hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION HEARINGS 1996-06-19 GEORGE 2 CT/00332 ANIDA HARRIS FREDDIE HARRIS SHOT DEAD BY POLICE https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=55089&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/george/ct00332.htm DR RAMASHALA Mr Harris do you wish to take the oath. MR HARRIS Ja. DR RAMASHALA Could you stand please. FREDDIE HARRIS Duly sworn states DR RAMASHALA Chairperson will facilitate the evidence. MS BURTON Thank you - good morning Mr Harris. MR HARRIS Morning. MS BURTON I would - I believe you want to speak Afrikaans. MR HARRIS Ja. MS BURTON And is it all right if I ask you questions in English? MR HARRIS Ja. MS BURTON If you want to, you can use the earphones for the Afrikaans translation. MR HARRIS MS BURTON Thank you very much for coming to tell us today about the killing of your niece - will you please tell us what happened on that day in 1976. MR HARRIS And then when the police arrived, they would run back into the bush into Acacia Street to get away from the police. And many of us ran into Lawaaikamp, that is the same Gracia Road which divides Borcherds and Lawaaikamp. MS BURTON Were - were you present - did you see all of this? MR HARRIS Yes I was part of a group of people stoning the police vehicles, I was part of what happened yes. MS BURTON You were part of that group but Abida was not, she just happened to be there at that time. MR HARRIS MS BURTON MR HARRIS MS BURTON It is one of the many tragedies that we hear that an innocent child passing an event like this, should have been killed and we very grateful to you for coming to tell us about it. Would any of the other members of the panel like to ask any questions - Dr Ally. DR ALLY Mr Harris when Abida was shot, was she alone - was she alone when she was walking to the shop - were there other people with her? MR HARRIS DR ALLY And are those people prepared to come and testify before the Commission or have they done so, to make statements? MR HARRIS DR ALLY Would you be able to give these names to the Commission and you say these people are prepared to make statements or the person who is still living in George is prepared to make a statement. MR HARRIS I will do my best to try and get hold of this person and just to tell him to contact the Truth Commission. DR ALLY It is extremely important to know what really happened on that day because as you will understand it is many years ago and many of the documents are not available anymore so the more people come and tell us what exactly happened the better, it will give us a fuller picture of the events. It will make our job much easier. It will enable us to get a fuller picture of the events in 1976, the year when so many things happened. MR HARRIS Yes I will - I will tell these people when I see them . DR ALLY The Commission is extremely sad to hear that such a young person was killed in these circumstances, thank you very much, thank you very much. MS BURTON Mr Harris just to let you know that our investigation unit have followed up the - as much information as they can find, and they have got the inquest records, which confirms that Abida died from a gunshot wound. They have not been able to get the records of the - from the police for that day, what are called the police deployment records. It looks as if those records have been destroyed. Perhaps we could just repeat the Afrikaans translation again for Mr Harris to hear. INTERPRETER Could the Commissioner just repeat the question in English. MS BURTON So we do need to try and get as much information as we can to complete the story. And we thank you very much for coming to us today and as Dr Ally has said, extend our sympathy to you and your family. MR HARRIS Thank you.