TRC Final Report

Volume 2

Chapter 7

Subsection 27

331 In May Mr Mika Bennet Moeti [JB05533/03NW] was severely injured when the car he and a friend was driving in was driven off the road near Pampierstad by AWB members and overturned.

332 Mr Class Mabuti Mofadi [KZN/BEN/027/FS] was shot and severely injured by an AWB member in June at Cansutt, Tikwana (Hoopstad). He was wearing an ANC shirt. In the same month Mr Samuel Chobane Papala [KZN/BEN/001/FS] was abducted by three AWB members while walking down the street in the same town. They locked him up and assaulted him.

333 On 1 July 1993 five AWB members (including Mr AML Fourie [AM0361/96] and Mr Gert Jonker [AM0484/96] abducted two black men in Carltonville suspected of theft and decided to kill them. One of them, a ‘Commandant’, applied for amnesty for the death of Mr William Lesenjego and stated his political objective as being “to promote the ideology of the AWB and to decrease the number of blacks”.

334 An AWB commander, Mr Gerald John Van Dyk [AM0113/96] from Carltonville, applied for the murder on a Rustenburg policeman during July 1993 and cites general orders from the AWB.

335 In September, Mr Tshamaano Robert Mahebeledzha [JB00571/02NPPTB] was severely assaulted in Potgietersrus by two AWB members (names withheld) for not being able to tell them the whereabouts of two black men they were pursuing. His leg was amputated as a result of the assault.

336 Mr Richard Mfanini Mthethwa [KZN/SANG/035/VH] was severely beaten, kicked and assaulted by four AWB members in Vryheid during September. He became blind and lost his job.

337 In October, Ms Tshibili Siobo [JB03332/02NPLTM] was called a ‘kaffir’ and dragged by a tractor at her place of employment near Louis Trichardt when she was pregnant. Her chest was torn up and other injuries were sustained. She is today a cripple.

338 Mr Nicklaas Engelbrecht and Mr Frikkie Witbooi was shot dead by amnesty applicant Mr GJ van der Sandt [AM1698/96] in November 1993 near Pofadder.

339 During December 1993 Mr Edgar van Wyk [JB5924/03WR] was severely injured and tortured by AWB members who broke into his house in Toekomsrus looking for his son who was supposed to have Obtained AK-47s for them. His wife was also beaten.

340 In the same week Mr Teboho Makhuza [JB05972/01GTSOW] and three friends, Mr Theophilus More, Mr Gabriel Shabangu and Mr Simon Nkomboni were amongst those killed by the AWB gang who erected a roadblock. Eight amnesty applicants said they shot and killed four black people, wounding six others, after being told by their Western Transvaal commander that the “revolution” was to start that day. The applicants were Chief Commander for Randfontein area, Mr Phillippus Cornelius Kloppers [AM4627/97], his second-in-command, Mr Deon Martin [AM4621/97] and Mr Andre Francois Visser [AM4571/97], Mr Marius Etienne Visser [AM7003/97], Mr Petrus Matthews [AM4624/97], Mr Gerhardus Johannes Diedericks [AM6662/97], Mr Frederick Jocobus Badenhorst [AM7004/97] and Mr Carel Hendrik Meiring [AM7002/97] and Mr Marthinus Lodewikus van der Schyff [AM5435/97].

341 The applicants claimed they were ordered by their commander, AWB General Japie Oelofse, that it was time to see “bodies” while exercising “hard options”. After searching several cars for weapons they wanted to confiscate for their war, they assaulted and later shot the occupants of two cars. Oelofse allegedly requested a symbol of their activities and an ear of one of the victims was cut off to show him. During the amnesty hearings, Oelofse denied this. The Amnesty Committee had not yet made a decision at the time of reporting.

342 Weeks before the 1994 election, two people were shot at by AWB members in Bethlehem. One of them, Mr Daemane David Maphisa, [KZN/SMB/128/FS] died.

343 During March 1994, Mr Mcoseleli Benya [EC2116/97ELN] was stabbed to death with pangas by four named AWB members on the N2 in East London. The Commission heard that dangerous weapons were used in an AWB mission to remove “blacks” from the streets before the election.

344 Mr Itumeleng Ernest Kejane was shot by an AWB member at Hertzogville while participating in a march. He was severely injured.

345 In March 1994, three right-wingers, claiming to be AWB members, including Mr Tyrone Chadwick [AM5193/97], shot and killed two unknown victims in Heidelberg in the former Transvaal, then dug a trench and threw the bodies into it.

346 On 23 April 1994, four AWB members shot and killed an unknown victim in Secunda. Those who applied for amnesty were Mr WJ Van Zyl [AM5611/97], Mr OA De Meillon [AM4570/97], Mr Edmund William Holder [AM5610/97] and Mr Willem Johannes Van Schalkwyk.

347 On election day, 27 April 1994, Mr Viyani Papiyana was killed when two rightwingers took to the streets in the West Rand and shot at a minibus taxi in an effort to disrupt the elections. Mr Godfrey Papiyana was wounded. The applicants, Mr James Wheeler [AM2084/96] and Mr Corneliuys Rudolph Pyper [AM5179/97], were serving fifteen-year jail sentences for the attack when they were granted amnesty. The Amnesty Committee was satisfied that the applicants had believed themselves to be under orders from the AWB.

348 Two AWB members and a BWB member from Secunda were ordered to obtain automatic weapons for the ‘revolution’. The Devon Radar Complex in Secunda was attacked and robbed on 24 April 1994. A police guard was shot and killed in the process. Mr WJ Van Zyl [AM5611/97] and Mr EW Holder [AM5610/97] claimed they were given orders by their area commander, Mr Ockert van Schalkwyk. Mr Ockert de Meillon of BWB [AM4570/97] allegedly pulled the trigger.