DECISION
The above applicants apply for amnesty for an attack on the Sentra Hyperserve Wesselbron Supermarket. The incident took place on 3rd of July 1993. Cash and cheques to the value of approximately R9000.00 was stolen. Five people were killed and four people wounded.
At the hearing Mr Mbandazayo, who appeared for the applicants, moved an application on behalf of one Mohlalo Paulus Mohapi. Mohapi had told him that he had earlier in 1995 applied for amnesty. The TRC has no record of such an application. The suspicion is that if Mr Mohapi indeed filled out an application, it would probably have been for further indemnity, since the Amnesty provisions only took effect effectively from April 1996. By agreement it was arranged that Mr Mbandazayo could lead the evidence of Mr Mohapi and should proof of submission of a duly completed application not be furnished to the Amnesty Committee within one month as from 18th August 1998, it would be accepted that no application exists. No further communication on this issue has since been received and the committee finds that no proper application was made in terms of the act.
The salient facts, extracted from the various versions of the applicants, related to the incident, are the following:
The Wesselsbron Supermarket (Sentra Hyperserve) was the target of an armed robbery, planned and/or executed by the Applicants. On the 3rd of July 1993, the plan was executed, cash and cheques, were taken (to the value of approximately R9000.00) and 5 persons were killed and 4 injured when some of the applicants opened fire on those present in the building.
The Applicants mention that they were either Apla members or members of Task Force; that they were raising funds for Apla through conducting the robbery and that they shot those present according to the policy of Apla and/or implied instructions by Apla Command. The victims opposed the applications on the basis that neither the robbery nor the shooting was associated with a political objective and specifically that the shooting commenced when "things started going wrong" for the applicants.
First Applicant, Bhani, a member of Apla, based in Umtata, received instructions in Umtata from the Director of Operations of Apla, Letlapha Mpahlele, to go to Welkom, there to be received and deployed by the Third Applicant, Khotle, who was regional commander in the Free State, and who took him to Wesselsbron. His instructions from Umtata were to "identify a target" which he then did. He reported to Khotle for him to seek approval from the Director of Operations for the execution of the operation. The identified target was the Wesselsbron Supermarket, because the owner was thought to be a member of the AWB and amongst the people who normally did their shopping there were members of the AWB and members of the SAP. Khotle told him that the target was approved by the Director of Operations and an order was given to attack the target. He recruited the Sixth Applicant, Mazete, as a member of Task Force. He met him there in Wesselsbron, seeing him wearing a T-Shirt of their organization (presumably PAC) and he saw him at meetings. Mazete assisted him in drawing up a map of the Supermarket, but he was not told that the Supermarket was to be attacked.
Arms, consisting of R4 rifles, one 38 revolver, a .32 revolver, two rifle grenades, two hand grenades, one F1 and two M26 grenades were delivered from Umtata to Welkom. Bhani took one R4 and handed the rest to Khotle.
On 3rd July 1993 Bhani decided on an attack on that same day. The day was suitable because he had earlier established that the members of the AWB and Security Forces liked to linger around the supermarket and stay there chatting on Fridays and Saturday evenings. he decided this in consultation with Khotle. The unit consisted of five, Bhani, one Sebenzile who died in 1994, the Second Applicant, Ngesi, one Sibande whose whereabouts are unknown and Hale, (Tshoane, the 4th Applicant) the driver. All except Tshoane, were armed. The other members of the unit arrived in Wesselsbron at approximately 20h30. They were briefed for the first time on their arrival by Bhani and they had to hurry since the target was closing at 21h00.
The plan was for Bhani to lead the attack, Ngesi and Sebenzile to follow him into the Supermarket and Sibande would guard the door. Bhani entered, the other two following him as planned. He ordered those present to lift their hands and the other two to shoot. He then told them to take the money and they withdrew. They got R4000.00 in cash and some cheques, burnt the cheques and surrendered the money to Khotle. Five people died and three were injured. There were no other people in the supermarket.
Tshoane and Sibande left for Welkom and Sibenzile and Ngesi remained in Wesselsbron with Bhani at Mnyagene Location. They took the firearms to Mazete and then proceeded to Welkom, reported to Khotle and gave him the money.
Later Sibande, Ngesi, Sebenzile and Khotle went to Transkei, after the latter had arranged accommodation for Bhani in Kroonstad. The reason why Khotle withdrew to the Transkei was that Bhani was going to take over the Free State as regional commander. He shortly afterwards also withdrew and went back to Transkei.
The reason for the attack was to fundraise because they did not have financial resources. Asked by Mr Mbandazayo about how he feels about the loss of life, Bhani said it was obvious that people would die because in war people die. When further questioned by the panel, as to the presence of AWB and SAP members at the time of the incident, Bhani said that they might have been there but their plan was to shoot anyone that was in the shop, as long as they were white.
Further questioned by the Evidence leader on behalf of the victims, putting it to Bhani that the victims were first told to lie down, he, denying, replied that he had told them to lift their hands, it was PAC policy to shoot and kill the white man even after he had lifted his arms so that the government could feel the pressure. Robbing and killing go hand in hand, and the instruction was to kill and take money. It was the year of the Great Storm and in May and June, PAC offices had been raided. Although there were negotiations, the struggle had to continue for liberation.
Questioned by Mr Steenkamp on their not disclosing their membership during the trial, he said that they were trying to be found not guilty.
In re-examination Bhani said he was simply deployed to Welkom by the Director of Operations; he was not given any instructions as to what to do. He was going to seek and identify a target on his own. There was no date arranged for his taking over as Free State Regional Commander. That decision would have come from Khotle and the Director of Operations.
The Second Applicant, Ngesi, testified that he had been deployed in Welkom in March 1993 by the Director of Operations and the deputy Director Sipho Mulelame Thuma. He was to meet Khotle from whom he would get his instructions. He was taken to Wesselsbron where he stayed for two days. He did not like the place and went back to Welkom. He commuted between Welkom and Wesselsbron to identify targets. He identified the Wesselsbron Supermarket. Everyone at the taxi-rank would patronize the Supermarket. Even the Police and AWB go to that shop.
On the day of the attack he, on instruction of Kotle, travelled to Wesselsbron with Sibande, Sibenzile and the driver Tshoane. They were instructed to meet with Bhani who would brief them about the operation. Khotle gave them firearms.
On arrival Bhani told them the target was the Supermarket. He, Ngesi, already knew that. They entered the Supermarket, Bhani, Ngesi and Sebenzile, in that order. Bhani instructed them to fire. He, Ngesi, started shooting everything before his eyes. After that Bhani told them to take the money. Asked as to how he felt about the incident, he said that he was happy to have participated in the struggle. The people who died don't belong to the country. He was not asking forgiveness. Yet all were now united in this new South Africa.
In cross-examination on behalf of the victims he said he was only instructed to go to Wesselsbron. Bhani there told them what the target was, that they would kill the people and take the money. They did as they were told. The people were not lying down, they had their hands up in the air when they were shot down. Asked about a black person who testified at his trial he said that the person was not there and he suspects the person was paid to give that evidence. They were not told to shoot before they got to the supermarket. The instruction only came from Bhani when they were at the Supermarket.
Asked by the committee to explain the criteria of what a target was, he said the Supermarket was chosen because it was frequented by police and AWB, with uniforms and badges; that was an example of target. As long as you know a person was a policeman, he was your enemy. They would identify as targets places where a lot of boers and a lot of policemen were. Boers and white persons has the same Xhosa word. The Commander would identify the target.
After they had shot the people, there was a lady who they ordered to open the till. She opened the 3 tills and the three of them all emptied a till each and put the money in their pockets. The lady was then also shot and they took the money to the commander. The other people were all shot before any money was taken. The lady was only spotted after the others had been shot. They then grabbed her and she opened the tills. Asked as to why this lady was not also shot following his instruction he said "I wanted money".
The Third Applicant, Khotle, also gave evidence. He confirmed that he was the regional commander at the time and ordered the attack after receiving approval from the Director of Operations. He received Bhani, took him to Wesselsbron where he had to look for potential targets. He stayed in Mnyagene Township. After some time, he returned to Welkom and reported that he had identified the target. He gave as first reason that the place was frequented by Security police and AWB members. He, Khotle, then did his own reconnaissance on a Friday and Saturday and established that what Bhani was saying was true. On the Friday he boarded a taxi, went to the store at around 19h00 and bought a soft drink and some peanuts. At the door, he saw a person with a pistol, both when he entered and when he left. He stayed over at Mnyagene that night and late afternoon on Saturday returned to Welkom but on his way, waiting at the taxi rank, he went inside and looked again. He found a different person there, armed with a pistol, talking to other people. On the second week he again went to the store and found the same situation, always one person armed. He went to the township and left the following morning for Welkom.
From Welkom he went by taxi to Umtata where he met the director of Operations Lethlapa Mpahlele and reported on the situation in the Free State and the target in Wesselsbron. Mpahlele then gave approval and said that he should return and instruct the unit, led by Bhani, to execute the operation.
No one else except the three of them had knowledge of the impending attack. It was no problem identifying a target:- Oppressors are the Europeans and they were targets. They put themselves as a target. Anything represented by Europeans in Africa is a target. The Supermarket was a target because it would give them the resources to attack other targets. The Supermarket was a weak target and the tactics were to attack where the enemy was weak. When asked how he could describe the target as weak, having said it was chosen because it was frequented by police and AWB - both wearing uniforms and brandishing arms, and having scouted the armed guards at the door with the police station just up the road from the Supermarket, he replied that he knew the police were relaxing over weekends and go and drink in the township. They saw it as an easy target. Asked as to why he personally corroborated what Bhani had told him, he said he had known before that the place was frequented by the police and AWB. He received no information from Bhani he had not already had. But he had to be responsible to his seniors.
He got the arms from Umtata. Sebenzile was the courier. Morrison had already gone back. He gave a rifle to Bhani, retained one for himself and gave three to Ngesi to hide.
He gave the instruction to the commander "let us kill everything that is alive in that Supermarket". He said this as a normal person. You cannot give a gun to a person and not expect him to kill with that gun. The Director of Operations knew that people would be killed.
In the written application, nowhere did Khotle disclose the planning of killing of people. The objective is only listed as financially maintaining Apla. The instruction was only listed as that of fundraising operations. When this was put to him (by Mr Steenkamp on behalf of the victims) to explain, he said that if it was not in his application, he was at the hearing to add what was not written. The reason for the omission was a human error.
On further questioning by the chairperson Khotle said that part of the instruction he gave was explicitly not to kill or involve any-one of the oppressed who might have found themselves in the supermarket.
When asked by Mr Steenkamp how he reconciled this with his earlier evidence about killing everything alive, he said he understood Steenkamp's problem, but the hearing is continuing and he does not think it will be a problem. In re-examination by Mr Mbandazayo he said that he did not add the explanation originally but his instruction was to kill anything alive except the oppressed.
Bhani was sent to Welkom at his (Khotle's) request when he earlier visited Umtata.
When further questioned about this, he reverted to the position that the mission was to fight and to take money. That is how they operated at the time, during the period of oppression. He had though ever taken part in any such operation. He knew it because his superiors had told him, specifically Khotle.
The fifth Applicant, Morrisson, also testified. His evidence only related to the supply of weapons from Umtata to Welkom. The Deputy Director of operations in Umtata, Sipho, Bulelani Xuma sent him to take Sebenzile to Tabong in Welkom where they were to meet up with Khotle, to whom they had to hand the weapons and ammunition. Morrisson was in logistics and he knew when he was bringing the arms to Welkom that they were going to fight. he did not know though what the target would be. He cannot remember exactly what the weapons were but there were R4's, rifle grenades, grenades, and a lot of ammunition and fully loaded magazines. He had no further involvement.
The Sixth applicant, Mazete, testified that he drew up a map of the inside of the Supermarket at the request of Bhani. He did not know the reason, he was not told and he did not ask the reason. As a member of Task Force they were taught to "reconnaissance", that is why he was able to draw up the map.
The arms used in the attack were left in his place after the attack, but he did not know when this was done. Only after he had learned of the attack, did he realize that the map and the arms were used in the operation.
When further examined he said that when the weapons were dumped at his place by Bhani, he was requested to put those weapons in his house, but he was not told of the attack. He only realized the weapons were used in the attack after his arrest and they were all at the police station. When he drew up the map, it was in the presence of Bhani. No questions were asked or suggestions made. It seems to have happened in silence. He drew the map from memory as he knew the place well, being a patron.
He did see on occasion people in Uniform. Asked to describe the uniform more closely, he said he was speaking of normal Khaki clothes. He said that he knew the Supermarket to close at 20h00. He kept the weapons for about a month and then gave them to Paulos Mohlalo Mohapi for safekeeping. He denied having been paid for his part in the operation, or that any money was left in his custody. He told the police that R9,000 was left with him and that he was paid R50 because he was being tortured.
Mazete, when shown his application, denied that it was his signature on the documents. He denied that he had said the owner of the shop was the local chairman of the AWB. He did not raise that in the application he signed. He had no such knowledge.
He did not know that Bhani would replace him as area commander though. He was however aware that he would be called and sent somewhere because of the pressure he was under. He realized only that Bhani was a possible candidate from his own deductions. Ngesi was another.
In re-examination Khotle had no difficulty in identifying his enemy as the white people.
The fourth Applicant, Tshoane, also testified. He received instructions from Khotle to drive Ngesi, Sebenzile and Sibanda to Wesselsbron where they would meet Bhani who would explain the operation. When they arrived Bhani briefed them about the operation, told them he had made reconnaissance, how they were to accomplish the plan and asked them whether they had any problems. They all said no, they know the place. They were all supposed to enter and shoot the oppressors. He said Ngesi should shoot. Then Sibenzile should also enter and shoot. Sibanda was to stay at the door should there be interference from others with the plan.
He stayed in the car. The others came out of the supermarket, got into the car and they drove to the location where he dropped them off and with Sibanda left for Welkom to Tabong. The weapons were left in Wesselsbron.
Tsoane too in his evidence on being asked whether he had anything to say about the loss of life, said those people were supposed to die. They oppressed the black people. Questioned by Steenkamp on behalf of the victims as to why he wrote in his application that the owner of the Supermarket was the AWB - chairperson, he said he was so told by Khotle. He confirmed that his understanding was that the target was chosen because the owner was the local chair of the AWB and the place frequented by AWB - members. He was told this a week before the attack, when they were discussing with Khotle the investigations he (Khotle) had made of movements of people who frequented the Supermarket. He did not however mention anything about a planned attack. They discussed the AWB merely because he knew that they were fighting the AWB. He wrote in his application that the operation was a success as one AWB-member died and one white Policeman was killed, he got this information from the newspapers. He was not a member of Apla but merely of the Task Force. He was trained in the Transkei to engage in political struggle.
Asked by Steenkamp how the money was taken away, he said they carried it in their pockets. On further questioning by the panel it emerged that he was repeating the evidence given by Ngesi. He then said that he did not even know that any money was taken until he heard Ngesi's evidence. No one ever told him. He did not see any money and he did not know about it.
When asked by the committee again to explain to them the objective of the operation as he understood it, he said that it was to fight those who were oppressing them in their land.
The form was filled in by people who represented him while he was telling them what happened. He did not say that they started shooting when they entered the shop.
Neither the signature, nor an initial on his application, was his. He did not say that an AWB member was killed. He was never a member of Apla, as was stated in his application. He was the general secretary of PASO and a member of Task Force. The weapons were never used for any other attack. To the best of his knowledge he did tell the police of the R50 and R9000, that is why he included it in his statement but it was not true.
He said he learnt of the attack by rumour and by the police in the Township streets. When questioned about the R9000, he said he heard it on the radio the day after the attack. He cannot remember for sure whether the amount was mentioned. He thinks it just came out of his head to say R9000.
In re-examination by Mr Mbandazayo, he said that the signature on the application was indeed his signature. It is the application that he filled in, assisted by people at Grootvlei prison. To resolve the situation he was asked by the Committee to provide a specimen signature, which turned out to be very similar to the signature on the application form.
When confronted with evidence by the investigating officer Major Hugo, at the trial that he took Major Hugo to a zinc structure where three R4 rifles, eight magazines and 197 bullets were dug up, he said they were the same weapons Bhani asked him to hide. They were buried there by himself and Mohape. Asked why he had earlier said he gave the weapons to Mohape and never saw them again, he said that when they were taken out by Hugo, they were wrapped in a parcel he could not see the weapons.
On behalf of the victims, evidence was lead by Mr Steenkamp. The first witness was Mr Pedro Ignatius de Castro. His wife Maria Fatima de Castro was killed in the incident. It was a Saturday night at about two minutes to 21h00. He was in the back of the Supermarket attending to one of his workers, Phuli, Solomon Setsuro, who wanted to borrow money, when suddenly he heard people screaming and one gunshot going off. They both ran to the door from the bakery side onto the supermarket. He saw some men. One was carrying what looked like a R4 or AK47. It was very long. He had a briefcase with him. He was smartly dressed.
He pointed Bhani out as this person. He saw his brother Giovanni, his late father-in-law, Kleynhans and his brother in law Sparkham all with their arms in the air. Setsuru (Phuli) started shouting and the men started shooting at them at the back of the bakery. They then ran out the back door. They climbed over a wall and then heard further shots going off. They ran for help. When he returned he just saw everybody lying down, killed and injured. Five people were killed, his wife, Kleynhans Senior, Sparkham and two employees of Telkom. His brother John and Henk and Susan Viljoen were injured. When he left, they were seen with their hands in the air. When he returned he found them shot on the same place where they were standing. His mother's family were there that night at the supermarket, waiting for him as they were going to have a braai. Normally they would close at 20h50 or 20h55 and it would only be his brother and he in the shop. There was about R200,000 in the shop, some in the safe and some under the tills. Nobody in the shop was armed. Neither he nor his brother owned a gun. He did not know whether AWB - supporters would ever visit his shop. He would not know the difference. He was not involved in politics. He does not believe that they came to kill people when at that time there would 99,9% of the time be only the two people closing the business.
He believes they came to rob. It was not trading time, it was closing time.
Before starting his cross-examination, Mr Mbandazayo offered his personal condolences with the loss of De Castro's wife and ironically added that he felt he was expressing the view of the applicants.
De Castro denied that they immediately started shooting people. They only started shooting when they realized things were going wrong for them. When he came from the bakery, no one had been shot. The actual money lost was approximately R8700, part of it comprising of cheques. He did not believe it to have been political. Apla never claimed responsibility for the attack.
Joao Avalero De Castro then testified. He was co-owner of the Supermarket. He had just moved house the previous day and some of his family members came over to his house. They helped him move. They came to the shop that night after having watched rugby at home. They were the late Andries Darker, late George Kleynhans and Giovanni Kleynhans and one Frikkie. They came over and waited for him to close the shop and they would go home together.
Susan and Hendrik Viljoen were having chips and viennas and he himself was having a Russian. He was then standing at the tills where his in-laws were. His wife was at the till as well as Peter's wife and two other persons who had earlier come in. He heard his sister-in-law, Fatima de Castro, scream and then saw four armed black men very quickly walking into the store. They were about 2 - metres away from him, two facing him and two on the other side. They said "Money, lie down".
He then opened two of the four tills, tried to open a third but the key was not in the till. As the people went to lie down, the other men were taking the money out of the till. One shot at the till which he could not open. The others were then shooting all over the place. He lay down, his hands covering his head, praying. They took the money and cheques in one of the tills, two tills were empty and they could not open the fourth till. As they were all lying on the floor, the people were shooting all over the place. He was shot in the foot. The attackers left as quickly as they appeared. He denied any AWB links, even support for a specific political party. He does not believe the attack to be political. They demanded money, ordered them to lie down and to open the tills.
The damages they sustained inside the store, including the cash and cheques must have been about R100,000. The store was closed for two weeks.
Under cross-examination by Mr Mbandazayo on behalf of the Applicants he insisted that the victims were shot where they were lying down. His brother in law, Parker was shot while on his knees. He denies that a woman opened the till. He did it. He was the one who opened the tills. On questions from the committee, he said that they could only get money from one of the tills. The bulk of the money was in the safe. The one till they shot at, they could not open. That till had some money in it. His wife immediately lay down on the floor at the till. Frikkie was an employee of his mother-in-law. He was not wounded.
The police station is not near the Supermarket as the applicants testified. It is the furthest of all the Supermarkets in town. The police station was about 5 blocks away from the Supermarket. Policemen were among their customers and would sometimes enter the store in uniform. He would not be able to identify AWB members. His wife tried to open the third till. He went to lie down as soon they fired at that till. His wife was lying down close to where his deceased sister-in-law was.
Under further cross-examination by Mr Mbandazayo he insisted that all four of the attackers used their weapons.
Mazete was recalled. He said that Ngesi and Bhani approached him around 21h00 on July 3 and they buried the weapons in his shack. There were other people he did not know. Ngesi buried the weapons. Ngesi was one of the people he did not know. Sipho gave him R10 and he went to a public house. He did say in his statement that he left R9000 with him but that was not true. The amount of R9000 just came to his head.
Mazete was lead on a statement which he had made before magistrate; Exhibit E, in which he stated that on the 18th of June Khotle had asked him to hide weapons in his shack, which he did, and that on 3rd July they dug up the weapons and took them to the chairman of the PAC branch in Manyakeng, one Shimee, also known as Andrew. He denied the truth of the contents, saying he fabricated this story in order for the police to release him. On being shown that such statement would not lead to his release but to a conviction, he changed his version saying he was satisfying the police in order for them to cease their torture. The name, Rider, in the statement is not known to him. He did not mention that name in the statement he made to the police. He remembers though seeing the name Rider on a photo shown to him. On further questioning he says he remembers the photo was one of Bhani. When he said he did not know who Rider was, he meant to say he did not know Bhani by that name. Later he said they told them Rider and Sipho was the same person. But the police disputed that. He said that he told the magistrate that the amount stolen was R9000.00, that they counted the money and that he was given R50.00 because he had already told this to the police. When pointed out to him that this appears nowhere in his statement to the police, he persisted that he told the magistrate under threat of the police he had never seen any of the money.
Mr Mbandazayo then reopened the question of Mazete's signature. He provided another specimen signature, very similar to the first and to that on the application form.
He was also asked about initials on the application next to an amended paragraph which he earlier denied was his. He said that he realized that it was his initials, but as he did not like the contents in the form, he denied what he knew to be his signature and initials.
Having heard the evidence of the applicants, the committee is aware there are certain contradictions and inconsistencies in the evidence of the applicants. The committee was not satisfied that the applicants were candid and frank as can be shown from the summary of the evidence above. However those issues where they were not so candid relate only to the peripheral issues and not to the core or material aspects of the application. The committee accepts that this incident occurred during what was referred to as the year of the great storm. The amnesty committee has considered numerous applications from PAC/APLA members applying for amnesty for similar robberies and unprovoked killings of white persons during this period and the committee accepts that such conduct was in fact party policy at that time.
The committee is therefore satisfied that the attack on Sentra Hyperserve Wesselbron Supermarket was committed with a political objective and the applicants have made a full disclosure as to their motive as well as what actually took place at the Supermarket.
In the circumstances amnesty is GRANTED to the applicants in respect of all offences and or delicts flowing from or incidental to the attack on Wesselbron Supermarket on 3rd July 1993.
The following victims will be referred to the Reparations & Rehabilitation Committee.
Families of the deceased victims who are:
1. Michael Andries Sparkhams
2. George Christiaan Frederick Kleynhans
3. Herbert Jacobus Van Niekerk
4. Johannes Arnoldus Lourens
5. Maria Fatima de Castro
Injured victims
1. Joao Avelono de Castro
2. Susana Catharina Viljoen
3. Hendrik Viljoen
SIGNED AT CAPE TOWN THIS THE
: DAY OF
: 2000
JUDGE A WILSON
ADVOCATE S SIGODI
MR W MALAN
