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people's warExplanation This civil war that has become a reality of life in KwaZulu-Natal in the last decade has left many thousands dead. In areas like the south coast around Port Shepstone the concept of human rights has become as strange as killing has become familiar. People there are tired of the conflict. Yet when ... Some of the saddest stories in history are of those who died as the freedom they fought for became a reality, the casualties of the last day of war. Bisho, 1992 was such a story, actually 28 of those stories. Freedom and democracy were upon us when those people were gunned down by Ciskei’s ... Church street, Pretoria 1983. Amanzimtoti, 1985. ANC bombs remind ordinary white South Africans there is war. // The bomb that caused the biggest emotional outcry exploded in Church Street, Pretoria, in the late afternoon of May 20. 1983. 19 People were killed and 219 injured. The ANC claimed ... ... of ideology, of power structure, almost every one of us could become to some extent a perpetrator. Aspsychologists, especially we became aware with the years that this need to create a character which is a typical perpetrator is too simple an assumption and we have to think about that ... A former medic in the SA Medical Service this week broke his silence about his involvement in the war. // The first time I ever put a stitch into a person or the first time I ever gave anybody an injection was at Tembisa hospital. As medics we were sent there on Friday and Saturday evenings to ... ... of certain words in this document. I want to emphasise words like ‘eliminate’ and ‘take out’ for the members on the ground who were in a war situation referred only to killing ... ... who took part in the KwaMakhutha killing were not members of the VIP unit, they were members of the offensive unit and they were not involved in a war situation as you earlier described. They attacked a house and they killed 13 people, most of whom were women and children. // Therefore they were ... ... die, could be tortured, could be abducted, could be buried and many of them; and people like yourself and others just didn’t know, weren’t aware of that these people were acting unlawfully or illegally or misunderstood. Help us, I mean how is it possible for that to take place? // I think ... Although the ‘Handelsinstituut’ was one of those to criticize the wealth tax, they were the only ones to come with some kind of alternative. They suggest that the old South African Security Risk Insurance Fund, which was used to insure people against political violence in the past, be used for ... The Truth Commission is getting tough at last and for a change this programme’s timing was perfect, because within a day of our asking some tough questions of the Truth Commission in last week’s programme we saw a new spirit of determination from the Truth Commission. // This velvet glove does ... Did you ever before today disclose that fact that you were a policeman when you were serving on the Star? // No I did not. // Is it today the first time actually that you disclose that? // That I’m disclosing that, yes. Other people may have had, Mr. Chair if I may add, their suspicions and I ... People don’t have houses. People must get houses, they must get back their houses; they must get compensation. Then that would be an indication that something is being done and I think maybe, maybe in the long run people will forgive and forget. Let’s move to Cape Town for the last evidence by the five policemen whose amnesty applications have served before the Truth Commission’s Amnesty Committee the last few weeks. Together, they killed at least 65 people in the name of the apartheid state. We’ll tell you about 21 of these murders ... But when the interrogation started, Benzien and Nortje were present. They were the only other people in the room with me and when they started interrogating me the intimidation had already taken effect. This intimidation of me had already started when I was in this room and the security policeman ... Were there cases in which special forces cooperated with the police in eliminating people i.e. killing people in accordance with the plan that you testified to before lunch. // That is correct. // And are those the matters in respect of which you have applied for amnesty? // That is correct. // ... Monday August 12. The anger of the mourners sparked further outbursts all over the township. The revolt gained a momentum of its own that outstripped attempts by leaders to control it. // Most people were killed around the place where there’s Gombo community hall. There was a bottle store in that ... We’ve had a great reluctance on the part of individuals to talk about what happened in the region because of this difficulty with the amnesty provision, that it may not necessarily apply, an amnesty granted here doesn’t apply say in Botswana. And that of course has been a major disincentive for ... ... some of PW’s memorabilia, anything of PW in that Museum, it needs to be contextualized. For instance, if you walk into that Museum, he’s got awards from the president of Chili and Savimbi, an AK47. You know, it is totally ridiculous. What we need to say is who are these leaders that gave ... He was a great man and Victoria Mxenge as well, because they were both attorneys. They were just attorneys of the people. Money was not a first thing to Mrs. Mxenge but her duty was to complete and help that poor somebody, and number two, she thinks about the money. I mean they were very unique, ... On the night of 17 June 1989 the Van Straaten brothers, Adriaan, Willem, Gideon and Dawid went into the premises of a transport company in Vereeniging, stole a truck and murdered the two unarmed night watchmen on duty. They crushed the skull of the first guard with a rock and the other was stabbed ... |
