hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION HEARINGS 1996-10-07 KAROO 1 CT/01533/KAR TSHEDISO PHAKALITHA MIRIAM PHAKALITHA DISAPPEARED AFTER ARRESTED, BY POLICE https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=55361&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/karoo/ct01533.htm MS BURTON [Indistinct] Phakalitha. Can you hear me all right on the ear phones. MIRIAM PHAKALITHA Yes. MS BURTON And you have a member of your family MIRIAM PHAKALITHA Yes. MS BURTON Who is he? MIRIAM PHAKALITHA It is my brother. MS BURTON Welcome sir, thank you. MIRIAM PHAKALITHA Duly sworn states MS BURTON Thank you ver much. You have come today to tell us about the disappearance of your father a long time ago - in 1968 was it? MS PHAKALITHA It is said it is 1968 - I did not know. MS BURTON Please tell us what you know of what happened. MS PHAKALITHA She then phone the house where my father was staying. She told my father that there are police kept on coming. My father is originally from Lesotho. When my mother phoned, somebody said he was jailed. She asked the boers - the boers were cheeky - my mother is also cheeky. The boers said my father had left because he is too political. My mother never was clear whether my father had gone home to Lesotho, did they take him to the border gates, what exactly happened. MS BURTON You were also told at the time that he was somehow connected with the people who were accused in Victoria West of trying to poison the water supply. MS PHAKALITHA That is what they say. MS BURTON [Indistinct] to us when we were in Beaufort West from that group of people who were arrested at the time. MS PHAKALITHA MS BURTON And none of your family ever saw him again. MS PHAKALITHA To this day - no. MS BURTON You believe of coming to talk here today there may be some way of finding out what happened to him. MS PHAKALITHA MS BURTON MS SEROKE MS PHAKALITHA MS SEROKE Did your father meet your mother in the Cape. Had she never gone to Lesotho. MS PHAKALITHA They met here - my mother had never - did go to Lesotho. ADV POTGIETER Were there any talks about that, your father been involved in that political grouping? MS PHAKALITHA According to Wilson they were a member of the PAC. Apparently my father was very militant, very cheeky. ADV POTGIETER [Indistinct] your mother, Ms Phakalitha [indistinct] MS PHAKALITHA We were four children. ADV POTGIETER [Indistinct] and [indistinct] over the years. MS PHAKALITHA ADV POTGIETER MS PHAKALITHA ADV POTGIETER MS PHAKALITHA My mother is a twin. It is my mother and her twin sister that brought us up. ADV POTGIETER Thank you very much. MS BURTON We thank you very-very much for coming. We understand that it is very distressing and we thank you.