CHAIRPERSON: We will call Piet Tuka Tshoba to come to the witness stand. I will start to apologise because I said, I mentioned Jan Tshoba to come to the witness stand. However, I wanted to say Piet Tuka Tshoba. I understand that you are here to give us evidence as to the circumstances surrounding Jan Tshoba's death. We would like to know who is in your company.
CHAIRPERSON: What is her name?
CHAIRPERSON: We welcome you Freda for accompanying your father. I will pass you to Wynand Malan who will let you take the oath.
MR MALAN: Good afternoon Mr Tshoba. If you would not mind, please will you stand? Can you hear the translation? If you would please stand to take the oath, if you will raise your right hand.
PIET TUKA TSHOBA: (Duly sworn in, states).
MR MALAN: Thank you very much.
CHAIRPERSON: I will request Dr Russell Ally to lead you and guide you when you tell your story.
DR ALLY: Good afternoon to you Mr Tshoba. I see you have been waiting for quite a while. Thanks for coming. You are going to speak to us about your son, Jan, who was killed in
May 1992. So, could you please tell us your story. We want to listen to it. Thank you.
MR TSHOBA: Ever since that time when Jan left for his sister's place. In the afternoon when we were still sitting at home there was a telephone call that my uncle has been killed outside. We did not hesitate and wait a moment longer. I was still wearing pyjamas. I went into the car and then we drove off. When we arrived at this street named Mawindo we came across a bakkie of police and some other police cars from the direction where Jan was shot and killed. When we arrived at this place it was true that Jan has been killed.
This little girl who was inside the house when, whilst these policemen were shooting outside has ever since lost school, stopped attending school. She suffers from a heart disease. She faints ever since she heard the gunshots on that day. We decided then to call an ambulance. Then a friend of us came in a combi. We took Jan, we drove off for the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital the doctor said he has already passed away. Then we came back. I went to the police camp.
Before that time Freda phoned the police here at Atteridgeville Police Station. When they answered the telephone they laughed first. They laughed at her first before they could even respond to the call. When she informed them about the incident they did not arrive immediately. After the doctor has already testified that my son has passed away, we found that Jan had broken arms, his neck was broken and his head was damaged. We found a lot of bullets next to where he was lying. Then the photographers came around and they took the photographs. We were together PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
with his body and the CID's were also present.
From there, after they took photographs they again went to the spot where he was shot and they took photographs also and we were together with them at that time. The police wanted to have a car. He had been borrowed this car by me and the other time he would borrow the car from his sister. He was driving in a Honda Ballade and they gave us this car and took us to the police camp, but we did not do that. We said this car cannot go to the police camp. What is the car going to do there? He said when they shot at him he had just alighted from this car and he realised later that the police had been keeping surveillance on him and that is when they shot him. When they came around they wanted to take the keys to the car so that they can take the car to the police camp. That is where we differed with these police.
When time arrived fro Jan Tshoba's funeral, on that evening there was a white car that drove past. It was driven at high speed and it again came back and drove past in the very same speed. For the first time, for the third time this car stopped. There was a BMW car on the other side and this man said he was looking for a car, but this car was covered safe. We said we are grieving for our son, you are coming to tell us that you are looking for a car. After a few minutes he spoke on a walkie-talkie and later on some vans, about 11 of them, came around and there were also combis. Then they entered the yard and got to the car. I went outside and I asked them what is happening.
There was another police officer who removed the safe from the car and looked at the car. Another policeman who was in plain clothes, that is the one who was driving the car, and the one who claimed to us that he saw a car passing PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
by said to their senior, let me throw a hand grenade into this house and kill all these black people. My wife and my children were crying at that time and they were so terrified they did not know what to do. The senior policeman said to him do not do that and then they left. We then buried our child as someone else would have done.
A week did not pass by and the police were at my house again. When they got to my house they searched the house. They even searched the pots and also went to search in the garage and the fridges in the house were also searched. Now, I have this heart illness and my ears also do not function well. When they knocked I took a bit longer to can hear them and on my way to open the door I saw the door was in three pieces. It had already been broken. I wondered what was the problem. They did not tell me anything. They entered the house armed and they were pointing guns whilst they were searching. I wondered what was happening. They kept on searching and searching us. We were astounded as to what was happening.
The following week we went to the Commissioner to look for a death certificate. When we got there they said there was no death certificate. This person has long been removed from the books. I said, how come, because I sent those books to the superintendent's office or I was called to the superintendent's office by a white man, that is Mayor because when Jan was released from prison I contacted this Mayor and me and my wife agreed that we want Jan to come back home after serving his prison sentence in Robben Island. Some of the people from the Government did not know how Jan looked, they did not know him in person. One of the Government officials came and touched his left hand or
grabbed him by the left hand and said I am going to kill Jan on the day I meet him. He asked Jan, where is Jan and the very same Jan I told him, I do not know where Jan is because he did not know Jan in person or how Jan looked.
From there because no one wants anyone else to die, I was satisfied because these people did not know him because they did not know how he looked therefore he was going to live safely. On the following day I said to Jan why does that policeman want to kill you. He said, I do not know. He is from the Atteridgeville Police Camp. It is true Jan did not have problems with his parents, he was a quiet person. He then went to the police at Atteridgeville and enquired what problem did they have against him because someone else said they wanted to shoot him. That person who had a gun before was not there when Jan arrived and Jan came back and he left for 11 years and we heard that he was in Potchefstroom. It is true I went around searching for him. When we got there it is true we only saw pictures and they told us that we could not see Jan. That is the senior policeman who told us so. I stayed for the whole day and later on we went back together with my wife.
After being released from Robben Island we took him from the airport. We were together with our friends in cars. The other ones had come in combis who wanted to see him. We found a police van parked on the side and there were dogs with them. Because of knowing that these people had said they are going to kill Jan after being released, the people who had accompanied us said to me, Mr Tshoba, get hold of that child and the other one held him on the other side. There were many people there and then I went around the corner quickly and got into the car and then we left.
When the other combis left that van followed those combis. The van chased us up until Atteridgeville and we drove in our street. It was me and the other woman and Jan's mother and Jan. Jan had sat lowly in the car by then and that van drove past us at high speed.
When it came back for the second time there were many boys who were singing in the street. They were happy at that time. Then we realised that these people were really out to kill Jan. They chased us from the airport up until Atteridgeville and we were driving seriously at that time, that is at high speed and we got out of sight of the person who was chasing us.
DR ALLY: ... story for you to relate. I wonder if I could just ask you a few questions please to help us. I mean it is clear from your statement that your son was a political activist. You say that he was a member of the PAC. Is that correct?
DR ALLY: Did he hold any special position in the PAC?
MR TSHOBA: He was a Commander in the PAC.
DR ALLY: So was he also in APLA then? Are you, was he also a member of APLA in addition to being a member of the PAC, he was also in APLA, in the Liberation Army of the PAC or do you not know that? I am only asking. If you do not know, that is fine.
MR TSHOBA: No, I do not know anything about that. All I know is that he was a PAC member.
DR ALLY: And you say in your statement that after he was released in 1991, he continued with his political activities. Can you just tell us briefly what these political activities were? What kind of political
activities did he continue with?
MR TSHOBA: He was a Corporal in the PAC.
DR ALLY: Now you say that after Jan's death and after the funeral an attorney, a Mr Mavundla, promised that he would assist you. Mavundla, sorry. Did he prepare any case because you say he, they were empty promises. Did it just remain at that level or has something happened since?
MR TSHOBA: No, nothing happened thereafter. We do not know what happened to Jan's case and that is what brought us here. We want to know what happened to Jan because the Government photographers were there. They took photographs, they even took the photograph of the area in which he was killed. We also want to know who told the Commissioner we went to that Jan is no more in South Africa. We want to know who are the people who killed him. People just cannot come and take photographs and then thereafter not open a case or make a follow-up thereof. After the police kicked my doors open and took my property they also refused that they did that. We took photographs of them when they did that and that is when they agreed or they acknowledged that they did this when we showed them the photographs.
After they paid for what they did we did not have peace at home and also after Jan's funeral we never had peace at home. They use to harass us from time to time. Even before Jan went to Robben Island I could not sleep at peace in my house. After he came back they would come into my house and unplug the phone and leave with it. When they returned it, they would return it at about four o' clock. We stomached what they did to us and when one person would phone you and when you answered the phone, the police would hear you from the police camp. That is if a person was
trying to phone you. We were surprised by that happening. They looked for my car papers or documents. From time to time they would come to me searching for the documents to my car.
DR ALLY: In fact, Mr Tshoba, if I could just ask you, Sir, about the car. That is what I wanted to ask you because in your statement you say that after the funeral the police came again and they took Freda's car saying that she was not the rightful owner and the car was never returned. Is that correct? Was the car never returned to you? Can I repeat that? This is the, I think it is the Honda that you spoke about, the Honda Ballade. You said that the police came after you had buried your son and they took the car which was Freda's car and they never returned the car. Is that correct? Was this, the car, has this car ever been returned?
MR TSHOBA: Yes, they still have the car now.
DR ALLY: And, Sir, I wanted to ask you, do you have any papers to prove ownership of that car? Have you got any documents, registration papers or anything like that which you could give to us?
MR TSHOBA: Yes, I have the documents and the summons that were coming from where the, the summons regarding the passing of robots that happened when we were chased by the police were sent to Freda.
DR ALLY: Sir, if you could give us all of those papers because, as we have said to other people who have testified, we will try and look into all of these cases. As you can appreciate, there are many cases and we do not want to make any promises. The only promise we are going to make is that we will try and investigate these cases, but what will help
us is if you have any papers to show the ownership of the car. If you could leave copies of that or if you could give us the originals we can make copies and we can then try to follow-up on this case, but I have no more questions for you Mr Tshoba. Thanks very much for your testimony.
CHAIRPERSON: Piet. Mr Tshoba and your daughter we thank you. As you have already heard Mr Russell Ally saying that we will continue with your case and make investigations. We are really going to do so and we sympathise with you and we will help you in whatever way we can. We will be able to help you if at all we will be able to contact you at any time after we have received the photocopies of those papers we have with you. Thank you.