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Human Rights Violation Hearings

Type 1 E O MASUKU, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, SUBMISSIONS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Starting Date 12 August 1996

Location PRETORIA

Day 1

Names EZEKIEL OUPA MASUKU

Case Number JB00178

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CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Can you just tell me in what language will you be giving your testimony?

MR MASUKU: I think I will mix English and Sotho.

CHAIRPERSON: Between English and Sotho. Okay. If you will then, if you will have the headsets on. You are welcome to use whatever language you want to and Mrs Sooka will take you through your testimony. She will assist you. Thank you for coming to us. Mrs Sooka.

MS SOOKA: Mr Masuku if you could tell us very briefly, in a few minutes, a little bit about yourself please.

MR MASUKU: I am Oupa Masuku and I was born in 1957 and I am the first born of the late Mrs Madiphoso Masuku who was killed in 1986 and I have been a student leader since 1976. I have been also a civic leader.

MS SOOKA: Thank you. If you could just tell us now about your own story please.

MR MASUKU: Well, I may say that in the year 1986 when things were very hot in our community of Atteridgeville and Saulsville due to the students politics and civic politics. I may say that the people who were against the struggle for freedom were actually terrorising or attacking the activists in our community and arresting us, harassing us and bombing houses of the activists. In the year 1986, as I have already indicated, my house and other activists houses were

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bombed.

On the fifth of March 1986 at 01:20am my family house was bombed and my mother died in the incident and I was actually injured. I was shot on the side, on my left- hand side and also just behind my collar bone on my right-hand side and even now I am still having shrapnel lodged on top of my main nerve on my right-hand. My hand, presently, is paralysed. I cannot use my right hand and I have been a right-hand person and I like to inform the Truth Commission that during that incident I was sleeping in an adjacent room just outside in the verandah of our family house. My other family members were sleeping inside the main house. Then I heard a sound and my neighbours dogs barking. Then from there I started to scream because I knew as a activist that there are people who are actually attacking the homes of activists. I heard a hissing sound like a spray in our verandah. Then from there when my mother inside the house went to the main switch to switch on the lights then there was an explosion. The house was ripped off. The windows, the sitting room windows and my main bedroom, the room that I was sleeping and the door was having a lot of holes, you know, it is shrapnel holes and maybe bullet holes because I cannot tell those people whether they were using only guns or hand grenades, but they used that to try to eliminate me.

People, actually, our neighbours came running to assist us. People who were very far away, they heard the sound in the community and then they came running. The police arrived within a few minutes to my home and they started actually trying to block people coming to the home and my neighbours actually helped me to take me to the hospital. They used their, our neighbours car to take me to the

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hospital. I was taken unconscious and I have learnt that others also helped to carry my mother to the hospital. Unfortunately, during that period I could not see my mother until Friday, this happened, if I am not wrong, on Tuesday morning, until I was released from the hospital on Friday, the day before the burial.

When I was still in the hospital there were people who were looking after me and I told the doctor who was in charge that I would like to meet my family doctor who is a Dr Umkomot. He came to the hospital. He asked these nurses who were in charge about what happened, what have they done and so forth. It seems they did not give him many answers which he was needing to address and some nurses told him that they removed a shell from my side, my left-hand side and they have put it in a bottle with some sort of liquid. I do not know that thing whether it was, they said it is a shell, a bullet shell. Then Dr Umkomot tried to get that shell, but he could not trace it. It was nowhere to be found in the hospital. Then he tried, actually, they tried their level best to remove me from that hospital, Kalafong Hospital to another private hospital, but due to time it was still a short period and I was not then informed that my mother had already passed away.

Then came some Special Branch guy called Do Santos who came to my hospital bed together with an African police guy called Lesley Mogotsi. They demanded me to make a statement and I refused to make a statement. I told them that they must go to my lawyer who was then Priscilla Jana and that actually ended up there in the hospital.

Then came the day when I was released from the hospital, Friday. I went home and a few minutes after I

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have arrived at home they police came to my place with, on driving a Caspir, Hippo having a court order restricting the night vigil saying that only 50 people are allowed to attend the night vigil. They had manned some roadblocks throughout all the entrances of our community. Then again, the very same day, they brought another court order saying that tomorrow during the funeral, you are only allowed 200 people. I have all those documents here with me. They were written by van der Westhuizen, the Magistrate then.

The following morning, it actually started on the night, on Friday before the burial. The police were patrolling our streets intimidating people, beating up people around and actually they even reinforced the police force by bring people, policemen from Soshanguve and that reinforcement was actually headed by Iqambule. He was one of the police guys, a notorious guy there. Then these people actually started by harassing people the very same day when we were going to the funeral. My mother's corpse was taken to ANE Church and there was another person who was killed during that period, Mabena. Actually it was a joint funeral in a way and there were some restrictions from that Magistrate that this should not be joint funerals and we must not, we must use the shortest roads to the cemetery. Only 200 people are allowed to go there.

On our way from the church to the graveyard the police were actually escorting us. There were some guys and the guy called David Modau and Lesley Mogotsi and this Do Santos and the other white police guys and this many African police from Soshanguve and around Atteridgeville were on top of the Caspirs. This Lesley Mogotsi and David Modau they pointed R5 rifle to me when I was in the family car. They

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harassed people, the mourners who were wearing t-shirts of my late mother because the community organisations there printed t-shirts bearing the face of my late mother. Then they were doing all funny sorts of intimidatory things, acts, you know, gimmicks and so forth. Then we went to the Saulsville Cemetery where they refused people to go in. They were only allowing a few people to go in. Roughly about 200.

We buried my mother and then we came back to my home. Whilst we were at home this police guys, they were on the other side of the street. There were two streets, the other street which actually goes along parallel with the railway line. They started spraying this purple water into the tent and into the food and then the other police actually started attacking the house and beating everyone, old, young, women, children and they damaged a lot of things at home. You know, lamp shades, furniture and so forth. You know, it was chaos and I may say that, unfortunately, at this present moment one of my friends from Japan, Dr Horie, who was a representative of Japan in South Africa, managed to video the whole activities and, unfortunately, left with that video cassette, but he filmed that, all the existing thing.

I may say that many people, scores of people, actually, get injured. Some, they are paralysed now like one guy called Lunga. He is from Cape Town. He was a migrant worker in Pretoria and he attended that funeral because he was just staying next to my home and he went back to Cape Town now. They beat him until he got semi-paralysed, you know. I may say that since that day after the funeral, you know, in our tradition as Africans you will find that during that funeral and after the funeral relatives stay behind,

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old people stay behind to help us with some other family things and so forth, but it was so pathetic that most of my families, most of my relatives they had to leave because of hearing that the police were harassing them, beating them up. They do not even, they did not even care whether it is an old, very old people, you know, they would beat them up, you know, and since that day, the following day, week and so forth I started running away because those guys were coming to my place looking for me. They were harassing me, they were intimidating me. Not a single member of my family stayed there. The house was empty. My younger brothers had to leave home and they were all at school. The other one had to go to Potgietersrus for schooling. The other one had to go to Hammanskraal to stay there with friends and then the other one was just moving around hiding all over Atteridgeville, Garankuwa and so forth.

I was actually helped by the Catholic Church because I have been working for the Catholic Church. Then I had to hide in their premises somewhere in Garankuwa. I stayed for quite a long time. I was just keeping contact with my lawyers and then in the year, I mean the very same year 1986, August, my lawyers instructed Advocate Tonkin to take statements and to go and represent us during my mother's inquest. I went there with my family members to the inquest and after I have actually entered the court they sealed all the exits and then they told the Magistrate that they are going to arrest me under the State of Emergency. Then after that, I mean, people went in, witnesses and so forth. I was one of the witnesses. My younger brothers made statements. One of my neighbours also made statements, the one who actually helped to carry my mother to the hospital. Then

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this guy from Security Police called Do Santos he also gave evidence. Then the findings of the inquest was so much ridiculous. They said we must be the person who have done all this. How can you pinpoint somebody whom you have never seen when we are fast asleep, when it was dark, when they were moving around with cars without number plates and having all those balaclavas and so forth. Then the Magistrate said this case is an open case. They said once we actually can identify the person who has done so, then we can open this case and proceed with it. After that, that was the findings of the case of the court.

Then from there they took me to Compol Building, Compol Gebou in Pretoria Street where Captain Loots ordered his young security police guys to take me to the five star hotel. You know the five star hotel is actually central prison. They were taking me to central prison called Newlock. Then I was locked there until the following year June when most of the people who were under State of Emergency were released together with my family doctor. I met him there already Dr Umkomot. He was taken already.

During my stay in prison because I was still under medication I was having plaster and then I was supposed to get physiotherapy treatment. The State sent one guy who came there twice in a week for about eight minutes exercising my hand and he just do lousy exercises and then he went away because I did actually request a full medical attention, medical help, but they refused us. They refused us to have lawyers for about three months, the first three months. They refused us to see our family members, but at the end they allowed our family members to come there under strict conditions and you must go via Compol to go and apply PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG

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to come and see me, you know. It was a very restricted visit. Only two persons were allowed and only family members were allowed to come there.

Then since during that period until the following year, no one actually stayed at my house, that family house. My neighbours tried to put somebody there. These guys came there and then put him out, you know. The house was left vacant until the following year June and I may say that that was a horrible situation which I cannot actually forget.

That above all I personally think that those policemen, Lesley Mogotsi, he is no longer a policeman now. He has been suspended due to his other unlawful activities. I do not want to know that and David Modau. He is still a policeman in Atteridgeville Police Station and he is a CID guy. Those two people, I actually urge the Truth Commission to investigate them and ask them to come and testify. Who sent them, who have done all these activities and myself and my family members we would like to know who has done all these evil acts? Who killed my mother? Who wanted to get rid of me? I have never killed anybody, I have not even killed a fly, but I have been very, very involved in the struggle and I want those people to come to the book to be drawn. We want to know the truth. My family members and all the relatives and also the nation as a whole, they want to know what happened and who had done this? Who instructed these people to do all these acts and, above all, I suffered, also, to educate my two younger brothers. I took them to the school. The last born I took him to University of Western Cape and with the little money that I get from working for the Church, you know, whilst I was still having, being in pains, he could not finish the last course because

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of lack of funds, but I am still on the point that we would like to know who actually have done all this, who sent them and we want them to be brought to book. Thank you.

MS SOOKA: Thank you very much for your story. I just want to ask you a few questions for clarity. Could you tell us, besides yourself, was your mother involved in any political activity?

MR MASUKU: I may say that my mother was just a civic person. She was involved our African Housewife League and she was supportive to our cause.

MS SOOKA: You yourself you were 13, I think, at the time in 1977 when you were first arrested. Can you tell us about your own involvement in the movement at the time?

MR MASUKU: Well, I have been involved in the student's organisation. I have been one of the leadership and also in the community and because we were fighting for a better education I may say that we were spearheading the campaign to have English as a medium of instruction and also because the police were harassing our people in our communities, I actually spearheaded one campaign where we said people should not greet, talk, buy, use anything that belongs to the police.

MS SOOKA: Why do you think the police targeted your house for the bombing and do you think that the police were involved in it?

MR MASUKU: Because, you know, Atteridgeville is a very small township we know each and every one because of this campaign when we were saying people should not have any relationship with the police, they must not talk to them. Even the shabeens we told them not to sell liquor to the policemen. Then the policemen started buying liquor, some

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were from the bottlestore and drink them outside the community and started. When they come back they harass the activists, they visit the houses of the activists and then they harass their parents looking for activists in our community. That showed that the police have done this through their agents or through other means they have done it.

MS SOOKA: You say in your statement that in 1980 you were arrested on your way to Swaziland. What exactly were you going to do? Were you leaving for exile?

MR MASUKU: Doctor, actually we were going for schooling because all of us, the people who were there, we were ten in a combi. All of us we were sick and tired of this education we receive here and the harassment of the police. We said the best thing is just to go outside the country and get a better education and come back being educated people, but when they arrested us at Piet Retief, the police actually laid a charge of saying that we wanted to leave the country illegally, getting military training and the other thing it was recruiting people from South Africa to other countries to undergo military training and come back and overthrow the country, the Government of that day.

MS SOOKA: You talked a lot about the documents you have in your possession which indicate the way there were restrictions placed on the burial of your mother. For instance the night vigil was restricted to a particular group of, a number of persons and the funeral as well, but can you tell us about, it is commonly said that, in fact, funerals were a political event. Can you give us a little bit of information on that?

MR MASUKU: From this?

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MS SOOKA: No, no. I am asking for your view.

MR MASUKU: Yes.

MS SOOKA: On the fact that activists like yourselves generally used funerals as a place to communicate because people were not allowed to meet freely. Can you give us your own view on the way funerals and night vigils were used for furthering political education and activities?

MR MASUKU: Yes, I may say that the funerals which, I mean funerals for the person who died for the struggle or for matters that are related to the struggle that it is true that we come there, we politicise that funeral, that night vigil. Therefore this Magistrate here maybe from the orders, maybe got the order from the police, the Security Police that this one is one of those funerals.

MS SOOKA: Could you also tell me about, were you a member of the ANC or were you a member of AZAPO or any other political organisation?

MR MASUKU: During that period the ANC was banned and I was member of the UDF and a member of COSAS, a founder member of COSAS, and a member of Civic Organisation and therefore being a member of the ANC then it was a banned organisation. You cannot actually disclose that whether I was a member of the ANC or not.

MS SOOKA: Were you in contact, direct contact with any members of the liberation movement on the other side of the border?

MR MASUKU: I cannot say. Well I know many people who have left, you know, and, but we could not get two way communications, you know, because they could not do so. I was not really in contact with anybody.

MS SOOKA: Were you at any time involved in any military

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activities or any of the activities against the State at the time other than the normal activism? Were you involved in any kind of explosion attacks, that sort of thing, against the old State?

MR MASUKU: Not really on a military activity, but I was mainly on the student's politics, marching and so forth. Also the UDF.

MS SOOKA: Was there ever any kind of compensation for the damage done to your property?

MR MASUKU: No, no we never actually received anything, you know. After the bombing of our family house I did actually report this also to the City Council of Atteridgeville because the house is under, is covered by insurance and the properties inside the house were damaged and they never came back. They never actually compensated us. They never gave us anything. We fixed everything on our own and actually I was assisted by legal, assisted by Legal Resources Centre in Pretoria to contact those people. They were doing it on behalf of me because most of the time I was actually in detention, but at the end they said we reported the matter very late, they cannot attend to that and they never compensated us.

MS SOOKA: The case also, you said that the Magistrate indicated that if there was any more evidence then the inquest would be reopened. Was that ever followed up?

MR MASUKU: I may say that no, no because the lawyer who was in charge, Priscilla Jana, we gave her everything and the advocate who was the one representing us in court Tonki, I never heard from them, but I was keeping in touch with Priscilla Jana to find out. They said, no, they have not heard anything, but at this present moment I may say that

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sometimes in May this year, the Special Investigating Team, they said they have a lead and now they said they wanted something from me to get to, do you know any person whom you think that he had bombed and so forth, but they have not yet come to me. I phoned them, asked them how far they. They said they went to the Department of Justice, they went to the court to check this document. They cannot get those documents. They are being banned or something like that, you know. That is what I cannot understand because I have all the statements of the people who made that thing here, you know, I mean in court, you know, and also there are the finding, the outcome of it, you know.

MS SOOKA: This Special Investigation Team was this from Jan de Olivier's office, from the Attorney General?

MR MASUKU: Yes, they are linked with the Attorney General.

MS SOOKA: Does he think that there was a hit squad responsible for this attack?

MR MASUKU: Well, this Detective Els told me that they are the guys who are investigating these things. They are the ones who arrested de Kock and others and they are following all these activities of Askarries and third forces and so forth. Then they said they will come back to me, but I am still waiting.

MS SOOKA: Will you be willing to make the information that you have there available to the Commission?

MR MASUKU: Yes, on condition that you will make copies and give me the other copies.

MS SOOKA: I am sure we can do that. Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Dr Ally.

DR ALLY: Just three very brief questions. The first is the video tape which was made. Is that still in existence and

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could we also perhaps have a copy of that, when the police actually came during the ...

MR MASUKU: ... cemetery to bury my mother and also when the police were hitting people, beating them up, he managed to do that because at the end they wanted to come for me and if it was not him they could have actually slaughtered me.

DR ALLY: But that video is available and there is a copy somewhere which we could.

MR MASUKU: I am actually trying to get hold of the Japanese Embassy to get it, you know, to get Dr Horie. He was here for five years and then he had to change. He had been deployed somewhere and I met somebody in Tekkie, I told him that I will be actually appearing before the Truth Commission, can the try to contact me and so forth. So that he must make the video available.

DR ALLY: After 1986 did the, did you continue to be harassed by the police?

MR MASUKU: These guys actually they were coming to my place, you know. I remember the two security guys called van der Westhuizen and Fouche and then the other one I do not remember him. They were from Compol Building. They were coming to my place and actually I threatened them by actually intimidating and saying that I will lay a charge. What do they want? I am not under house arrest. Then they said it is their general routine. They just come to our houses and check and show their new members, new employees that this is a victim and so forth. This is a culprit actually.

DR ALLY: And how long did that go on for? When did it actually stop?

MR MASUKU: This actually went until 1989, yes, roughly

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1989.

DR ALLY: Just one last question. I see from your statement that you have actually been a political activist for a very long time. So could you just give us some sense of what was happening in Atteridgeville round about 1986. What type of battles were being waged to get this kind of violent reaction from, you allege, the police? You know, something of the conflict in Atteridgeville round about that time.

MR MASUKU: Yes, I may say that from 1976 about the students, during the student uprisings there was a lot of activities around the issue of the student education. I mean the education generally and then people actually started being aware about what is happening. You know politicising people and so forth and then the people started forming organisations. The Civics, but the Civic was formed in 1983. A few months before the formation of the UDF and there were also other political organisations like AZAPO and, well, PAC and ANC were not visible, but AZAPO was there, UDF and then COSAS, you know. There were also a lot of crisis about education whereby high, I mean, high profile people were called also to come and try to solve the political crisis or education crisis in our community like Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He attended that in Atteridgeville to come and meet the student's leaders, civic leaders to address this issue and other educationalist like Professor Marie Watiemeila and therefore the others in the community including Dr Ngoma and so forth. They were trying to come up with a solution to the political or education crisis in our community.

DR ALLY: And the Town Councillors how did they fit in to this dispute? Did they ever get, were they directly

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implicated?

MR MASUKU: Sorry.

DR ALLY: Councillors, what, how did they fit into this conflict?

MR MASUKU: Well the then Councillors as everyone knows that they were serving the interests of the past regime, the apartheid regime were actually asked to step down. Those who refused, they were forced to step down by other means. People were marching, stoning their houses and so forth.

DR ALLY: Were any Councillors killed during that period?

MR MASUKU: No Councillor was killed in our community.

DR ALLY: Thank you.

MR MASUKU: Okay.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Manthata.

MR MANTHATA: Oupa, here it seems like you are talking about the police whom you know. How do the Atteridgeville people view these police when they see them on duty nowadays?

MR MASUKU: Well the people in Atteridgeville and Saulsville community about, firstly, David Modau. They do not like him, you know. Mostly when we move around they are saying this guy must actually be out of a job because is harassing people, he had harassed people actually during those era of the struggle and Lesley Mogotsi he was the worst, you know. He was the worst of, he was actually intimidatory, you know. When he sees you he tell that, no, you cannot get reparation, all those things. He was harassing the activists and also ordinary people saying that you cannot do anything, we are in power, we are the police and so forth. Unfortunately about his activities he had been suspended from the police force because of his unlawful activities and he is the guy who knows also what happened to my place and

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so forth.

MR MANTHATA: If I understand you well you are still speaking about the struggles you went through. What I am asking you is what are the people saying about those police who are still on duty?

MR MASUKU: What I mean is the people do not like them. They want them to be released from duty. Lesley is no more a policemen. He is only involved in criminal activities.

MR MANTHATA: Instead of the police saying that they are the ones who killed the people they say to the people that point out the people that killed you. What do you say about that?

MR MASUKU: Yes, it is true, because what actually amazed me is when we got to the court, the inquest here in Pretoria, they want you to identify the people who have done that and which is very, very bad. How can you identify those people who arrest you whereas you are asleep when they were doing all this activities and I may say that during those times even if you go to Atteridgeville Police Station and report any matter. Either if somebody has assaulted you or stabbed you they are saying bring that person here. How can you bring a person whereas you know that that person is going to finish you up, you know. Then I may say that is, they need restructuring and re-education and including the courts.

MR MANTHATA: In short, Oupa, how do you expect the Commission to help you?

MR MASUKU: I would say you are asking me a difficult question because I have lost my mother who was our breadwinner, who was educating us and I am not the only child. We are four and I do not how reparation works and so forth or the Commission as a whole, but I am saying that no one can bring my mother's life back and no one actually can

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replace those past activities that she was doing for us, meaning supporting us, educating us. It is very difficult to say and even if the Commission wants to help us that will be between the family members to sit down, discuss this and come to an agreement because the Commission is not only going to help me, but I as an individual, the other thing that I like to ask the Commission to do is to try to get a better medication for my hand. I mean to get maybe a better hospital institute that can actually take out this shrapnel from my body because those doctors told me that my hand cannot work properly because my main nerve, actually, is being suppressed by that particular shrapnel which is lodged on my body.

MR MANTHATA: What is your younger brother doing now who did not finish at university?

MR MASUKU: He is working for Get Ahead Foundation. Presently this two weeks August Beklele is sick, is ill. He is just in Lee Pasture Hospital.

MR MANTHATA: Thank you.

MR MASUKU: Thanks.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Masuku I am sorry to take you back. I have three, two or three follow-up questions really from the questioning of Dr Russell. In the first paragraph you give a summary of your encountering, the first paragraph of your statement, your encounters with the police and specifically the Security Forces, your detention and so on. You say that you were initially arrested under Section 22 of the Terrorism Act. You spent, you say, about three months and were then charged with public violence. What was the content of the charge? What was the framework?

MR MASUKU: Well, firstly, 1977 they said it is the

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Terrorism Act under Section 22 and saying some clauses, sub-clauses which were actually talking about terrorism, you know, in their things, in that we are instigating the students. We are actually doing those acts, you know, burning, instigating students not to go to school, boycotting classes and promoting the ends and objectives of a banned organisation.

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry, I was referring to the follow-up. You say you were later charged specifically with public violence?

MR MASUKU: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Were you convicted on that charge?

MR MASUKU: No, no. I was never convicted.

CHAIRPERSON: You were found not guilty?

MR MASUKU: Not guilty.

CHAIRPERSON: And there was a second charge you referred to on allegations that you were planning to leave the country. That was prior to your being arrested at Swaziland Border.

MR MASUKU: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: At Piet Retief.

MR MASUKU: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: You were charged then and again were the charges dropped?

MR MASUKU: Yes, actually they dropped me, they dropped those charges.

CHAIRPERSON: And then just a last question. You, in response to Dr Ally, you said that the role of the Councillors at the time, they were asked to step down and if they did not they were forced to and with other means and you referred to their houses being stoned. Were you involved in that leadership and this pressure kept on on the PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG

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Councillors?

MR MASUKU: Well, I may say that when that time I was still a student, there was a Civic leader which was heading the campaign of the Councillors, you know, and I was just amongst the marchers, ordinary marchers there.

CHAIRPERSON: Do you have any idea why the police, except for the fact that you were in leadership later, were taking so much notice of you from 1977 through 1989 as you have put it.

MR MASUKU: I may say that if you are involved, you are an activist and then you are known, you are outspoken they actually notice you. These guys were making a record of all the activists and also during the funerals of people who had died during those, during the struggle they were taking photos. They come with their video cameras and so forth, take photos of activists and I think they go back and analyse those people and when they were arresting us I may say that also maybe they analysed the cases that now this person has been arrested so many times and we cannot have proof, we cannot have witnesses to testify against this person. The best thing is maybe to do something about this particular person.

CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Mr Masuku thank you very much for coming to us. We have taken more than the time that we initially allocated to you. Thank you very much. We will follow through and we see what additional information we can get on this. We will be reporting to you.

MR MASUKU: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.

PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG

 
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