Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — 1996-11-20

WILLIAM BASIL HARRINGTON: (Sworn, States)

WILLIAM BASIL HARRINGTON:  Mr Harrington, will you be speaking in English or Afrikaans?  You may speak in either language.

WITNESS:   Afrikaans.

WILLIAM BASIL HARRINGTON: Your evidence will be translated directly into Zulu.  Can you hear me through the earphones?  Are you hearing me in English?

INTERPRETER: The speaker's mike is not on.

INTERPRETER:  Are you hearing me now, Mr Harrington?  And now are you hearing me?

WITNESS:   Ek kan, ja.

INTERPRETER:  Mr Harrington, just by way of background, is it correct that you are presently serving a prison sentence in Grootvlei Prison in the Free State?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

INTERPRETER:  And you are serving a sentence with your co-accused, Mr Frans Erasmus.

WITNESS:   That's correct.

INTERPRETER:  And Mr Philemon Madlala.

WITNESS:   That's right.

INTERPRETER:  And all three of you were sentenced in 1991 following your conviction on a charge of murder, is that correct?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

INTERPRETER:  Now, at the time of your sentencing you were a policeman.

WITNESS:   Yes, that's right.

INTERPRETER:  And is it correct that you were serving with Riot Unit Eight in Pietermaritzburg?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

INTERPRETER:  And you were in the police service during the period which we are examining now, that is March/April 1990?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

INTERPRETER:  Now, can you tell us, during that period did you work together with special constables?

WITNESS:   Yes, we worked with them in the Riot Squad.

INTERPRETER:  Can you give us some background on the special constables, who these people were, where they came from, and how they were deployed in the SAP?

WITNESS:   There were four shifts at the Riot Unit, A shift, B, C and D shifts, and on each shift there were about 20 - between 20 and 50 special constables.  They came from Inkatha areas, acknowledged Inkatha areas.  They were mostly used as guards on trucks and vehicles, as well as at certain control points, and also at Inkatha chiefs' homes.

INTERPRETER:  The other accused in your matter, Mr Madlala, was he in fact a special constable?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

INTERPRETER:  Now, you said earlier on that you worked with special constables.  Were they deployed on the Riot Unit vehicles with Riot Unit staff?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

INTERPRETER:  Can you tell us something about the method by which you and the special constables operated, the modus operandi during that period?

WITNESS:   If I could just ask the Committee, yesterday I made a new statement.  I would like to start afresh and explain to you, and then perhaps you will understand the full picture.

INTERPRETER:  Please - all right, please then proceed in your own time and according to the statement that you have made.

WITNESS:   I am 27 years old.  I matriculated in 1987 in a Transvaal school.  Directly after school I went to the Police College, and after six months' training I was stationed at the Riot Unit here in Pietermaritzburg.  I am currently - I have been in prison for about 15 years, serving a sentence of 18 years for the murder of an ANC supporter.  I was employed at the Riot Unit between 1988 and 1991.  Until my arrest I was then between 18 and 21 years old.

INTERPRETER: Sorry, can I just interrupt?  How long have you been in prison for?   Five years - nearly five years.  Please continue.  I would just like to tell the Committee and the Chairperson that the murder case started in 1991 and did not arise from the Seven Day War.  The murder charge did not arise from the Seven Day War period.  I also request not to testify regarding the murder case since I have been told that my amnesty application will be heard early next year, and also because myself and my attorney still have to consult on this matter.  I also want to add that -before I start my evidence, that I gave my statement voluntarily to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's investigating officers without the benefit of any legal assistance.  I am therefore appearing before the Commission naked and humble today, and I am also appearing like that before the public.  My preparedness to testify must be seen as an indication of the willingness to be truthful, and also as a basis for my amnesty application.  I also want to apologise to the Commission because I would like to supplement the statement before you.  Perhaps I should explain what I mean.  After and during Mr Madlala's statement I realised that I should stop defending apartheid and the apartheid era.  During my interviews with Debbie Quinn and Fred Coppett I opened up to a certain extent, but I also still withheld certain names and incidents.  The one-for-all and all-for-one code reigning in the old police force, and that you don't reveal the inner secrets of the police force, was still in sway in my life, and now it might appear as if I am going to betray my people, the police.  Yesterday it felt as if I was betraying myself, but after I realised that I simply have to tell the truth I simply had to do it.  I have long since made my peace with God about all the atrocities which I committed in my position of power, and now it's time to make peace with the people of Natal, and it is now also time that I make peace with myself.  After my sentence I buried away the deeds of my past, buried it deep down, because I wanted to forget, but I can't.  Through the years in prison you, the audience, the people here, haunted me.  Maybe some of you here today are people assaulted by myself and my ex-colleagues.  Perhaps some of you here are people whom, after such an assault, I just dropped next to the side of the road without looking back to see whether you would rise up again.  I hope you are here today so that I can say to you I am sorry.  Now I would like to start by saying that when I started working in the Riot Unit at the age of 18 I started on the A shift.  Just a moment please.

INTERPRETER:  Could I ask you to speak a little more slowly, because we're having a double translation from Afrikaans to English and English to Zulu.

WITNESS:   I understand that.

INTERPRETER:  So if you could just ... (incomplete)

WITNESS:   The section head of the A shift.

INTERPRETER:  Let this witness continue.