Human Rights Violation Hearings — Port Elizabeth — 1996-06-26

MR MDITSHWA: I'd like to greet you all first of all, the Archbishop and the Commission and Presiding Officer, comrades, PE community, my aunt and my uncle.  The task I've been given may not be performed very well, especially talking after my aunt and Mbuyiselo, for the way they spoke and the way the spoke the language, Xhosa.
 My task is a collective one.  The views that are going to be expressed here, are those of the collective that worked with Siphiwo from 1977.  The collective have given me enough, have given me the scope to speak as much as I can, because I worked with Siphiwo since 1977 to 1985.
 Some of this I will express in English because this document has been prepared in English.  I'll try where I can to explain some of the points in Xhosa, so that everyone can understand.
 This part of the presentation seeks to paint a broader picture of the human rights violations of the security branch in Port Elizabeth from 1977 to 1985.
 As an attempt to achieve this objective, we shall prefer this by pressing Siphiwo Mtimkhulu's contribution and link it up with the general experiences of COSAS activists.
 I'd like to add here, when I explain here we agreed that I should put this paper aside and explain that when we talk about Siphiwo and the comrades with whom he worked and things that were happening in Pedi at that time, I should 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
39 M MDITSHWA
also explain Topsy Madaka's role, because you may not hear his name being mentioned in the statement.
 I can say immediately that the main reason is that most part of this statement focuses on the people who were in
COSAS in the Executive and other organisation with which COSAS were.  The way in which we worked with comrade Topsy Madaka, I would just like to say at the outset, that as his elder brother said, as Mbuyo said in the struggle, he was very cooperative.
 Topsy, we knew through Mbuyo Madaka who is the person we used to work with and we got used to Topsy because we used to hold our meetings at his home and he would help us with things like transport from time to time wherever there was some help we needed for transport, he would help us as Mrs Mtimkhulu has explained.
 He was always there.  Comrade Topsy was always helping the comrades.  I'll go on.
 In 1977 when he joined the South African Students' Movement, SASM at Xhozakile High School, in the same year Steve Biko died and Siphiwo was amongst the students and the youth who attended his funeral.
 He was later one of the students who swelled the ranks of the PE Students' Representative Council, which was formed after SASM was banned.
 His first brush with the security police was when he was detained with his fellow 477 students at the St Stevens' Hall in Gratin, New Brighton.
 With the exception of two, they were all acquitted.  I think it is very important to explain that to give a background to this detention of 477 students.  Ten student activists were detained and held at Algoa Park police 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
40 M MDITSHWA
station and a number of other activists were held also under Section 10, held in Grahamstown prison.  
 And these students were demanding that their leaders be released immediately.  Now when this did not happen a meeting was held at the St Stevens' Hall and all the students were detained.
 Now when they were brought to Algoa Park police station where they were held in fact in front of our cells.  They were held there overnight, they sang - for us, there were 10 of us held in this one particular cell - and these comrades entertained us overnight.
 The police would come from time to time using a hausepipe, they would use a hausepipe to whip them, haling abuses from time to time, because this 477 comes up from time to time.  They came up in another statement, I think it needs to be explained at bit further.
 Now after we were released after five months from Section 10, we continued with our activities with Siphiwo and his comrades.  In 1978 when the late Robert Suboko passed away, he was one of the activists who organised busses to Graaff Reinet to attend the funeral.
 Later that very year, a trial which was initially held in Port Elizabeth was transferred to Humansdorp.  This was referred as a state versus Mialeza and others which is the first ANC post-trial in the Eastern Cape.
 Now this trial received a lot of publicity and Siphiwo together with his comrades, assisted those families for over 11 months, helping, giving those families support, organising transport when in fact the special branch decided to move the trial from Port Elizabeth to Humansdorp.
 So the families could obviously not afford to pay for 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
41 M MDITSHWA
transport costs and other necessary costs, so means were made and these comrades played a very important role to make sure that those families were ferried between Port Elizabeth and Humansdorp whenever necessary.
 Together with his two comrades, Monde Mditshwa and Busim Matinga, Siphiwo was detained and subsequently charged with wearing a SASO T-shirt and was convicted.  This was mentioned in aunty's statement.  We may also point out that SASO was a banned organisation at that time.
 On the day of the aforesaid arrest it was the same Presiding Officer at the  Ngeleza case, that is the Magistrate Mr PP Loodts, who ordered that uniform policemen to effect the arrest.  A certain lieutenant Wilkens who was accompanied Mahote.  Mahote was a special branch who accompanied lieutenant Wilkens were despatched to Humansdorp to detain the aforementioned comrades.
 They were later held separately at Kabeka police station, the (indistinct) and Walmer police station.  I was also, as I've mentioned earlier on, we wanted also to draw the attention of this Commission and to also tell this house that for instance the mentioning of this Magistrate Mr PP Loodts who was supposed to be a senior Magistrate that time, between 1977 and 1985, most of the trials were presided by this Magistrate.
 He was known for being cruel, he was known for being very insensitive.  He was known for dismissing defence witnesses as liers from time to time.  Some of the comrades who are sitting here as well as mentioned, Siphiwo himself appeared before this Magistrate twice.  I also had an opportunity to meet this Magistrate twice.
 (Tape starts) ... PP Loodts was walking passed and he 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
42 M MDITSHWA
decided that we were laughing at him, he stopped.  And in the process of looking at us, he saw Siphiwo's T-shirt and immediately called the police, the uniform police and he asked them to arrest Siphiwo immediately.
 When we intervened and wanted to find out what was happening, why was Siphiwo being arrested, under what law, we demanded to know, and PP Loodts also demanded that we be arrested because we were interfering with the course of justice or law.
 So we were detained together with Siphiwo.  His name will come up a number of times, when a number of comrades were arrested or sentenced.  So I was asked to mention this point because a number of cases, a number of convictions that took place in Mr PP Loodts' court, perhaps some of them may need to be examined.
 The fact that cases from time to time, if this Magistrate wasn't around, they would make sure the special branch would ask for a postponement, making sure that PP Loodts is back.
 And most cases I don't remember in fact the comrade who was acquitted in PP Loodts case, and in most cases people were given the severest sentences.  During the same year Siphiwo was found in possession of a inauguration speech prepared by the late Robert Sobukwe and was convicted.
 Because of his strong character, he protected the friend from whom he had obtained the speech and sacrificed until the bitter end.  And because he was under age that time, Siphiwo was convicted but he was given lashes.
 But this is the character of a comrade of Siphiwo's calibre, when in fact perhaps another person would have revealed to the special branch because the exerted a lot of 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
43 M MDITSHWA
pressure on Siphiwo to tell them where did he get the speech.
 And he got the speech from one of our comrades, Vusi Matingqa.  Siphiwo owned that statement and he said it was his and he didn't say, he didn't mention that he got the statement from Vusi Matingqa.
 COSAS played an active role in the formation of other organisations, helped for instance towards the formation of PEWU, that is the Port Elizabeth Women's Organisation, it also helped in the development, in the formation of Unions like MAKUSA, PESCO.  COSAS was also involved in activities and was also taking interest in those.
 This was (indistinct) and found an expression in a theme building a relationship between Siphiwo and some workers.  Now this time we will remember that during 1979, 1980 it was here in Port Elizabeth that for the first time the alliance between students, workers and civic organisations was established.  This spread to other parts of the country.
 In fact this bore fruit and we will see later on how this alliance between students, whenever for instance there were boycotts, remember the boycotts, there was a meat boycott at one time, Wilson boycott, Fatti's and Monis boycott, the students were there at all times.  They were supporting the workers and visa versa.
 And whenever students had problems, the workers were there to support them from time to time.  Relations with the (indistinct) which was headed by the likes of reverent Phillip Phemba, reverent Haja, reverent Soqa and reverent Paqa, who were very helpful and assisting COSAS whenever necessary or whenever COSAS approached these reverends that 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
44 M MDITSHWA
I've mentioned, would for instance open their doors from time to time.
 People are aware, sitting in this hall, that during those times the pressure that we were getting from the special branch, the harassment, it was very difficult at times to get halls whenever students wanted to meet or the community wanted to meet.  And this kind of reverends would make their churches accessible to COSAS.
 The formation of COSAS posed a serious threat to the State, hence a systematic harassment and repression that was to follow throughout its history.
 The State was convinced that COSAS was the brainchild of the ANC.  During the 1980 students' boycott, students decided to form a new students' body, which was named the PE Students' Committee, that is PESCO.
 This was necessary as stated by the fact that COSAS was already under the constant eye of the security police and was seen as a hawk.  PESCO was specifically formed to spearhead the boycott until students scants demands were met.
 A new leadership emerged.  This strategy did not work because the security police alleged that the old COSAS members were hiding behind PESCO to further their aims.
 As the part of the onslaught by the State, there was a deployment of a senior police officer, one Colonel Gerrit Erasmus.  Now I think it is important to mention that in 1979 when the then Colonel Goosen who used to be heading this region, was transferred to Pretoria, he was replaced by one Colonel Gerrit Erasmus from Pretoria.
 Now the reason that we're mentioning that is the tactics and the intensity of repression increased.  We saw 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
45 M MDITSHWA
a different means that were used, that were employed by the special branch towards the various organisations that were working in Port Elizabeth.
 More vicious but somehow tactful methods were devised and employed to suppress any political activity.  The security police started to frame activists.  For instance planting dagga on activists.  Planting of bullets and ammunition on houses of activists.
 And they would claim that they were found there.  In fact in my case, when my home was raided by the same Nieuwoudt, Roelofse, Tungata and them, they planted bullets in the house, they ransacked the house, they tore the ceiling, they tore the floor, they brought in dogs under the pretence that they were told that there were ammunition in the house.
 Later on it became clear that this were planted and the charges after appearing twice in court, the charges were withdrawn.  Now similar tactics were used by the special branch during that era. 
 I think it is also important to mention that during that time comrades we were working with who were senior to us, who would from time to time give us guidance and advice also (indistinct)  The same situation, now I am referring to - we used to call him comrade H, comrade Dashe and comrade Mopspighane and these are the comrades who helped the political development at that time.
 These are the comrades we used to go to whenever we had problems, whenever we needed advice from time to time.  Or if you didn't have bus fare, these comrades would be there ready to assist or explain for instance explain, give an analysis of what was happening at that time in Port 
PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE
46 M MDITSHWA
Elizabeth and in South Africa as a whole.
 In 1980 there was a swoop of students' leadership who were removed and locked away in Benoni and Broederstroom.  The idea was to try and kill the student boycott and also to demoralize and divide the student body.  Siphiwo happened to be amongst those who were left behind.
 They continued to press for inter alia the release of detained colleagues and the recognition of SRC structures in schools.  The students' struggles bore fruit in that the State had to give in by releasing the detained students and SRC's were recognised at schools.
 In 1981 COSAS planned an anti-Republic campaign.  This entailed a three day stay away.  A rendezvous which was held at this very venue, the (indistinct) hall, the public burning the SA old flag, public walls were painted with graffiti and other sporadic activities ensued.
 Mr Chairman the comrades request that I should read this in Xhosa, but unfortunately it is written in English, but I'll try to do it in Xhosa.