CHAIRPERSON: Alishia Bukiwe Galela, Dr Faizel Randera will conduct the testimony. He will also administer the oath before he starts. Mrs Galela may I welcome you to the stand and I hope that you are comfortable and we are eagerly waiting to listen to your testimony and Dr Randera will help you with that.
DR RANDERA: Thank you Chairperson. Mrs Galela you are going to tell us about Biyose Hamilton Galela. I am going to help you as you tell your story if there are any problems. But before I do that and allow you to tell your story can you please stand to take the oath.
ALISHIA BUKIWE GALELA: (sworn states)
DR RANDERA: Thank you Mrs Galela. Mrs Galela this is your time, please take your time in telling your story. You can go ahead, thank you.
MRS GALELA: It was in September in the morning on a Monday, but he was shot in the evening at the hostel. Or there was a shooting on a Sunday evening, it was an Inkatha shooting. Then on Monday in the morning my husband heard rumours that there was a shooting at the hostel. We had relatives at the hostel because we are Xhosa and we come from the rural areas. Then he came to tell me that he was going to the hostel to go and investigate, see if the relatives were not injured. He went out, it was at about eight in the morning, then he went heading to the hostel. As soon as he had gone out I felt that I should also follow
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but I had my doubts. Then he got to the hostel and there Inkatha had been inside the hostel. There were clothes inside the hostel but I don't know what hostel it was that the Inkatha was there and they were watching the Inkatha so that they could not escape and at that time soldiers came to the vicinity. They told them to come to a particular spot and they must sit down. They said they must sit down and be calm. Then they sat down. They knelt on their knees at that moment, as they were still on their knees after a few moments they were sprayed with teargas, they sprayed teargas on them as they were still kneeling. According to my child who was there she told me that she saw her father who was at a distance and the teargas affected their eyes and they were trying to run away from the teargas. That is when my husband got shot. It was on a Monday. There was no transport because there was some sort of a boycott on that particular Monday. There was absolutely no transport at that time. My elder child asked me where the father was and I explained that the father had gone to the hostel and I knew nothing. He also went out to go and see his friends then he came back and asked whether the father had not come back. I said the father had not come back. Then he started shaking. Then he started telling me that it meant that whatever he saw was the truth but I didn't know what he was referring to. He went out the door. I took a R2,00 coin and my intention was to head for the hostel because I also wanted to investigate as to what had actually happened.
CHAIRPERSON: Take your time, if you want relax a little bit or have a glass of water please relax and when you feel you are right to continue then you may continue.
MRS GALELA: I took a R2,00 coin and I went outside of the
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house and I went towards the tarred road, that is the main road because I thought there was transport and my intention was to go to the hostel. I stood for quite a long time there waiting for the taxi and I saw there was some violence. There was absolutely no calm. At that time a youth appeared and asked me what I was doing there. I went on my feet to the hostel because there was absolutely no transport. When I got to the hostel I could not see anything amiss, I could not see any people. I went back into the house, it was on a Monday and on Tuesday we went to search for him at the hospital. We could not get him. Then on a Wednesday we went back to the hospital and we tried to search for him, but we just could not get him anywhere. Then we heard a rumour that if I couldn't get him at the hospital I might as well try to look at the mortuary. Then I went to the mortuary to search for my husband and I got him. He was dead. As a person who disappeared on a Monday what was happening through all these other days because I only got him on a Thursday, what was happening to him all these other days? Because I got him on a Thursday and he was dead already.
We went to Transkei to bury my husband. We stayed in Transkei and my eldest son who had seen the whole incident taking place came back to Johannesburg. After quite some time we received a call that we were wanted in Johannesburg because the culprit who had shot my husband had been arrested, and we were wanted. We had to appear in court. My eldest son went to court. The case was remanded and we were told that we would be notified. We waited and waited to be called to go to court but up till today we haven't been called. But we got a Vaal Vision newspaper, we read it, HRV/810 that/...
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that my husband had been killed by John Booysen who was a soldier.
Now my question is as he had been instructed to sit down and be calm why was he shot because he was not fighting?
The second question is at the time that he was shot he was kneeling down, he was on his knees, what had he done? And after he had shot him, knowing fully well that he had shot him, why didn't he come to us to notify us that my husband had been shot and killed, because I had to go up and down trying to look for my husband. My children had to go out of the school because I had problems financially. Even today I still encounter problems. Now I have told myself that I am a widow because of Booysen. What was all the reason behind this?
Now I will request this Commission, I just want to tell this Commission that I do not have much to say but I want my eldest son who was there to elaborate because he saw this incident taking place.
DR RANDERA: Mrs Galela the pain is most certainly still there, just take your time. Have you finished?
MRS GALELA: Yes I have finished.
DR RANDERA: Can you just introduce these two young people who have come since you came onto the stage, are they your sons?
MRS GALELA: Yes they are both my sons. One was present when this incident took place.
DR RANDERA: Can you introduce them to us please.
MRS GALELA: The other one is Witness and the other one is Caswell.
DR RANDERA: Who was with your husband on the day?
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MRS GALELA: It is Witness.
DR RANDERA: Mrs Galela I am going to take your request. Your son Witness is here. I am going to ask him briefly to tell us what happened on that day.
MRS GALELA: Thank you.
DR RANDERA: Mrs Galela, Witness can you please tell us what happened.
WITNESS GALELA: On that day I woke up early in the morning. I left my mother in the house and I went outside. I came across people who were telling me that the Zulus had been arrested at the hostel. I was very interested to see what was actually happening because it was going to be my first day. I went to the hostel. I don't know what the name of the hostel is but that block was the Railway Block. And we got there we saw them wearing overalls. They were inside and they were surrounded by police. As we were still standing there I saw my father, but I really doubted to go to him. Then I went to the other side of the road and I peeped through the hole to see the whole incident. And the Zulus were right inside the hostel. As we were still watching all that was happening just behind us there came a soldiers Caspir and we turned around to face them to see what they had come to do. They got out of their Caspirs, nobody threw any stones at them, nobody was aggressive, we were just peeing through the hole to see what was happening at the hostel. All of them got out of the Caspirs and they formed sort-of a guard of honour and they were facing us. Just at that moment there was a group, we were a group, there were many of us, and we were facing them. We restrained ourselves, we told ourselves that we should just sit down. My father at that moment was at a distance which
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I could equate to the door that I am looking at. As we were sitting down, because there were many of us, we were all sitting down from the front up to the back, just before the last row at the back sat down we just heard a loud explosion and we realised that we were being thrown with a teargas canister. And out of the corner of my eye I could see my father because he was at a distance. And I didn't want to really face him because somehow I was scared. I saw him, it was as if he was trying to stand up and at that particular moment I ran away.
Just when I was on the other side of the street I had this doubt, I suspected that my father was trying to stand up but now I can't see him anywhere. And now he was right at the front. Now he could not have been able to walk quite quickly. At that moment I was very confused. I didn't know what to think. I asked myself whether he was able to stand and run away, but I told myself at the same moment that he was an elderly man and he could not run as fast as we could. I went back to look for my father, and when I went there I looked but I could not see any trace that he was there. I ran around trying to look for him but I could not find him anywhere. I kept on looking and I had this doubt in my mind that my father couldn't have run away. Probably something happened to him because he's an elderly man and he looked like he had a problem standing up and he had a very big build. And I felt in my heart of hearts that something had happened.
I went straight home and I asked my mother whether my father had come back. My mother said no he hadn't yet come back. I didn't tell my mother.
DR RANDERA: I am going to stop you there now please.
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Thank you very much for your account of what happened at the time of your father's shooting. Thank you very much. Mrs Galela I just want to ask you a few more questions before I hand back to the Chairperson. You said your husband went to the hostel because there were some relatives living there, was your husband involved in any political organisation at the time?
MRS GALELA: No he was not involved in politics. He was not involved in politics at all.
DR RANDERA: How old was your husband and what work was he doing at the time?
MRS GALELA: He was born in 1937. I am not sure how old he is but he was born in 1937. I think he was plus/minus 50 at that time he died, but I am not very sure. He was quite old when he died and he had just stopped working.
DR RANDERA: Mrs Galela you did report this to the police, can you just tell us was there an inquest held?
MRS GALELA: After my husband died, as we had gone home to bury him but there was Witness at the house, there was also another youth, now I was left because I had to be in mourning. I am told that the police arrived and they said that we were wanted. We had to appear at the Vereeniging court. Now they asked as to why they were wanted because they were not the ones who had committed the offence and the police who had come to give us the message they told us that we were wanted with regard to Hamilton's shooting so that the person who shot him might appear in court. Because I was not there at the moment Witness went to appear at the Vereeniging court and the case was remanded and we were told that we were going to be informed at a later date as to when the case was going to be held. Witness phoned us so that we HRV/810 come/...
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may come here. When we got here in Johannesburg there is not even a single policeman or any investigator who came to see us to find out more information with regard to my husband. Then thereafter we read it from the Vaal Vision that John Booysen, who is a soldier, is the one who had killed my husband and he had killed him by mistake. But we never actually appeared in court.
DR RANDERA: Thank you Mrs Galela. I think in your statement you said that you couldn't remember the date and at the end of it you said it was on the 4th of September, I just want to remind ourselves and the audience as to what happened on that 4th of September. On that day there was a confrontation at Sebokeng Hostel between the South African Defence Force, the Police and Hostel residents. 11 hostel residents were shot dead by the troops. Over 42 were killed and scores were wounded at the hostel in a period of 24 hours after that.
MRS GALELA: My husband was killed on that very same date, that is the 4th of September. I think it was 1990 at the hostel.
DR RANDERA: Thank you Mrs Galela I don't have any more questions.
CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Seroke has a number of questions.
MS SEROKE: I have a few questions to ask you. You said your husband was taken to the Transkei for the funeral, what were the costs of the funeral and how did you meet the costs of the funeral, who paid for the funeral?
MRS GALELA: The reason why we had to bury him in Transkei was that people who were injured in hostel, Holomisa promised that he was going to help us ferry them to the Transkei. The cars and the buses came, they helped us ferry HRV/810 our/...
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our deceased to the Transkei so he carried the costs. He took our deceased to the Transkei.
MS SEROKE: Where is home?
MRS GALELA: I stay in Dudjwa.
MS SEROKE: And Holomisa gave you the money too?
MRS GALELA: No he only paid for the coffins.
MS SEROKE: What about the funeral expenses?
MRS GALELA: We met the funeral expenses. We had to pay all by ourselves.
MS SEROKE: When did you come back from Transkei? Are you staying in Vereeniging now?
MRS GALELA: We are residents here. We stay here, we go home on holidays, since I came back in 1990 after I received a call that I was wanted at the Vereeniging court.
MS SEROKE: We have heard your request that you want the policeman or the soldier to tell you as to why he shot your husband whereas your husband was kneeling together with other people, as well as that you want to know as to why your husband was kept for so many days and you were notified very late that your husband had died. We have an investigating unit within the TRC, we shall request them to make further investigations and proper investigations. Thank you very much.
CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Galela before I let you go let me say to you that as with the other witnesses we really do appreciate your coming to us and the fact that you brought your two sons, Witness and Caswell, with you. Thank you for your testimony. It is also part of the overall picture that we do have to complete. Can I say this from my heart Mrs Galela that we have listened to your story, you shared your pain with us. You know the first hearing of the TRC in the
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Eastern Cape at one stage there was a mother just like you and she told us the story of what happened to her son who was 14 years old and he was brutally murdered and tortured and it was as difficult for her to tell the story as it was for you today. After she had told her story I asked her during the lunch break, old mother was it worth your while to relive the pain, to tell the story, and she said "Yes, perhaps tonight I will sleep for the first time through the night". I do hope that this has been a healing experience for you and that you and your family will be able to live with this, and that you will be able to sleep through the night after telling your story. Thank you, thank you Witness, thank you Caswell, thank you for coming to us today. May the Lord bless you.
