DR ORR
Good afternoon Mr Fredericks and also your friend, Poppie Bless, we would like to welcome you both. Could you please stand to take the oath.
HENDRIK FREDERICKS Duly sworn states
DR ORR
Thank you very much Mr Fredericks, I’d like to hand you over to Denzil Potgieter.
ADV POTGIETER
Thank you very much Dr Orr. Mr Fredericks good afternoon, you were also involved in the shooting incident. You were injured in the shooing incident of he 24th of November 1990 in Wolseley?
MR FREDERICKS
That is correct.
ADV POTGIETER
We heard something about the circumstances surrounding that. Would you like to explain us - to us specifically what happened to you?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes sir, it is as the previous speaker said according to the time and everything where the Captain issued the - the order for them to shoot and hardly 5 minutes thereafter they started shooting. And I went to hide at the walls and moved that way but before the people started dispersing I walked passed them and about 4 feet away from the corner I felt a shot against my head and I fell.
And I rolled under a vehicle and I’m sure I lost my consciousness at the time. When I regained consciousness I was in the hospital - in Eben Dönges Hospital. And the Sunday morning I was laying there and a doctor came and took X-rays of my head and it was found that I had bird in my left finger as well.
They took X-rays and I could see the - how the bird shot had disintegrated in my head and it looked like clouds in the sky.
ADV POTGIETER
Just to understand how the shooting incident took place, you first tried to find shelter behind a wall?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes we all stood there but when the order came that they were going to shoot I moved in a southerly direction past them.
ADV POTGIETER
So when the police said you’ve got 5 minutes to disperse you started walking and you walked away immediately? And it was while you were walking away that you were shot from behind?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes.
ADV POTGIETER
Were there any warning that you were going to be shot?
MR FREDERICKS
According to the order which he gave I got curious and found that they were actually going - they were actually shooting and that’s where I was also shot.
ADV POTGIETER
So were you shot in the first few rounds of shots that were fired?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes.
ADV POTGIETER
And you say that bird shot was found in your left index finger and is that - is that bullet still lodged in your finger?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes.
ADV POTGIETER
And you said that you had bird shot in your head - has it been removed or not?
MR FREDERICKS
There is an X-ray which I have included and I’ve submitted to the Commission which will show.
ADV POTGIETER
But according to your understanding of it there’s more than one bird shot lodged in your head which - which penetrated from behind. And it’s still there?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes.
ADV POTGIETER
Does it bother you?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes, it bothers me, my head itches and I keep scratching.
ADV POTGIETER
Does it pain a lot?
MR FREDERICKS
Some times.
ADV POTGIETER
So some times your head pains and your finger?
MR FREDERICKS
I cannot move it very well.
ADV POTGIETER
Were you admitted to hospital?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes, with the other people that were shot.
ADV POTGIETER
How long were you in hospital for?
MR FREDERICKS
It was the Saturday and the Sunday morning I was discharged.
ADV POTGIETER
So after you were shot you regained consciousness in the hospital without knowing what happened?
MR FREDERICKS
That is correct.
ADV POTGIETER
Or even how you got to the hospital?
MR FREDERICKS
Yes.
ADV POTGIETER
Did the injuries which you sustained - the - have any other effect on you? Could you proceed with your work as usual?
MR FREDERICKS
I was out of work for approximately a month, we had to visit the district sergeant.
ADV POTGIETER
Did you any - did you receive any compensation for the injuries?
MR FREDERICKS
Nothing.
ADV POTGIETER
Is there anything else which you would like to add or which you would like to mention to us specifically?
MR FREDERICKS
No not at the moment.
ADV POTGIETER
Thank you very much Mr Fredericks.
MS GOBODO
Thank you Mr Fredericks for coming this afternoon. Yes, you also demonstrate along with many others before you the extent to which the heaviness of metal in peoples bodies is weighing heavily on the nation. Your carrying of bullets in your body is a symbol of the heaviness of the history of this country. We appreciate that you have come this afternoon to share with us that experience and we thank you that you have been able to way in this heat and come towards the end of this session. Thank you very much.
MR FREDERICKS
Thank you.
