hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION HEARINGS 1996-08-13 BEAUFORT WEST 2 CT/00572 MATTHEW SINDILE YANTA MATTHEW SINDILE YANTA DETENTION AND TORTURE https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=54964&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/beaufort/ct00572.htm ADV POTGIETER I just want to make sure that you can hear over the headphones so if you do hear you can just indicate that you can hear over the headphones, please. MR YANTA Yes, I can hear you. ADV POTGIETER MATTHEW SINDILE YANTA Duly sworn states ADV POTGIETER Dr Ramashala will assist you in giving your evidence and I hand back to her. DR RAMASHALA Good morning Mr Yanta. MR YANTA Good morning. DR RAMASHALA You were arrested in June of 1986, was that? MR YANTA Yes. DR RAMASHALA Could you tell us what happened prior to that up to the point where you got arrested and describe what happened to you when you were detained, thank you. MR YANTA He brought two others and there were three of them. One of the policemen said I was taking time to talk and I was certainly going to tell the truth. One policeman took - kicked me here on the leg with a boot - boot and I ran towards a corner because we were in a small room and another one took me out of that corner and I was running all over the room. Two of them held my hands together and I put my legs together. On Friday - I cannot recall the time - they took us into a very big white van and drove us to the location. And they surrounded us there at the location with - they had sjamboks - and there were trenches there - trenches and they were asking that we should dig this trenches. Then I asked them why, they were also very big stones that they were instructing that we should carry them and put them into this van. We tried to do this so as to put them into these trenches and then - after some time - they took us back to the cell. The following week - at about 2 - on a Tuesday they took us because there were others who had been arrested. They put us into a van sending us to George, so we drove past Graaff-Reinet and in Graaff-Reinet they decided to send us to Port Elizabeth. And they sent us to St Albans prison where they locked us up and we were only released in September but I cannot quite tell on what day it was. DR RAMASHALA Thank you very much. Thank you very much Mr Yanta, I would like to ask you a few questions. You were working for the municipality at the time that you were arrested? MR YANTA Yes, I was working for the municipality when there was a strike and I waited for - some time and went back home. DR RAMASHALA And what was the nature of the work that you were doing? MR YANTA I was a labourer. DR RAMASHALA When the municipal workers went on strike what were they striking about? MR YANTA It is because we were getting R94.00 per fortnight. DR RAMASHALA Where is Nelson Bonase now? MR YANTA Nelson Bonase went to George in April this year. DR RAMASHALA At the time of your - your arrest, did you and Nelson Bonase belong to any political organization at all? MR YANTA Yes, I was a member of the UDF. DR RAMASHALA When the police show you the list of names and they wanted you to tell them something about the names, did you recognise the names of [indistinct] - some on the names of the people on the list? MR YANTA DR RAMASHALA: Your names were on the list also. MR YANTA: Yes. DR RAMASHALA How many policemen were there when they were beating on you? MR YANTA There were three of them in that office - in that small office. DR RAMASHALA Do you remember any of their names? MR YANTA No, only I can say they were white policemen from Oudtshoorn. DR RAMASHALA Mr Yanta, what do you do? Are you working today, what - are you working today? MR YANTA DR RAMASHALA How old are your children? Boy or girl? MR YANTA DR RAMASHALA And in standard? MR YANTA DR RAMASHALA And the second one? MR YANTA The second one is a boy. DR RAMASHALA How old? MR YANTA And seven years old. DR RAMASHALA And he is in standard? MR YANTA Doing Sub A. DR RAMASHALA How are you managing to raise the children just on the part time jobs? MR YANTA Yes, even my wife would have some part time jobs to. DR RAMASHALA You say your wife is working part-time also? MR YANTA Yes, she also works part time. DR RAMASHALA MR YANTA Yes. DR RAMASHALA And you are interested in more training so that you can get better work? MR YANTA Yes, I would be very much interested. DR RAMASHALA MR YANTA No, there is nothing more. DR RAMASHALA Mr Yanta thank you very much. MR YANTA I also thank you. ADV POTGIETER Thank you Chairperson. Mr Yanta, do you know Mr Lolwana who gave evidence first this morning, Zenzile Lolwana? MR YANTA Yes, I know him. ADV POTGIETER Were you - were you working together at George Municipality in 1986? MR YANTA Yes, I used to see him but we were working in different sections. ADV POTGIETER And what - have you got any comment on the evidence that Mr Lolwana gave. You told us that to his mind basically the people at the municipality - the labourers - were working like slaves or were expected to work like slaves and he explained to us some of the type of things that they had to do. Was - was that one of the - one of the general complaints that the workers had at the municipality? MR YANTA ADV POTGIETER Why - why do you think you were arrested? MR YANTA When they took me they said we had a made trenches there. I did appear in court but I was found not guilty and after that I was arrested for state of emergency and I was again found not guilty. ADV POTGIETER The first arrest in June 1986, was that for having dug trenches in the - in the township or was it - under the emergency. What did they tell you? MR YANTA That first time they arrested me for digging trenches and they took us to the Magistrates Court and we were found not guilty and from the court they again arrested me, saying that they were arresting me under the state of emergency. Because it was after that case of the digging of trenches. ADV POTGIETER MR YANTA Yes, it was like that. ADV POTGIETER And - and it was then they kept you for a number of months in detention? MR YANTA ADV POTGIETER And were you charged again during that second period of detention. MR YANTA No, they did not charge me. ADV POTGIETER They just kept you there locked up and eventually just released you without even charging you for anything? MR YANTA ADV POTGIETER How do you feel about that? MR YANTA MS BURTON MR YANTA MS BURTON MR YANTA What I think is there was nothing that had led to my arrest. I was arrested for nothing. MS BURTON Thank you very much Mr Yanta, we can see that you still are angry at what happened to you and not satisfied and you we are - we are pleased that you have come to tell us about it, so that it can be heard in public and so that people can understand what conditions were like at that time. Thank you very much for coming to talk to us this morning. MR YANTA I also thank you.