TRC Final Report

Volume 3

Chapter 5

Subsection 27

The Bongolethu Three shooting

177 On 17 June 1985, three children, Andile Majola [CT00329], Fezile Hanse [CT00330] and Patrick Madikane [CT00533], were shot dead at the house of a black security policeman by members of the Riot Unit. Several other youths were seriously injured but were taken into custody by police and subsequently charged with public violence. Mr Xolile Lwana [CT00536] was shot in the head with birdshot, leaving him permanently physically and mentally disabled.

178 Police versions of the event and eyewitness accounts differ. Residents of Bongolethu argue that the shooting was essentially an ambush. Youth gathered at the house did not know that there were policemen waiting in the house. One constable stated that one youth actually went into the front room of the house, but the policemen did not reveal their presence. No warnings were issued and no warning shots fired. In addition, buckshot was used as opposed to the lighter birdshot.

179 An eyewitness, Mr Mzukisi Mooi, described the event as follows:

People believed Mngoma’s house was empty. Another boy with a red jersey went to the front door. The next minute I heard a shot going off. Shots were fired continuously. I saw a little boy lying near the gate. I saw a girl crawling across the road. The next moment, policemen came out of the house. One policeman continued firing at the crowd. One of the policemen brought a holder with petrol from the house and threw it in a Fanta bottle. He then put it near the body of the one child.¹⁶

180 The police officers said they had acted in self-defence after a crowd attacked the township house that they were guarding. One policeman testified that one of the youths had sprinkled petrol onto the carpet of the house and that another had matches on him. In order to stop him from striking the match, the policemen in charge shot the child. The other two children were shot in the process of fighting the crowd which had gathered outside the house.

181 After what became known as the ‘Bongolethu Three’ incident, the townships of Bongolethu and Bridgeton remained in a state of ongoing revolt and political upheaval until the end of the year, with mass detentions and trials continuing in 1986. All black police were driven out of the townships during this period. In 1989, the graves of the Bongolethu Three were desecrated by unknown people.

THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT THE KILLING OF THE BONGOLETHU THREE AT BONGOLETHU, OUDTSHOORN AMOUNTED TO AN ‘AMBUSH’ CARRIED OUT ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH.

THE COMMISSION FINDS THE ADOPTION OF ‘TROJAN HORSE’ AMBUSH TACTICS BY THE SECURITY FORCES TO BE ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE FOR DEALING WITH CIVILIAN UNREST. THE AMBUSH TACTIC WAS USED TO LURE CIVILIANS DELIBERATELY INTO SITUATIONS WHICH THEN RESULTED IN FATALITIES AND INJURIES. RELYING ON CONCEALMENT, SPEED AND SURPRISE, IT RESULTED IN INDISCRIMINATE SHOOTINGS BY THE SECURITY FORCES, INJURING BYSTANDERS AND PROTESTORS ALIKE. IN MANY INSTANCES OF STREET UNREST, THE MAIN PARTICIPANTS WERE YOUTH UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN.