, you know, in our tradition as Africans you will find that during that funeral and after the funeral relatives stay behind, 
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old people stay behind to help us with some other family things and so forth, but it was so pathetic that most of my families, most of my relatives they had to leave because of hearing that the police were harassing them, beating them up.  They do not even, they did not even care whether it is an old, very old people, you know, they would beat them up, you know, and since that day, the following day, week and so forth I started running away because those guys were coming to my place looking for me.  They were harassing me, they were intimidating me.  Not a single member of my family stayed there.  The house was empty.  My younger brothers had to leave home and they were all at school.  The other one had to go to Potgietersrus for schooling.  The other one had to go to Hammanskraal to stay there with friends and then the other one was just moving around hiding all over Atteridgeville, Garankuwa and so forth.  
 I was actually helped by the Catholic Church because I have been working for the Catholic Church.  Then I had to hide in their premises somewhere in Garankuwa.  I stayed for quite a long time.  I was just keeping contact with my lawyers and then in the year, I mean the very same year 1986, August, my lawyers instructed Advocate Tonkin to take statements and to go and represent us during my mother's inquest.  I went there with my family members to the inquest and after I have actually entered the court they sealed all the exits and then they told the Magistrate that they are going to arrest me under the State of Emergency.  Then after that, I mean, people went in, witnesses and so forth.  I was one of the witnesses.  My younger brothers made statements.  One of my neighbours also made statements, the one who actually helped to carry my mother to the hospital.  Then 
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this guy from Security Police called Do Santos he also gave evidence.  Then the findings of the inquest was so much ridiculous.  They said we must be the person who have done all this.  How can you pinpoint somebody whom you have never seen when we are fast asleep, when it was dark, when they were moving around with cars without number plates and having all those balaclavas and so forth.  Then the Magistrate said this case is an open case.  They said once we actually can identify the person who has done so, then we can open this case and proceed with it.  After that, that was the findings of the case of the court.  
 Then from there they took me to Compol Building, Compol Gebou in Pretoria Street where Captain Loots ordered his young security police guys to take me to the five star hotel.  You know the five star hotel is actually central prison.  They were taking me to central prison called Newlock.  Then I was locked there until the following year June when most of the people who were under State of Emergency were released together with my family doctor.  I met him there already Dr Umkomot.  He was taken already.  
 During my stay in prison because I was still under medication I was having plaster and then I was supposed to get physiotherapy treatment.  The State sent one guy who came there twice in a week for about eight minutes exercising my hand and he just do lousy exercises and then he went away because I did actually request a full medical attention, medical help, but they refused us.  They refused us to have lawyers for about three months, the first three months.  They refused us to see our family members, but at the end they allowed our family members to come there under strict conditions and you must go via Compol to go and apply PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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to come and see me, you know.  It was a very restricted visit.  Only two persons were allowed and only family members were allowed to come there.  
 Then since during that period until the following year, no one actually stayed at my house, that family house.  My neighbours tried to put somebody there.  These guys came there and then put him out, you know.  The house was left vacant until the following year June and I may say that that was a horrible situation which I cannot actually forget. 
 That above all I personally think that those policemen, Lesley Mogotsi, he is no longer a policeman now.  He has been suspended due to his other unlawful activities.  I do not want to know that and David Modau.  He is still a policeman in Atteridgeville Police Station and he is a CID guy.  Those two people, I actually urge the Truth Commission to investigate them and ask them to come and testify.  Who sent them, who have done all these activities and myself and my family members we would like to know who has done all these evil acts?  Who killed my mother?  Who wanted to get rid of me?  I have never killed anybody, I have not even killed a fly, but I have been very, very involved in the struggle and I want those people to come to the book to be drawn.  We want to know the truth.  My family members and all the relatives and also the nation as a whole, they want to know what happened and who had done this?  Who instructed these people to do all these acts and, above all, I suffered, also, to educate my two younger brothers.  I took them to the school.  The last born I took him to University of Western Cape and with the little money that I get from working for the Church, you know, whilst I was still having, being in pains, he could not finish the last course because 
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of lack of funds, but I am still on the point that we would like to know who actually have done all this, who sent them and we want them to be brought to book.  Thank you.