Human Rights Violation Hearings — Worcester — 1996-06-25

MR SIXISHI: I started after the assault, otherwise I was just an ordinary person I had never belonged to any organisation.   But after the assault I felt that I should really take up arms and fight the - in the struggle because I could see that there is no other assistance that you  could get because you could see that the people who attack us were assisted by the police.

DR BORAINE: [indistinct] much - so you were politicised as a result of this attack and this time you spent in prison.  Can you tell me just a little bit more, when you were taken to prison, you were very badly injured.  Your eye was especially badly beaten, how long were you in prison before you got medical attention for your eye and for your other injuries ?

MR SIXISHI: I was arrested in May and then we were kept there and I stayed there for a month and at the end of June I was released and I went back home.

DR BORAINE: How old were you at the time ?

MR SIXISHI: If I can remember very  well,  I think I was 2 years [intervention]

DR BORAINE: [Laughing] - you couldn't of been 2 years old.  Perhaps I  should ask you - let me ask  you - how old are you now.

MR SIXISHI: I had already - I  was already married.

DR BORAINE: It's not [intervention]

MR SIXISHI: I am 36 years old now.

DR BORAINE: The point I was trying to understand was that you were a very young man when it happened.  And you are still a young so when you go for employment you must tell them that you are not old, that you are a young man.

MR SIXISHI: H'm.

DR BORAINE: Did you - were  you ever charged by the police, or by the Courts,  because you told us that you were let out on bail, were you charged, and if so for what ?

MR SIXISHI: No, we were acquitted, the vigilantes -  they took other people out of the cells and then they said we are people responsible for all the damages.  There was another vigilante who came to witness against us and then he stated that we  are innocent, that is when we were acquitted.

DR BORAINE: [indistinct] in jail was  when you were detained, and left there without any charges for that month ?

MR SIXISHI: Yes, I was not guilty at all, I was detained for no apparent reason as I stated before.

DR BORAINE: Now you mentioned that you are unemployed and I want to know from you.
How is your health now,  you have an artificial eye and  do you have  any other medical problems or you are quite fit now ?

MR SIXISHI: At times I get - I feel that the eye is uncomfortable,  I was informed that there  were some veins and nerves which were affected by the assault.  The other eye is also not very good.   My eyesight is deteriorating  -  at times I have severe headaches.

DR BORAINE: [indistinct] Chairperson that includes my own questioning and I hand back to you now.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much - Pumla Gobodo.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Thank you Chairperson - thank you Sipho.
When you say you look old because of the manner in which you were  handled by the police and the people who were vigilantes, it is very painful because you can see that you cannot go back to the same condition in which you were  before.
You mentioned Mrubahta in your statement, is it Ntando that you are talking about ?

MR SIXISHI: There is another Mrubahta who stays in Ashton.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Is it Ntando?

MR SIXISHI: No it is not Ntando.

CHAIRPERSON: Denzil Potgieter.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you Chairperson - just one issue  I just want to make sure that I followed your evidence correctly.   Did you make a claim - did you a institute a claim for the assault - for the loss of your eye ?

MR SIXISHI: Presently I have done nothing to claim,  we was just promised by the lawyer that they would try to assist me to make a claim but presently I haven't received anything.

ADV POTGIETER: Can you give us the details of the lawyer, which lawyer is it that you saw ?

MR SIXISHI: It is Krige,  we call him the advocate is Krige who stays here in Worcester.
He is Krige.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you the - the case in Worcester that you spoke about.
You spoke about  the Supreme Court as well was that  the case you were acquitted, where you were found not guilty ?

MR SIXISHI: Yes, at Supreme Court in Cape Town I went for claims because I cannot see well.  So I felt that I have to go to the lawyers so that they can assist me because the  other eye is also losing its capability.   I wanted to claim for all the injuries  that I sustained because I realised that I was acquitted and I was found not guilty.
This is why now I'm feeling so disturbed because there's nothing that is progressing.

ADV POTGIETER: If you - if you can help -  you have referred to advocate . Krige whom we know, but did you see attorneys as well apart from Mr Krige?

MR SIXISHI: Some lawyers are not well known to me.  I cannot remember very well.    I know only Kromgel his here in Worcester.  He is the one who communicated with advocate Krige.

ADV POTGIETER: Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Sixishi, thank you very much and we are grateful that you have come here and we are sharing with you the experience that you did experience some time back.  We cannot promise you much but we will try our utmost best to meet you and meet your needs.
We would  present every reports that we have from all the areas to our President so that he can evaluate and assess.  Through this we hope that something may happen to assist you.  We also believe that you might get assistance also if you can continue with your medication or medical attention so that you can find a relief. Thank you very much.