DR RANDERA: Chairperson, we would like to ask Garekwe Surprise Thekiso to come forward.
I would like to welcome Mrs Africa to the hearing. She is the wife of the MEC for Housing and Local Government.
GAREKWE THEKISO: (sworn states)
CHAIRPERSON: Will you please take us through your statement and tell us your story. We have a very limited reference, because we have only a single page of your statement. Take your time, please tell us fully what it is about and help us in understanding what it is. Please go ahead.
MR THEKISO: I was in 1990, November, October actually. Rophilwe were given study leave for a week. It was in the morning. Just after taking a bath as I was preparing to go to school, I was putting on my school uniform and I just heard a loudspeaker, shouting outside that the whole community of Huhudi shall gather in Huhudi Community Hall. Everybody shall go there. No one should go to work, no one should go to school, but go to the community hall.
And I was surprised at what was happening. And I stopped putting on my school uniform and decided to put on my casual clothes. I left the house. I made my way to the community hall.
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When I got there I found that people were already gathered there. There were so many people already. And I was there at the back. There were so many people in front of me.
I could hardly understand and tried to follow what was happening. And I tried to ask, what was happening. And they said to me, the previous night Killer Yakwe was killed by the police, and the brother also was beaten up by the police. So that was the reason why they gathered in the community hall. And that was clear to me.
There was the police tendency in Huhudi, I don't understand whether they could not use their common sense - when there were problems in the community there was an order that they would only give you there minutes and you must be dispersed after those three minutes. They would give us those three minutes and thereafter there would be chaos. There was smoke in the air, teargas, and we started running away, because we were afraid of that teargas.
Even seeing that we gave up and ran away they actually went on spraying teargas and running after us. And we also felt like revenging, you know, getting the stones and throwing the stones at them. Actually when we did that we aggravated the whole situation. The police got mad.
This took place for quite some time, up until one. If I remember quite well, it was around one. There was just confusion, you couldn't tell what was happening. Cars were burning. It was so painful. Some people were shot. I decided, now let me go home and put on my tekkies and I'll come back. We were at Marudi. Marudi is closer to where my place was and I could watch the police, the way they were going to.
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I saw two policemen, two white policemen. They were very young policemen, I wouldn't understand whether they were SAP or whether they taken and given the uniform so that they could act as police, because it mean that the black people have started again with the trouble. There were heavy big rifles in position and when they shot, I was the person who liked to watch the Grensvegter comic, every time they tried to shoot this Grensvegter he would jump away. And when they shoot I tried to jump away like this Grensvegter, but when I stood on my feet I felt a bit cold on my cheek like running water. When I checked I found it was blood. It was on my left side. When I checked on the other side, didn't this bullet passed through to my right side, but I found nothing.
And then I entered the yard and returned to the room where I found my other friend sitting down. I sat together with them and they checked where the blood was coming from. They asked what happened to me.
Later we found out that it was a pellet gun shot and by that time I closed my eyes, because I was experiencing some dizziness. Blood was flowing from the left side of my face and Jomo Gasu arrived in a car and tried to take me away.
There were many of us injured by this pellet gun shots. They took us to the surgery of Dr Guru. There Dr Guru referred me to Vryburg Hospital.
When I got to Vryburg Hospital I opened my eyes. That was only when I could open my eyes and see. Suddenly at the hospital they told that they could not actually give me treatment.
They took me to Kimberley Hospital. When I got to Kimberley Hospital there was a doctor, but I don't know the MMABATHO HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
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doctor actually. He gave me treatment. He treated my eyes the way he did it and he put some cotton wool on my eye. I could only use one eye - my right eye.
We actually had study leave at school, that was the week. And the week was going along. Everyday I was guarded by police who called me stone thrower. In the evening I was guarded. During the day they would come to me to take a statement.
The statement they took from me, the is the police from Kimberley, who were in Vryburg, they came to me to take a statement in Afrikaans. I said to them, no, I can't understand this language of yours. I can communicate with you in English or Setswana. And then he asked me, how can you answer me now, whilst you don't understand Afrikaans. I said when you talk I can understand to a certain extent but later I have a problem hearing you or understanding. The best thing is for us to communicate in English.
There was the other guy who was a boer. He was bit strange. He had this scar on his face. On the other side he was rough. I would ask myself whether he was a policeman or not. He insisted that I make my statement in Afrikaans. I said, no, I couldn't do that. They then agreed that I should make my statement in English, about what happened. And later on they said, you are lying man. What you are telling us are lies.
And then I said how can you ask a statement from me, whilst I'm telling you say I lie. Therefore, it means
that you must know what has happened. Therefore, give me
a statement, in stead of asking it from me. They then said, you have a big neck, hey.
We were at the fourth floor at Kimberley Hospital and MMABATHO HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
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they showed me the ground and they said, can you see down there. I said yes and they said we are going to throw you down there and you will die. And we will tell the people you tried to run away from the hospital.
And I told them, no, when I die - there's no one who will jump out of this high building and I wouldn't be the first one to die, being killed by the police. There were many people who had been killed by the police before. Therefore, my name would be in the history books that I died for the people and I was killed by the police, because seemingly it was their job to kill people.
Some of them were angry and they went away and the others stayed with me. I stayed there for about a whole week and then I asked them on a Friday at the hospital, next week I have to write a test, therefore, I would like to go home, so that I can write. They then discharged me from the hospital.
They gave me a date on which I had to return to Kimberley. I went home that time, writing the test, using only one eye. And I had enormous pains while I was writing the test, but I managed to write.
The time came for me to attend the hospital at Kimberley and my grandmother with whom I was staying gave me the money to go to Kimberley. And when I arrived at Kimberley they removed the thing they put in my eye and I couldn't see any more. And then I asked him... The doctor said to me there is nothing I could do to help you. Your eye won't be better again. When I felt my eye the pellet was still there. It was not removed. I lost my sight. I'm only using one eye to see.
I left Kimberley and went to Vryburg and I was very MMABATHO HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
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frustrated by then. I was very angry at what happened to me. I stayed at home and I told brother Joe Mogasu and brother Hoffie, who tried to send me to doctors in Kimberley, but nothing helped.
Whilst I was still at home the police came to me. They said they wanted to see me in their office regarding something. I can't remember the street name in which those offices were, but they were police offices and those offices were near the Magistrate's court.
There they took their experts and we drove to the location where I was shot. And when we arrived there they investigated in their own way, asking me the position I was in when the police shot me. Those were the type of questions they asked me. Thereafter they told me, we have finished, you can go home now. And then I went home.
One time as I was at home they came also. They told me there was no case against me. I am free now.
I was surprised and I was wondering what was happening. I actually took the paper and I throw it away. I was actually lost and I didn't know what was happening, but today I feel bad because my left eye has been deformed and I cannot go on with life this way.
CHAIRPERSON: Would you mind responding to a few questions that we may have. I will put the first one to you.
In your statement and in your testimony you said that you were shot with a pellet gun. Is that an air gun or what is pellet gun? If you will excuse my ignorance and tell me what is this, is it a rubber bullet or what is it?
MR THEKISO: Actually a pellet is something like a round eye, like the one they use on bicycles. I can't remember what they call them, but they are similar. It seems they MMABATHO HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
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were used to shoot at birds. Sometimes I hear people calling them bird shots, something like that.
CHAIRPERSON: It was a shotgun, shooting the bird shots. Lots of pellets with one shot, or was it single pellets?
MR THEKISO: I didn't understand the question.
CHAIRPERSON: The question is not all that important. Was it one of these pellets that struck you, but more of them fired simultaneously or was it a gun that was firing them one by one - the pellets.
MR THEKISO: If I understand your question well, what struck me was a pellet, which was coming from a pellet gun. It looked liked a R1 rifle, it was big inside.
CHAIRPERSON: Can you tell me were you actively involved in politics at the time or was it simply an incident where you attended or responded to this call to go to the Community Hall?
MR THEKISO: I was not so active in politics, but what I did was, when our community was dissatisfied about anything they would call us to a meeting. We would meet and if there was a problem we would try to solve that problem. If the police dispersed us as they usually did by shooting teargas, we tried to retaliate.
CHAIRPERSON: This issue of the type of gun, the pellet gun. Was it your impression that it was a type of gun that the pellet that was used, could kill people, like a bullet?
MR THEKISO: I've haver heard that a pellet has killed a person.
CHAIRPERSON: I have no further questions.
DR RANDERA: Mr Thekiso, can you just tell us what are you doing now?
MR THEKISO: I'm doing nothing.
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CHAIRPERSON: You say the pellet is still there. Is it under your skin or is it under the bone?
MR THEKISO: I should think it is under my skin because when I touch it I can feel it. Therefore, I think it is under my skin.
CHAIRPERSON: Are you totally blind in that left eye.
MR THEKISO: Absolutely, yes, absolutely.
CHAIRPERSON: So, is it possible that there are other pellets in your eye itself. What caused the blindness. What did the doctors at Kimberley say?
MR THEKISO: It is the injury I sustained because of being shot by this pellet and this injury blinded me altogether.
DR RANDERA: I just want to come back to the date you have given us. We can get over that very quickly.
Mrs Yakwe when she talked about Mompati Joseph yesterday, talked about the 19th of October when her grandson was killed. And you are saying it was the 10th of October. Is it just a difficulty in remembering the dates?
MR THEKISO: Ja, I told the statement takers it was around that time. I am not sure about the date, but what I'm sure of is the month only.
DR RANDERA: My last question is. What are your expectations of the Truth Commission?
MR THEKISO: Since I have been blinded I started to be a very shy person. I wasn't able to dispose my deformity to my colleagues and my girlfriend, who would be surprised to hear today that all the time she has been in love with someone who use one eye. Therefore, if the Commission have those powers to receive a transplantation for me I would be very happy.
And then another thing that ......
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...... I forgive them or if they would give me a pellet gun so I could shoot at them as they shot at me.
If it is possible it would be better if the TRC was available at that time. Knowing by that time the government belonged to the Nationalists I would say the government of the Nationalists should compensate and give me enough money because they are the ones also who caused me to be what I am today. But fortunately we now have the government that I have always wished for. Therefore, the Commission can help me in either way they can.
DR RANDERA: We like to thank you. We heard about your requests. We are the Commission of Reconciliation. I don't think we will be able to bring forward the people who shot you so that you can shoot them, but we hope that if you meet them you would talk about peace and reconciliation.
We have heard about the other request about your eye and like we said yesterday and today we don't have the power to promise you a transplant to your eye. You would be referred to the relevant persons who would be able to help you maybe later.
We are happy for you to come here, to come and share with us your story which is very hurting and we would like to thank you very much for that.
