TRC Final Report

Volume 3

Chapter 5

Subsection 4

19 Killings constituted 16 per cent of the violations in the region. The victims of reported killings were primarily males between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four, followed by males between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-six. Shooting was by far the most common type of killing.

20 The most common form of torture was beating, representing more than double the number of any of the other categories. This was followed by mental torture, suffocation and electric shock. As for the other types of violation, the victim profile here too is largely male and between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four.

Political affiliation of victims

21 The overwhelming majority of victims with a known political affiliation were ANC members or supporters, followed by the UDF. (It must be noted that these two organisations were at times used interchangeably by deponents.) This is true for killings, severe ill treatment and torture. In all these categories, the next greatest largest number of victims were linked to the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).

Perpetrator groups

22 The South African Police (SAP) was named as perpetrator in the overwhelming majority of violations in the categories of killings, severe ill treatment and torture for the entire period. Supporters of the UDF and PAC were also identified as perpetrators of killing violations, although these accounted for a fifth or less of the number attributed to the police.

23 Killings by the UDF were concentrated between 1984 and 1986, and killings by the PAC between 1992 and 1994. Acts of torture and severe ill treatment by the SAP are spread across the period, with dramatic peaks in the 1980s and the 1990s.