MR MANTHATA: Our next witness is Komane Molapo. Komane Molapo.
DR RANDERA: Mr Molapo, good morning. Can you hear me clearly ?
MR MOLAPO: Yes, I can hear you.
DR RANDERA: Thank you. Mr Molapo could you please stand to take the oath.
MR MOLAPO: Before I could stand up I’d like to correct a name. It’s not Komane, it’s Komape.
DR RANDERA: Thank you. Will you just repeat after me. I swear that the story I’m about to tell, is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
KOMAPE MOLAPO: (sworn states)
DR RANDERA: Thank you.
MR MANTHATA: Thank you Komape. We heard that people shot you, not because they intended to shoot you. You just happened to be the victim, because you were there. What we call cross- fire. Could you please explain to us shortly how, how it happened that you got shot at the time.
MR MOLAPO: The youth have had a meeting just a week before Good Friday at Namagale Church. Before they dispersed, as they were dispersing one car hit one of the youths and the youths started to attack that car. They hit one soldier and the other soldiers were able to run away to their camps. After those kids left, they thought the one, that soldier had died. They went home but the others went to one hotel at Namagale.
When they arrived, just some few minutes after they arrived, I came to the hotel too. When I arrived there I was trying to speak to the employees of the hotel and they didn’t want to listen to me and those kids tried to explain what happened that day, to those women at the hotel. After a while we heard a gun shot which broke the doors at the reception of the hotel and the glasses were all over. I think it was three gun shots and the door broke down and after a while a handgrade, grenade was thrown into the hotel. I did not understand actually what hit me on my back, whether it was a handgrenade or the gun shot. I fell down but I could walk and I hid under a sofa.
From six in the evening until twelve I was seated there and after a while I heard some noises in the hotel. I crawled to those people and they happened to see me. They were there seated with the owner of the hotel and he managed to take us to the hospital.
What happened again that day is that there were other people who were with me there and they, he was, one of them was shot and he died instantly and that one was taken to the mortuary too and the others were taken to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, we found that they had arranged a doctor, a stand-by doctor for us and they tried to give me first aid and when the other people who dropped me at the hotel wanted to go back, I said I was leaving with them because I was frightened that the soldiers would come back to kill us. They assured me that there was security at the hospital and that’s when I accepted that I could sleep in the hospital.
I stayed at the hospital for a week and I was released after that and I went home. I used to go to the hospital to receive treatment and I was, I could go back to work. I could only work for a week, because I started to get sick again and my, finger could not heal properly and I was supposed to go back to the hospital and they cut it off. They amputated it.
After a while I was approached by Lebowa police and they were asking me to be a state witness. What they told me is that the owner of the hotel was trying to test whether his handgrenades were working. That’s how it happened.
On the day of the trial they only called the hotel manager’s employees to be other witnesses and I waited to be called but I was never called until to-day. I don’t know if I should proceed to case number two.
MR MANTHATA: You can continue, Sir.
MR MOLAPO: It was in 1987 in January. I cannot remember well the date but it was on Saturday. I went to that hotel but I was going to the bottle store. I was with a friend of mine and we were looking for some drinks there. When I wanted to buy some drinks some policemen approached me and there were many of them. More that twenty policemen from Lebowa. They said to me they were looking for me and that I should leave that place and they promised that they will release me to go back and buy my drinks. I went with them to go and talk with them.
When we got outside I realised that almost all the police cars were there to fetch me. They put me into their car and they took me to their police station. They put me at their reception at their station and they were ignoring me and, but they were helping other people at the station. At around past five they asked me what I knew about the people’s court. I told them that I knew nothing about the police, people’s court and I told them I didn’t even know what animal was that one and they told me that they heard that I was the magistrate for that people’s court. I told them that I wanted to see that person who reported that I was the magistrate of that people’s court that I did not know anything about. I was left in a room with only three policemen and the fourth one came in to guard me at the back and the fifth one came again to stop the other entrance which went into the other cells. They asked me to lie down so that they could beat me up. I told them, they were not going to beat me up. They tried to beat me with sjamboks and I was just quiet and they started kicking me and beating me up with fists. Only three policemen were beating me up. The other two were just guarding me. And they told me that if I could beat them back they were going to kill me. I was just blocking their fists and their kicks so that they could not hit me on my private parts but they were beating me up. They were kicking me and, until they got tired. Like chickens. They were all tired of beating me up, because I was not fighting them back.
At the end they took me to the other cell and all what was left was the buttons of my shirt. They put me there for the week-end and I was hoping that on Monday they would take me to trial. They left me inside at the waiting room for the whole day and they didn’t take my papers to the magistrate. They could not allow people to come to see me. They tried to, the community tried to look for a lawyer and at last my wife and my relatives were able to, to see me and on Thursday of that week they released me. They actually didn’t release me, they took me to trial but at the court they didn’t want me to say anything. I tried to raise my hand to ask the magistrate to give me free bail so that I could and consult the doctor. He said no. I borrowed a shirt from one guy and I took it off and I showed him how badly I was injured and I could only treat those injuries with the green soap and, and water. They, they released me so that I could consult a doctor.
From there I went to their station commander to open up a case. It took him a week and he was quiet but the second week he asked me to point who was torturing me I pointed the policemen and he promised that he’ll call me to come to trial. Up to to-day they never called me. I’m still waiting for them.
I have a third case. It was in 1990 in January. I also don’t remember the date but it was on Monday. I went to Phalaborwa town. I was wearing a T-shirt which had names of Sisulu and his comrades. I went to a bank and I was going to a nearby shop and two White men came to me running. The other one grabbed me with my T-shirt and the other grabbed my belt. As I was trying to see and ask them what was wrong they showed me their police identity cards. They took me to their station. They took me to their security branch offices.
When we arrived there, there were only two Black policemen. They said they must go out. There was a TV in that little office, cassettes and some machines in there. They said I should take off my shirt and they started questioning me about the ANC. I told them that they could ask me about Cosatu or Chemical Industrial Union but I knew nothing about the ANC. They said, why are you wearing this T-shirt don’t you know it belongs to the communists?
In that room the, all the other guys were asking me about Shangaan, the other Insebedi, the other English, the other in Afrikaans. The other one was asking me in funikalore! At the same time and they wanted me to answer all their questions at the same time. The other guy, I think he was their senior in Phalaborwa, he was threatening me, telling me that I should know that I would never see my wife again, my friends and that I will never go back to work again. And that, that was my day. I laughed at him. He started getting angry and he pointed me with a finger and say, why are you laughing at me. I said you could do anything but I will meet him in heaven. They tried to ask me those funny questions until this guy from Phalaborwa phoned. I think he phoned Jo’burg offices. I overheard his conversation that he was agreeing to whatever they were telling him, that there were lots of those T-shirts in my area and where they took me there were other guys who were wearing those T-shirts but I think I was just unfortunate, that’s why I was taken to the station.
Later on they called a Black colleague of theirs. They put back that T-shirt on the other side as if I was a mad person and they took me to Namagale to my house so that I should change that T-shirt and give it to them. I told Serfontein about that case, because he, he was our lawyer here in the Northern Province. It took him only two weeks and he sent me a letter telling me that he’s talked to the other boer policeman and that boer told him that he took the matter to Pretoria and he told him that Pretoria could only tell them whether I’m guilty or not. That was the end.
MR MANTHATA: Thank you, Komape. Don’t you have the fourth case? According to the third case did they take you to the police station.
MR MOLAPO: They took me to their offices, not the, it’s not the police station.
MR MANTHATA: How, how many hours did they keep you there?
MR MOLAPO: I think it’s for about three to four hours.
MR MANTHATA: Where they called peoples magistrates? How long did they torture you ?
MR MOLAPO: I think it’s for about two to three hours, because they only left beating me, they only left after they got tired.
MR MANTHATA: After they tortured you, did you go to the doctor ?
MR MOLAPO: Yes, I consulted the doctor after a week because I was kept in a cell.
MR MANTHATA: After beating you, did they take you to their cell ?
MR MOLAPO: Yes, Sir.
MR MANTHATA: How long did they keep you in a cell ?
MR MOLAPO: It’s for about a week, because I was arrested on Saturday and they released me on Thursday.
MR MANTHATA: At the time were you unemployed, because you could not, work because you were injured.
MR MOLAPO: Yes, I was working.
MR MANTHATA: Where were you working ?
MR MOLAPO: I was working in Phalaborwa.
MR MANTHATA: What were you doing there ?
MR MOLAPO: I was an artisan.
MR MANTHATA: Were you a member of the union ?
MR MOLAPO: Yes.
MR MANTHATA: What union was that ?
MR MOLAPO: It was CWIU. It’s CWIU.
MR : MANTHATA: In full?
MR MOLAPO: It’s Chemical Workers Industrial Union.
MR MANTHATA: Thanks. In your first case when these youths were at the hotel talking to the employees of the hotel, were you able to hear what they were discussing about ?
MR MOLAPO: They were discussing about the incident where one of their colleagues was hit by the police car.
MR MANTHATA: (Not tranlated) ...who this comrade was?
MR : MOLAPO: I did not know - actually I could not understand what happened, because I had just arrived at the hotel and I was trying to approach the employees and they told me to wait a little bit because they were trying to discuss what happened.
MR MANTHATA: Who was the owner of the hotel ?
MR MOLAPO: It’s John Mogodi.
MR MANTHATA: They way I heard you explaining, I think you said John Mogodi was manufacturing handgrenades or bombs.
MR MOLAPO: Yes, they told us that he was testing the handgrenades. Actually they didn’t say the handgrenades. It was the police who were saying that.
MR MANTHATA: Was he arrested ?
MR MOLAPO: Yes, only for a day when they called me to testify. That was on the 17.11.1986.
MR MANTHATA: This, the other kid who was shot dead, what’s the name of the kid ?
MR MOLAPO: I don’t know his name and I didn’t know where he, he was staying, because I was at the hospital too at the time and when I came back ...
MR MANTHATA: Even at the time of the funeral were you at the hospital ?
MR MOLAPO: Yes, I was still at the hospital.
MR MANTHATA: Thank you.
DR RANDERA: Mr Molapo, let’s just get some clarification on this first incident. People are standing in the hotel, one person gets shot, three handgrenades are thrown you say and the hotel owner gets charged. Is that what you’re telling us? Was he charged for the bombing in the hotel that he owned ?
MR MOLAPO: Could you please repeat the question ?
DR RANDERA: I’m saying that in your statement when you arrived at the hotel there were the youths talking about what had happened in the street with the soldiers. Soon after that one of the youths gets shot in the hotel. Somebody shoots from outside. Then you also say that three handgrenades are thrown into the hotel but the person who gets charged for the incident, is the hotel owner. Am I understanding that rightly ?
MR MOLAPO: Yes, you understood me well. The hotel owner was charged but it was just only to confuse other people. It, that was not the case.
DR RANDERA: So in your opinion it was somebody else that was doing the shooting and the throwing of the grenades.
MR MOLAPO: I think it was those soldiers. I think it was the soldiers who used to patrol our streets. It’s them who did, who through those handgrenades, because at the same time there, I don’t think Lebowa police had handgrenades, they only had teargasses.
DR RANDERA: Okay. I just want to go to the second incident quickly and that this is not taking away what happened to you in terms of the torture that the police committed against you. Can you tell us something about these youth people’s courts. Either, because you were directly involved in them yourself or your understanding of what they did from living in the community. What were they doing ?
MR MOLAPO: About the people’s court, I knew nothing, because the day when I went to trial this other guy who was with me in the cell I only got surprised on the day of the trial when he was asked whether he knew me. He said yes, but then I was, I knew nothing about the youth people’s court.
DR RANDERA: Okay. The question is related to something you said about the militarisation in the area and the existence of Namibian askaris. Can you just tell us something, a little about that ?
MR MOLAPO: I didn’t say anything about the soldiers at our place. What I said was that there were youths who held a meeting at the day when I got injured and when, as they were dispersing, soldiers, the soldiers came and they hit other youth with their car and the youths started attacking those soldiers and they started running and that’s when, when they came back nobody saw how many soldiers were there. I think maybe it was only one, two or ten. Nobody knew, because it was already late in the evening and we were inside the hotel and they were outside.
DR RANDERA: Thank you.
DR ALLY: Thank you very much for that statement. This is also another one of those cases where we’re hoping to be able to find some answers, another handgrenade case and it seems from the little bit of investigation that has already started that the questions need to be directed to the then South African Defence Force and as I said, as I mentioned about, with regard to the previous case, our investigators are following up on these matters and your statement does help them in that work. So, thank you very much and when we do get some answers we will certainly let you know. Even if we don’t get answers we will also let you know but thank you very much for coming forward. It has already gone ten to twelve. I think we’ll take a break now for tea and I’m going to ask people if they could please be back by ten past twelve and if you can please leave the headsets behind and when you come back from tea you can use them again. Thank you.
HEARING ADJOURNS
