MS BURTON
Sophia Lucas to come to the platform - press the little grey button. It’s all right Ms Lucas you can take your time and just calm yourself - [indistinct] or do you want to speak in English? Are you able to hear the translation - thank you.
The first thing I have to ask you is if you are willing to swear the oath - please stand then.
SOPHIA PAMELA LUCAS Duly sworn states
MS BURTON
Thank you - you can sit down, thank you very much. Ms Lucas you are the aunt of Michael Lucas of whom we have been speaking and you - he lived with you so you were like his mother. Would you like to tell us about your experience of the time that he was sentenced and tried.
MS LUCAS
Firstly I would like to say I was working - after he was being caught, I was going up and down to Cape Town during the court case, that was his mother. He went up to Cape Town three times to the courts.
Most of the time during the struggle time I was a worker, by the time he was sentenced, the court cases were - that was his mother, was moving up and down. I just can remember when was Mike being sentenced, but I can - I can remember that it was March, policeman came to me at work - they come and told me that Mike was being sentenced to life - he was going to be hanged on Friday.
We didn’t know whether Mike had committed the crime, they said Mike has shot a policeman. Police said they will take me to Fort Beaufort and then from there I will take a train to Pretoria and [indistinct] they came and tell me that on Wednesday, when I arrived hom, I told my sister that situation. Our church priest, Father Bailey came as soon as he could, he came to give condolences and give us support, he said he will support us with finance and we will go to Pretoria. We were taken to Pretoria by Father Bailey.
The most painful part of this situation my - was Mike the only first criminal that his case could just take only one month and be hanged during that month? That was the only question and it’s still the only question in our minds.
MS BURTON
Thank you Ms Lucas - your Grace perhaps you would allow me to tell Ms Lucas that after we had received her statement, we did speak to the advocate who represented Michael Lucas and brought a plea for clemency after he had been sentenced to death. And he did tell us that although it was in fact a very short time between the time that Michael Lucas was sentenced, and executed that all the procedures, the legal procedures were properly followed.
That it was a time when those decisions were being taken quickly and the case was processed quickly. But she should know that - that legally the procedures were properly followed.
Michael was charged together with two others in this case - the other two people were Jerome Myo and Eric Phote and they both escaped having the death penalty passed on them. Partly because of the evidence which Michael Lucas gave. The Court did not believe all of his evidence, but he was able to avoid the other two receiving the death sentence. And we can’t know that, but maybe that was part of his objective in the evidence that he did give. And perhaps afterwards I could take a little more to Ms Lucas about what advocate Michael Donen told me about this case.
CHAIRPERSON
Thank you - that’s all - any questions yes Joyce Seroke.
MS SEROKE
Mamma Lucas - how old was Michael?
MS LUCAS
He was born in 1964.
MS SEROKE
And when he was hanged - he was - how old was he?
MS LUCAS
He was 23.
MS SEROKE
Are you sure because according to this documents some test were even made to check whether he was under 18.
MS LUCAS
Michael was born in 1964.
CHAIRPERSON
Mary Burton?
MS BURTON
In response to the questions about his age, the lawyers who were representing him and who were trying to do their best for him, believed that he was under age and they used that as the argument in mitigation of sentence. But in fact it was demonstrated that he was over aged and that was one reason that the appeal was refused and he was in fact executed.
CHAIRPERSON
Dr Ramashala.
DR RAMASHALA
Chairperson I wanted to ask Ms Lucas what she would like the Commission to do for her.
MS LUCAS
Mostly Mike left a young child who is in Sub A.
DR RAMASHALA
[indistinct] about who is raising the child and how the child is doing right now.
MS LUCAS
She had been - the child had been with the grand mother and then thereafter was taken by the mothers family, the child’s mother’s family.
DR RAMASHALA
Ms Lucas you stated that the police kept coming to your house to look for Michael and that when they got to the house, they were very rude. Could you tell us a little bit what they did and how they spoke to you and what you went through with them as they were looking for Michael.
MS LUCAS
The police - when they - when they police came to look for Mike, they would come in a convoy which would fill the whole of Bhongolethu, when they entered - when Captain Marx entered, you must huddle into any corner, because you couldn’t - the police didn’t even want you to look at them, your house would be turned upside down and they would leave no stone unturned and then you would have to pick up the pieces afterwards.
They way Marx talked I wouldn’t come anywhere near because sometimes he would say, staan soontoe, stand this way, I remember the last time when Mike was taken they woke me up whilst I was still in bed. They were rushing me around they were turning everything upside down in the house. They didn’t respect any place, you couldn’t even ask what they were looking for, you just have to look at them all the time.
CHAIRPERSON
Mary - Mary Burton.
MS BURTON
Your Grace if you will allow me, [indistinct] allow me I think perhaps it would be helpful to us although we not in any position to make judgements on their findings but to record that the person who was killed in the incident in which Michael Lucas was charged, was a person who could also turn out to be a victim in terms of our enquiries. He was a bus inspector who was protecting the buses in a time of a bus boycott in the area and he - he either had links with or had worked for the Security Police in the area.
We have not received a statement from - from his family, but is it something that we will need to pursue, and I wondered whether you would allow me to read briefly from advocate Donen’s letter to the State President, asking for clemency on behalf of Michael Lucas, because I think it helps to establish the context.
CHAIRPERSON
Yes, please do yes.
MS BURTON
Thank you - he says:
Even if a Court of Law understands the misguided frustration of person’s in Michael’s position, the connection between misguided frustration and extenuation, is to tenuous to constitute extenuation for the purposes of Law.
But you Mr State President, being better informed that the legal profession is, posses a better understanding of how a young man with idealistic religious and political believes such as Michael Lucas can be caught up in a spiral of violence which eventually leads him in the absence of any genuine political opposition to charge at political windmills such as bus services with fatal consequences.
I therefore appeal to you to attempt to appreciate Michael’s frustration and on this ground to mitigate his sentence.
I submit further more that there are sound quality reasons not to execute Michael. Bhongolethu the black township outside Oudtshoorn, is one of the most economically deprived townships in the Western Cape.
Economic depravation is one of the basic reasons why Michael became involved in this so-called freedom struggle which inevitably led to his downfall.
The township was caught up in the spiral of violence which designated this country during 1985. The bitter deception between the black community and the white, as well as between a large proportion of Bhongolethu’s population, and the black persons who allegedly collaborated with the white authorities, grows.
Some [indistinct] or another Michael’s community perceive the resort to violence as a solution to the economic depravation. Michael himself as the evidence at his trial revealed, was a committed Christian and was well regarded by his community. As such he is capable of rehabilitation and his community would regard his execution with horror.
I therefore respectfully submit to you Mr State President, that the commuting of his death sentence, as a matter of strategic policy would serve to a swage tensions in the community of Bhongolethu and allow the sentence which he actually receives to serve as a symbol of reconciliation rather than confrontation.
CHAIRPERSON
Thank you very much - mamma - one of the things the Commission has been asked to do is to - is to help reparations to the people to compensate people who have been mishandled to return to them their dignity, the dignity that has been taken away by that treatment like yours telling us that when the police came, in your house you - this particular captain, you was very rude, he just disregarded people as things.
From our side we say all that should be something that we resolve not to see again happening to other people, so that you also can be seen as a valuable human being. You are a human being who was made in the image of God. You have the humanity which needs to be respected.
So we say in those few words, may you get the comfort and have the strength even when you think about this, you control yourself by the knowledge that there are many people who share - who sympathise with you, you have many friends. We thank you very much.
MS LUCAS
Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON
You can go back to your sister.
