DR RANDERA: Godfrey, good morning.
MR LESENYEHO: Good morning, Sir.
DR RANDERA: Are you comfortable?
MR LESENYEHO: Yes, Sir.
DR RANDERA: Godfrey, you have come from Ikhutseng this morning, which is outside Potchefstroom?
MR LESENYEHO: Yes, that is right.
DR RANDERA: Can you please tell us who the lady is who is with you?
MR LESENYEHO: This is my mother, Sir.
DR RANDERA: Welcome and good morning to you as well, mother of Godfrey.
Godfrey, Commissioner Yasmin Sooka is going to help you in telling your story. We are, of course, going back to the time when you were only 10 years old. Before I ask her to start helping you, could you just stand to take the oath, please.
GODFREY TEKO LESENYEHO: (Duly sworn, states).
DR RANDERA: Thank you, Godfrey.
MS SOOKA: Thank you. Godfrey, are you able to hear me properly? Switch on the mike for him, please. Thank you. Godfrey, will you please tell us what happened to you on that day which has left being blind, at this point in time.
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
2 G T LESENYEHO
MR LESENYEHO: It was in 1986. We were standing at a street corner. At each corner of each street there was a group of youths and we were chanting freedom songs, but no stone-throwing was taking place. As we were chanting, after a few minutes I saw a police Hippo coming and they started firing. I am referring to the soldiers. We took different directions and people went to nearby places and I decided to run towards my home, because the tear-gas was now burning in my eyes. I got into the house and my mother saw me and I was shouting "my eyes, my eyes". She closed the doors and she applied Vicks and other ointments on my eyes, but they couldn't help at all.
In 1987 I have been to doctors and this other one was Dr Van Graan and my mother explained everything to him. She told him that I was tear-gassed and my eyes are troubling me. He said my mother must not tell that it was tear-gas that affected my eyes. He said he will transfer me to St. John's and the tablets that he gave me were very strong. Every time I put my glasses on I would be dizzy. We went back to him to explain to him that I feel very dizzy every time I put on these glasses. He then took me to St. John's. I was told that I will have to undergo an operation. Yes, they operated me at St. John's and after the operation I lost my eyesight until at this stage where I cannot see.
Even now, I am suffering. I should have been at school but I cannot, because my eyes are itching at all times and I am in and out of the hospital.
MS SOOKA: Thank you, Godfrey. I am going to ask you some questions, just to make sure that we get your story clearly. Could you tell me, at the time before this happened, you were 10 years old. In what standard were you at school?
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
3 G T LESENYEHO
MR LESENYEHO: I was doing Std 1.
MS SOOKA: At that time did you have any problem with your eyesight?
MR LESENYEHO: Not at all.
MS SOOKA: Were you able to see normally until the tear-gassing incident?
MR LESENYEHO: Yes.
MS SOOKA: Dr Van Graan who treated you, was he a doctor in your particular area?
MR LESENYEHO: Yes, he is a medical practitioner in our area and he is an eye-specialist and he hands out glasses, spectacles for people who have eye problems.
MS SOOKA: You mentioned in your evidence that he did not want you to say that the problem had happened because of the tear-gas. Why was this?
MR LESENYEHO: I really do not know why he didn't want me to reveal that it was the tear-gas.
MS SOOKA: But did he say that the problem you were having with your eyes was because of the tear-gassing incident?
MR LESENYEHO: No, he didn't say anything.
MS SOOKA: Did you give you a proper examination after the tear-gassing incident?
MR LESENYEHO: No, I can't say he examined me. He just looked at me and he said I should get glasses and then he took me to the machines and I waited for a pair of glasses thereafter.
MS SOOKA: The glasses didn't actually help you to see?
MR LESENYEHO: These glasses helped me but they were very strong.
MS SOOKA: Godfrey, how long after the, after you had seen Dr Van Graan, did you go to St. John's Hospital?
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
4 G T LESENYEHO
MR LESENYEHO: It was in 1987 and in the same year I went to St. John's, but I have forgotten the month.
MS SOOKA: That is all right. When you went to St. John's, what did they tell you, what was wrong with your eyes?
MR LESENYEHO: I do not know, they didn't even tell me what the problem was with my eyes.
MS SOOKA: You were then completely unable to see?
MR LESENYEHO: That's correct, that was after the operation, until now I am totally blind.
MS SOOKA: Were you able to complete school?
MR LESENYEHO: I can be in a position to complete my schooling, that is if I get some kind of assistance, you know, maybe to go to special schools for blind people.
MS SOOKA: Tell me, at the time when this incident happened, was there trouble in the township, between the soldiers and the community?
MR LESENYEHO: It wasn't a problem between the soldiers and the community. I must say people were complaining about so many deaths that were taking place, you know, the people were just shooting at random.
MS SOOKA: At that time, were you a member of the comrades or any other political organisation in the community?
MR LESENYEHO: At that time I was doing what the community was doing.
MS SOOKA: What was the community doing at that time?
MR LESENYEHO: They were unhappy because the police were shooting people in the township as they wished and people were dying.
MS SOOKA: Godfrey, how old are you at this point in time?
MR LESENYEHO: I am 21 years old.
MS SOOKA: I notice in your statement that you say you
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
5 G T LESENYEHO
attend school at the Bartholomew School for the Blind. Is that correct?
MR LESENYEHO: That's correct.
MS SOOKA: Are they teaching you skills at that school?
MR LESENYEHO: We are taught like normal school children, but the skill that they are giving me, is the typing, you know, computer.
MS SOOKA: And how are you being treated for your eyes? Do you still attend any hospital?
MR LESENYEHO: Yes, I still go to hospital for treatment.
MS SOOKA: And is that helping you?
MR LESENYEHO: No, I don't get help, it doesn't help at all.
MS SOOKA: Thank you, Godfrey, I don't have any more questions. But I am going to ask my fellow Commissioners if they want to ask you any questions.
DR RANDERA: Godfrey, I just want to ask you one question. Can you remember how many days went by between the time that you were shot at with the tear-gas canister and you actually going to see Dr Van der Graaff? Did you go the next day or did you go the next week? Would you like a drink of water?
MR LESENYEHO: Yes.
DR RANDERA: You told us that you were shot in 1986 with the tear-gas canister. And afterwards you ran home to your mother and your mother put some Vicks into your eyes, and then you went to go and see Dr Van der Graaff. How many days from the time of the shooting had gone by before you went to see the doctor?
MR LESENYEHO: I can't remember, but I think there are records that will show when did I exactly go to the doctor, but I can't remember.
ADV POTGIETER: Godfrey, just one question. Do you remember
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
6 G T LESENYEHO
about when in 1986 this incident happened?
MR LESENYEHO: I forget the day and the date. I have also forgotten the month, I only remember the year.
ADV POTGIETER: All right. Perhaps - is that your mother who is with you?
MR LESENYEHO: That's correct.
ADV POTGIETER: Maybe she can help you. Or has she also forgotten?
MR LESENYEHO: She doesn't remember also.
ADV POTGIETER: Well, that's all right, thank you.
MS SOOKA: Godfrey, thank you for coming to tell us your story. We have noted that you say that there are medical records available and I think we will ask our reparation committee to make sure that they are able to access those immediately, so that an assessment can be made of what exactly your condition is, because it is problematic that you lost your sight gradually and now have lost your sight completely. We will be looking into the matter and will see what we can do.
Godfrey, thank you for coming, your story is a very painful one and in fact is part of the sacrifices that very many young people like yourself have made towards contributing towards the change we have seen in our country. I would like to thank you and your mother for coming today. Thank you.
KLERKSDORP HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
