DECISION
This is an application for amnesty in terms of Section 18 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act No. 34 of 1995 ("the Act").
The applicant who is currently serving a long term of imprisonment for eight (8) counts of attempted murder and one count of arson was at all material times a member and cadre of the Azania People Liberation Army (APLA), the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), having received military training abroad under its auspices.
In his affidavit and amnesty application form the applicant refers to two other offences, namely, arson and malicious damage to property. Before the commencement of the hearing it was agreed with his legal representative that these two offences would not be part of the enquiry as further investigations still had to be conducted and, further, that the offences not being "gross human right rights violations" in terms of the Act, could later be dealt with in chambers.
We now proceed to deal with the attack at the Lady Grey Police Station: According to the applicant on a certain day during December 1991, and at Jozanashoek, where he was based, instructions were issued by one Happy, also known as Raymond Letlapa Mpahlele, the then Director of Operations of APLA, to him and one Vuyisile, also a member and soldier of APLA, that the said police station be attacked, in line with the APLA policy of attacking the police. No date was given for the contemplated attack and it was only on the 3 January 1992 that Happy returned to them with weapons. Happy said these were the arms that were going to be used in the attack. The three then boarded a taxi from Sterkspruit to Herschel where they left Happy. It was part of the plan that from there the applicant and Vuyisile were to go and secure a vehicle for use in the operation. At some point the applicant and Vuyisile stood around waiting for an unsuspecting driver to appear.
The first vehicle which was a bakkie approached them. Vuyisile opened fire as Dolo had instructed him to do in the event of a vehicle not stopping. But he was to fire only in the air to frighten the driver and fellow travellers and in this way induce them to stop. This particular vehicle did not stop at all. When the second vehicle approached the applicant fired a shot in the air and it stopped. The driver and passenger asked to be spared of their lives. The applicant and his colleague "borrowed" their car promising to return it later.
After confiscating the said vehicle the two went to Herschel where in accordance with the plan they fetched Happy. The latter then assumed control of the vehicle and drove it to the Lady Grey Police Station where the attack was launched. The applicant was armed with a R5 assault rifle and Vuyisile with a hand gun and a "stick" hand grenade. As they drove past the police station Dolo open fire with the R5 and Vuyisile threw the grenade at the police station. After the attack they drove to Sterkspruit and left the vehicle on the side of the main road. Happy then arranged transport to take Dolo and Vuyisile back to their "base".
Neither Happy nor Vuyisile have applied for amnesty in respect of this incident. Vuyisile's full names and whereabouts are unknown to the applicant.
At the time of the attack there were a number of persons at the police station. Constable Johannes Maartens testified that the said people some of whom were children, did not form part of the South African Police Force and were only there for a braai. Also present amongst them was his wife who was pregnant and had to receive treatment for shock. It is in respect of these persons that the applicant was charged and convicted of attempted murder. The applicant says he never saw such persons and the only person he saw was a gentleman who was standing in front of the police station and appeared to him to be a policeman.
According to Maartens in the evening of the day in question and whilst they were busy with the braai he saw a bakkie going in the direction of town. Later he saw the same vehicle returning from town. He does not know where exactly his guests were at that stage but his wife was standing next to the door. Maartens goes on to say that soon thereafter he heard gunshots and an explosion. He says he saw the windows breaking and he realised that there must have been an explosion. He then went inside to check if his guests were safe. None of them had been seriously injured. Thereafter Maartens and a police colleague armed themselves and took a police vehicle to try and follow the attackers who could not be apprehended.
The applicant says he was never charged for his acts in relation to the two vehicles and for that matter he was not even questioned by the police about them. He was therefore surprised to hear for the first time at the hearing that Nonceba Mgojo and Nomonde Mkhasakhana who were in the rear of the first vehicle had sustained injuries.
The Evidence Leader Advocate Paddy Prior advised the Committee that the following information was read to him over the telephone by a hospital employee: "A single bullet went through from one side of Nomonde's mouth through the other side and then went into the front of Nonceba's neck just below the jaw but missing the gullet. It went and narrowly missed the jugular vein and remained lodged at the back of her neck until it was removed at Aliwal North General Hospital. Nomonde had some of her teeth removed as a result of her injuries."
The legal representative of the applicant did not dispute the authenticity and contents of the so-called medical evidence and accepted it for what it is worth.
CONCLUSION.
It is important to note here that the applicant who had received military training abroad under the auspices of APLA came from Katlehong and was a complete stranger in the area where these acts were carried out. It is quite clear that he had no personal motive or reason for coming to the Sterkspruit area where he was deployed by his superiors to carry out the acts referred to above. It appears that he and Vuyisile had not even known each other until they came to stay together at Jozanashoek. It cannot be suggested that he and his colleague were on a frolic of their own. Although the applicant was at all material times receiving orders from Happy who used him to pursue what appears to have been the political agenda of APLA and the PAC, he acted voluntarily and has no regrets about having been involved in the said activities.
Accordingly, the Committee is of the view that the applicant has satisfied the requirements of the Act and is
GRANTED: amnesty for the following offences
1. Attempted murder of:-
1.1 Albertus Veldsman;
1.2 Johannes Maartens;
1.3 Rieta Maartens;
1.4 Magrieta Roets;
1.5 Nicolaas Roets;
1.6 Stephanus Roets.
2. The attempted robbery of an Isuzu bakkie, registration number LLR 563 T and the acts causing injuries to Nonceba Mgojo and Nomonde Mbhasakhana.
3. The robbery of a Mazda B2200 motor vehicle, registration number XB 10444.
4. The possession and use of a R5 assault rifle and ammunition.
5. All the persons referred to in clauses 1 and 2 above are found to be victims and are accordingly referred to the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee in terms of Section 22(1) of the Act.
Signed at Cape Town on this 7th day of October 1998.
JUDGE A WILSON
MR J SIBANYONI
ADV. N J SANDI
MR I LAX
