hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION HEARINGS 1996-06-25 WORCESTER 2 https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=56174&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/worcest/ct00757.htm CASE NO: CT/00757 VICTIM: MINA DAY VIOLATION: SEVERELY BEATEN BY POLICE TESTIMONY BY: MINA DAY ADV POTGIETER Ms Day would you like to put on the headphones - I just want to check, can you hear the translation through the headphones, is it coming through. MS DAY Yes. ADV POTGIETER MS DAY ADV POTGIETER MINA DAY Duly sworn states ADV POTGIETER Thank you very much, you may be seated. Commissioner Glenda Wildschut will assist you to give your evidence to us. I hand you over to her. MS WILDSCHUT Good afternoon Ms Day. MS DAY XHOSA - NO TRANSLATION DONE MS WILDSCHUT Ms Day I wonder if you could tell us just a little bit about yourself and would you tell us also how old you were at the time - ten years ago at the time of the incident. MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Would you like me to repeat the question? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Could we say that at the time you were an elderly person? MS DAY I was waiting for my pension there. MS WILDSCHUT Thank you Ms Day, could you tell us what happened to you then on the night of the 15th of June 1986? MS DAY On the 16th of June after 8, we were in the house having supper some had finished and it was only me and Crosby. Incatha came in with some policemen together with those who wore camouflage uniforms on. They kicked the door, some were knocking on the windows and they assaulted us telling us we must open the door. They were inside so we were forced to open the door but they managed to kick it and open it. They grabbed my son, beat him and then took him outside while beating him all the time. As I was going out to check what was happening they told me to go inside and I told them they must never tell me what to do in my own home. Doyisile and his brother, they beat me, while they were doing this William Nkomiphela cam along with a knopkierie and he also beat me behind my ear. I had a big wound that was bleeding heavily ... (interrupted) MS WILDSCHUT Excuse me Ms Day, I am very sorry, the interpreters are finding it hard to hear you, I wonder if the briefer could bring the microphone closer to you please. MS DAY They pushed me into the van, as they were driving they picked up people along the way and they took Mvulani along and pulled him into the van. There was a Coloured policeman inside the van who was also insulting us. He said to us they must kill us because Le Grange has given them permission to kill us. I asked this man who is going to transport us home and he said you are going alone. I was so surprised that I asked him again if I am going alone and he said yes. He said I must not be frightened. MS WILDSCHUT Thank you Ms Day but maybe we should just go back a little bit and - do you mind if I ask end of Tape 3, side B ... MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT So you were trying to defend your children and by defending your children the police said that you were being cheeky. MS DAY Yes - yes. MS WILDSCHUT Do you understand why you were arrested and taken to prison, do you understand the reason why you were arrested? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT MS DAY Exactly. MS WILDSCHUT Later on in your statement you talked about the police saying that Le Grange has allowed them to kill, who is Le Grange. MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT So - so you were one of the people who was busy taking the country out of the hands of the police. MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Ja, I am trying to understand and I am sure that everybody who is listening to your testimony today, is also trying to understand why somebody of your age should be beaten so severely and then imprisoned for three months. And also when you were...[intervention] MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Yes most of the people in this area who were arrested and taken to prisons, were sent to Victor Verster prison in Paarl, why were you sent to Cape Town, to Pollsmoor? MS DAY Woman were all sent to Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town only the male victims were sent to Victor Verster, those who were arrested at that time. My son was also sent to Victor Verster. MS WILDSCHUT So your son was sent to Victor Verster and you had to go to Pollsmoor in Cape Town. MS DAY He was sent to Victor Verster and I was sent to Pollsmoor. MS WILDSCHUT Was there ever a charge laid against you - why were you sent to prison? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Did they - did they tell you whether you were detained under the State of Emergency Regulations? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT And what charge was laid against him? MS DAY They said he was involved in the burning down of the house. MS WILDSCHUT Do you know anything about that? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Ms Day I know this might be difficult for you but I wonder if you can tell us how was your stay in prison - how were you treated what were the conditions like in prison? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT How were you affected by the incident that you talked about today, by the beating and your subsequent imprisonment, how did that affect your life? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT So the impact on your family has not just been on - on you but also on your children and your son in particular. MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT What I - what I find very remarkable is that as police beat people and particularly in your situation as the police were beating you, so they were also insulting you, that must of had a tremendous impact on you because as a older person in the community, we are meant to respect our elders. MS DAY Yes I was supposed to be respected. To be insulted by your private parts is not right more especially so by someone who is not of your nation. MS WILDSCHUT MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT But they were also referring you - they were comparing you with a dog. MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Ms Day I wonder if you can give us an idea of what you would expect from the Truth Commission - how is it that we can - what is it that you would like us to do for you? MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Yes could I just ask you to - to explain a little bit more, could you explain to us what do you mean by you wanting revenge and...[intervention] MS DAY MS WILDSCHUT Ms Day this must have been very difficult for you to share your story with us, I just wonder whether my colleagues would like to ask you any questions. ADV POTGIETER Yes Pumla Gobodo. MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA Thank you Chairperson. There is nothing that is so hurtful as to hear that a person in another violation is insulted in the fashion that you have been. XHOSA - NO TRANSLATION DONE MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA Other mothers would not believe that such a thing could happen, that your character has been so insulted. Those boys, those young boys insulting a person of your age and standing, if you had been a White person would they have insulted you in such a way, would they have done the same thing to a White woman of your age? MS DAY MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA MS DAY MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA ADV POTGIETER Thank you Pumla, Ms Day just one issue, how long were you detained? MS DAY I was arrested on the 15th of June and came out on the 18th of December at night. ADV POTGIETER MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA Three - three months. ADV POTGIETER Three I am sorry Pumla. MS DAY It was just about 4 months. ADV POTGIETER Four months - well Ms Day it just remains for me to thank you for coming here, and waiting to share your story with us. There is very little that one can do - or one can say or add to what was already said. All that one could perhaps just say is we thank you for sharing that story with us and the hope is that through hearing these stories, hearing all these outrages things that happened, we would be able to at least learn something and learn to make sure that things like that never happens again. STATEMENT FROM WITNESS - MINA DAY I am an adult female residing at no 48 Building Street at Zolani township in Ashton. During the State of Emergency period, that is, on the 15th of June 1986. I was at home with my son Crosby Loyiso Day sitting in the sitting room as others were in the bedroom, namely Mimi Day Betye, Thulisa Betye and others who were still young at that time. It was at about 8:00pm and we were busy eating our late supper. I heard a terrible knock at my door. Whilst listening to that knock I heard other knocks at my windows and I decided to look as my window curtain was not closed. Through the window I saw white policemen. Whilst there were those policemen next to the windows, others were busy damaging my door in order to access it as it was closed and locked. They managed to open the front door and I realised later that it was damaged as they used force to open it. After the door was opened I saw Ndoyisile Ndabeni and Sayinile Teacher Ndabeni in front entering my house. The first thing they did was to insult my son Crosby Loyiso Day for not opening the door when they were knocking. They thereafter went straight to him accusing him of being Cheeky and assaulted him. Both of them beat him with their sjamboks. Loyiso in attempting to defend himself grabbed Ndoyisile and put him down and strangled him as he was lying down. Ndoyisile pulled out his pistol with the intention of shooting Loyiso as they could see that he was being overpowered [my assumption] Nodiyisile was stopped by Mr Joubert after being asked by Mr Gamleki Mxhamelu Day whether to pull out a gun was in the line with the Law. After this we went outside the house and I asked the police why Ndoyisile and Teacher assaulted Loyiso - what did he do - there was no reply from the police, instead it was my turn to be beaten up. I was beaten by Ndoyisile, Teacher and Mr Nkomiphela. Mr Nkomiphela knocked me with a knopkierie, he was carrying, that is a stick with round head, on my head at the back. He knocked me twice, as a result I was bleeding furiously as his knocks caused a wound on my head. I grabbed Ndoyisile. When I was about to hit him a certain white policeman whom I believe was from Montagu, knocked or hit me on my back with the back of a rifle. I became extremely angry. I took an axe which I was going to use to harm Ndoyisile and Teacher. Unfortunately or fortunately for them, they were already gone by the time I had the axe with me. There were only two white policemen closer to me now though others were just all over the place inside my yard. In other words those two policemen were the ones I ended up dealing with them. The first thing they did was to take the axe away from me. One of them, viz.: the one who hit me said I should go inside the house otherwise I would be shot. The last part of his sentence is the one which made me very angry. In my reply I said they should rather kill me as they are used to killing innocent people. He then pointed his rifle at me and put it on my forehead three times. He was stopped by his colleagues but he persisted in pointing his rifle at my forehead. At last he stopped because his colleague was saying to him that he had to stop. Thereafter he said that I deserved to be locked up in a police cell. I was then put inside the SAP van by force. I was badly treated seeing that I was an adult woman. We were then taken to Worcester Prison and thereafter transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town as others were transferred to Victor Verster in Paarl. I stayed there for three months and were released on 18th September 1986. REPORT BY INVESTIGATIVE UNIT Investigators interviewed Ms Day on the 17th of June. She stated that on the 15th of June 1986 she and here family were having dinner at her house at approximately 8:00pm. There was a knock at the door and she saw a white policeman through the window. The police forced the door open and entered the house. She saw Ndoyisile Ndabeni and Samile Ndabeni a Teacher . These two people went straight to her son Crosby Loyiso Day. They insulted him for not opening the door when they knocked and began to assault him. Ms Day asked the men why they were assaulting her son. They then hit her with sjamboks and knopkieries. They arrested her and took her outside where she saw many policemen and SADF members surrounding her house. She was taken to Worcester prison [see prison records] and from there to Pollsmoor prison and finally to Victor Verster prison. She stated that she had at no stage broken the law, she had merely attempted to protect her son. She stated that she had not received medical attention. The prison records indicate that she had scrapes on her face and marks on her back that indicated that she had been hit. There were also marks on her upper thighs. The records indicate that the marks were evident 6 days after the incident. RESEARCH NOTES On 17th June 1986 police in Ashton were reported to have tortured nine detainees during their arrest and interrogation.