Human Rights Violation Hearings — Worcester — 1996-06-26

CASE NO: CT/00319

VICTIM: JOHN MARINUS FERUS [husband]

VIOLATION: TORTURE/

PETRONELLA ESTERHUIZEN: CHRISTINA FERUS [mother]

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Can I find out welcome MRS ESTERHUIZEN - who is going to lead - give the evidence - MRS ESTERHUIZEN - are you also - are you - are you the daughter.

PETRONELLA ESTERHUIZEN: No the wife.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Oh! okay, I am sorry thank you, so are you both going to give evidence - okay so you will both sworn in then, thank you very much.

WENDY ORR: Could we just have your mother in law's full names for our records please.  Could you please give us your full names.

PETRONELLA ESTERHUIZEN: I'm sorry I'm a bit deaf, I can't really hear too well.  My full names are Christina Wilhelmina Ferus.

WENDY ORR: Thank you very much.  Mrs Ferus can I ask you to just take the oath first, would you please stand.
CHRISTINA WILHELMINA FERUS (sworn states)

WENDY ORR: Thank you very much.  Mrs Esterhuizen please?
PETRONELLA ESTERHUIZEN (sworn states)

WENDY ORR: Thank you, you're most welcome both of you and I'll ask Glenda Wildschut to lead your evidence.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Thank you very much Mrs Esterhuizen and Mrs Ferus.  Mrs Ferus I would like to ask you, are you Afrikaans speaking or English speaking?

MRS FERUS: We'd like to speak Afrikaans so that the audience can also follow what we're saying.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: If you feel that you want to switch to English then that is fine thank you.  Mrs Esterhuizen you were married to John Marinus Ferus.

MRS FERUS: Yes.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Mr Ferus was an activist, he was also detained on Robben Island and was often detained and often in prison.  Will you please tell us a little bit about  yourself and tell us a little bit about Mr Ferus.  I'm now speaking to Mrs Esterhuizen first and after that I'll speak to Mrs Ferus.  First with Mrs Esterhuizen though.

PETRONELLA ESTERHUIZEN: I would prefer you to speak to my mother first as she actually knows the story.

TRANSLATOR: Please just switch on the microphone.

PETRONELLA ESTERHUIZEN: I would prefer you to start with my mother's story first.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: All right we can do that.  Mrs Esterhuizen prefers that we start with her mother's evidence and that Mrs Ferus must tell us a little bit about Hennie.  What kind of a person was he, give us a little bit of a background.  What did he do, what was his life like, why was he detained?

MRS FERUS: Please just tell me where must I start, should I start with his childhood?

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: No that's not necessary just start from his adult life onwards.

MRS FERUS: He was a very good boy and he looked after me very well once he started working and as he grew older he became very interested in politics.  He first belonged to the Coloured People's Congress because in those years, the apartheid era we couldn't like today in  ANC, we couldn't belong to the same organisations, there was the Coloured People's Congress and the ANC and then the Indian Congress as well.  He gradually became more and more involved in politics and the authorities then became aware of it as a result of that and they started watching him. 
 He attended meetings, he held meetings and the result of that was he became a thorn in the authorities flesh, a thorn in the Government's flesh so they started watching him and they regarded him as a threat.  Eventually he realised that he was a marked man.  This all happened such a long time ago that I really have to think very hard now.  It's a bit hard to remember.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: It's not a problem if you can't remember exactly.

MRS FERUS: I'm afraid as far as dates are concerned I can't really be of much help.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: That doesn't matter, we will get the dates from Patti.

MRS FERUS: All right then that's fine.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Just tell us what you can remember and what you understand.

MRS FERUS: Well he told me mother, you must just be prepared for anything and at that stage he'd already received warnings but he didn't take heed of that, he just continued with his activities and then on a particular Friday, they came to arrest him and placed him under house arrest, 90 days detention.
 For 90 days he was in Worcester and from there they took him to Tulbagh.  In Tulbagh he spent some time not quite 3 months, because he then started with a hunger strike in Tulbagh.  The cell in which he was kept was very, very small.  When in a sitting position both his back and his feet were touching the opposite walls.  He consequently went on a hunger strike.  I'm sure if I'm correct now but I think he stayed there for about a month.  That's what he told me after his release.   
 The Commanding Officer from the police in Tulbagh phoned to headquarters in Roeland Street to tell them that they must come and fetch him because he was very afraid, he didn't want to be dealing with a dead person.   This was after his hunger strike had been continuing for about 6 1/2 days, that was his way of trying to get out of this situation.
 They then sent him to town and for the next 5 months he was in the Roeland Street prison but, you see what I'm telling you know is what he told me afterwards, he didn't tell me a lot but that is what he told me subsequently after the 90 day period that he served.
 In Worcester on night I arrived home, my mother was at home and I was working, when I arrived home my mother sat cleaning his boots and my mother said that he'd sent out a message from prison to say that his feet were very cold and we must please send him his boots.  That is what my mother then did, she sent him the boots.  After the expiry of the 90 days detention, he came and that's what he told us.  
 He told us that he fought back when they interrogated him.  As far as the boots were concerned the 2 detectives, he said that he had kicked the 2 detectives who had come to interrogate him and as a result of that they tied him up on a chair so he could not fight back.  He told me, Mom then, then they really beat me up.  
 As I've said he didn't tell me everything but he always told me Momma I will tell of all these things that they have been doing to me, there will come a day when I will be telling that to the people but of course that never happened.  I was entitled to send him clean clothes once a week on Saturdays and that's when I noticed that there were blood stains on his vest.  I told my mother ... or bucks in jail .. and my mother also looked at the blood stains and said yes that's what it looks like.  
 When he came back he said no, that was the result of the interrogation.  They stabbed him with some kind of a sharp instrument.  Now what was the other thing now, let me think, oh yes I'm a bit confused now.

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Please take your time.