CHAIRPERSON: Good morning, we want to start the proceedings. For the record, it is Monday the 16th of August 1999, it is a hearing of the Amnesty Committee held in Pretoria. The panel is Chaired by myself, Denzil Potgieter. With me on the panel is Adv De Jager and Mr Sibanyoni. The matters that are on the roll for today are the applications of Johannes Jakobus Swart, amnesty reference AM3750/96 and Johannes Petrus Hendrik Hanekom, AM3886/96. According to the records, Mr Cornelius, it appears that you appear for the applicants?
MR CORNELIUS: That is correct Mr Chairman. I appear on behalf of the applicant Swart and applicant Hanekom. After perusal of all the documentation, we are of the opinion that the applications don't disclose a crime of gross human rights violations' nature and therefore I have decided to withdraw the application of J.J. Swart and the application of J.P.H. Hanekom on that basis. We will not proceed today, thank you Mr Chairman.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Mr Cornelius. We also had the matter of Mr Van Zyl on the record. Perhaps you just want to deal with that, perhaps just for the sake of completeness?
MR ROSSOUW: Thank you Mr Chairman, my surname is Rossouw from the firm Rooth and Wessels and instructed by Mr Van Zyl. My instructions from the client is also to withdraw the application, consideration is that there was no misconduct perpetrated here.
CHAIRPERSON: Yes, thank you Mr Rossouw. Mr Hugo, I suppose you won't have any objection?
MR HUGO: I don't have any objection, no, Mr Chairman, I was acting for implicated parties here, Mr Radebe and Eric Sefadi and Eugene de Kock in as far as he could have been implicated.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Mr Hugo. Ms Patel, have you got an objection?
MS PATEL: Thank you Honourable Chairperson, certainly not, thank you.
CHAIRPERSON: Yes, well, thank you. We have noted what Mr Cornelius and Mr Rossouw had put on record. We have noted that the applicants including Mr Van Zyl, whose application formed part of the original Bundle in this matter, are not proceeding with the applications and they are withdrawing their applications. There is no objection to that. It is hard to imagine the basis upon which there could have been an objection to that. The effect of course of this course of action is that the applications of these three applicants in respect of this incident, are for all intents and purposes, disposed of. Yes, Ms Patel, is there anything else that is on the record, on the roll?
MS PATEL: The next matter that we have on the roll, has been scheduled for Wednesday only, Honourable Chairperson, that is the Nelspruit and the Tiso Leballo matter. I have spoken to some of the Attorneys who are not present here on Friday, and it seems that they are not going to be able to make it before Wednesday. It seems that that is all we have for today and tomorrow at least.
CHAIRPERSON: Yes, in any event, the matter that is supposed to commence on Wednesday, those parties have already been in touch with the Committee and have indicated that there are some problems and that they would in any event only be able to start on Wednesday. We have arranged the schedule and our commitments accordingly. We will commence with Wednesday's matter at two o'clock in the afternoon, 14H00 in order to accommodate certain other commitments that have to be attended to. We will then under those circumstances, adjourn the proceedings at this stage and we will reconvene at this venue on Wednesday, at two o'clock in the afternoon. We are adjourned.
COMMITTEE ADJOURNS
