Special Hearings — Prison Hearings — 1997-07-22

MR JANSEN: What did you know of these people who were going to be executed?

UNKNOWN: I knew nothing of them except that I had met some of them on the Monday and what I did notice particularly, was that these people appeared pious, or they appeared to be people who had made out their thing with God and that they were able to pray very well and they could even preach well.

MR JANSEN: What was your impression of these people?

UNKNOWN: They seemed quite proper people to me, or before I started working there, one had the picture in your mind of people who killed other people as very cruel people and these people, to my surprise appeared very gentle and calm.

MR JANSEN: Did you know at all what the crimes were for which these people had been sentenced?

UNKNOWN: Not at that time, at all, no.

MR JANSEN: Before we return to the events of that day, you were involved in executions until when, subsequent to this?

UNKNOWN: Up to the moratorium.

MR JANSEN: So that would have been about 30 months, is that correct?

UNKNOWN: That is correct.

MR JANSEN: Did you subsequently make efforts to find out which crimes these people were found guilty of?

UNKNOWN: At a later stage, I assisted in our archives and on occasion one would have worked through the case records to take note of the kind of crimes committed by these persons.

MR JANSEN: Was it important to you to know what the crimes were?

UNKNOWN: To some extent it was important to me to know what kind of crime people committed.  You want to know what you are involved in.

MR JANSEN: Thinking back to the first day, could you briefly explain the events from when you came on duty?

UNKNOWN: I came on duty before six o'clock in the morning.  All of us moved into the section.  The people who were responsible for the accompaniment and certain other assistants went to or met one another at the cells, in the prison, and we were told which people we would accompany.
 The prisoners were unlocked, we searched them.  They were then identified in terms of photographs, they were placed in a row or in a queue so that the first person due for execution would be in front.
 We then took them one by one to a table in front of the Commanding Officer's office.  We accompanied them to this table where their thumb prints were taken away, where they again compared their thumb prints and looked at the photographs again.

MR JANSEN: Where were you in the queue?

UNKNOWN: I was third in the queue.

MR JANSEN: Who was responsible for the movement of the people?

UNKNOWN: The Warrant Officer was in charge of the entire proceedings.

MR JANSEN: You may continue.

UNKNOWN: After they took the finger prints and made sure that this was in fact the correct person, we accompanied the people to the church where we waited for them to meet with their various Ministers.
 There would then have been a brief church service.  Some of the people would receive communion for the last time and at about half past six, or there about, I am not entirely sure of the times, the Ministers would then move out and these seven people would then meet again.
 Their hands were cuffed behind their backs and they had to remove their shoes.  At about ten to seven or there about, we would then move with them down the passage and by then it was deadly quiet.
 They still sang and prayed, they greeted their people, their friends, then we moved to the gallows room, through the various gates until we were in the first reception room before the gallows.  They would then stand against a wall with their faces towards us.
 They were then identified again against their photographs and then the executioner would come to them and ask them about their last wishes.  They sometimes thanked us, they sometimes said to us God bless you and after the entire story, we would then put their caps on.
 And that was in the waiting room before going through.  We then moved ...

MR JANSEN: Could you in greater detail perhaps explain the process particularly with regard to the first day, with regard to these caps?

UNKNOWN: On the first day I put the cap on wrongly, it has a little flap in the front.  You put it over the person's head and then you put the flap back, so that it is upward on the person's face and the face is exposed and then you move through.

MR JANSEN: You said that you put the hood on wrongly.  Could you give us a better explanation.  How did you put this hood on incorrectly?

UNKNOWN: I put the flap on the side of the person's head.  You are very nervous when you do this and you don't want to ask questions, no one is talking.  The only person who was talking and singing would be the person you are taking through for execution.  You are very nervous.
 And I didn't look carefully how the other people were doing it.

MR JANSEN: Did someone help you?

UNKNOWN: Yes, the Warrant Officer showed me how to fix the hood.

MR JANSEN: On that day, did you observe the reactions of the persons due for execution as they were waiting next to the gallows room?

UNKNOWN: No, I was very tense and I was concentrating on doing the job correctly and there was no time to think of any other thing.

MR JANSEN: In later executions, what were you observations of the persons due for execution?

UNKNOWN: As you are involved in executions, you start noticing other things and you start noticing things which you want to think about subsequently.  I started noticing that many of these people were shivering and nervous and tense.

MR JANSEN: On that first day after putting on the hoods the person then would go through to the gallows room, is that correct?

UNKNOWN: That is correct.

MR JANSEN: Madam Chair, at this stage, unfortunately again due to our time constraints, we wanted to get some photographs, some proper photographs of the physical set up there that was taken by the photographer of the Star, we have unfortunately not been able to get the whole set of the photographs because in a certain sense it is important to know what the physical set up is.
 We have however, a copy of the one photograph that was taken by this specific photographer of the gallows itself.  Unfortunately it doesn't give you the whole picture of the entire situation, but it does of the most important things, it does.  You will note that there are two levels - an upper level, then the trap, the long trap door which consists of two paths which fall downwards and there are bags, stuffed bags on both sides which stop the fall of the - at the bottom part and at the top you will see one entrance.  At the bottom part you will also see one entrance although there are more than these entrances towards the gallows.  
 You see at the bottom a type of a scaffolding and on top of the scaffolding a stretcher.  The evidence will deal with these matters if you could just have a look at that in the mean time, just so that you can picture yourself in the place.

CHAIRPERSON: You can continue.

MR JANSEN: Thank you.  Could you then continue, when the hood has been placed on the person due for execution, do you look in the person's eyes?

UNKNOWN: Yes.

MR JANSEN: When you move through into the gallows room as such, could you explain what on that day, happened?