TRC Final Report

Volume 4

Chapter 9

Subsection 16

9 Between June 1987 and January 1988, members of the special unit detained over forty BMW members. The police had instructions to obtain, as quickly as possible, confessions that would lead to more arrests and convictions.

“Die nodige beëdigde verklarings moet, soos vereis, so spoedig moontlik maar in elk geval binne agt en veertig uur, beskikbaar wees vir die teenstaan van moontlike interdikte.”⁴ (The necessary sworn affidavits must, as demanded, be available as quickly as possible, but always within forty-eight hours, to oppose possible interdicts). “Ondervraging moet intensief en doelmatig onderneem word onder andere omander arrestasies en aanhoudings te bewerkstellig.”⁵ (Interrogation must be undertaken in an intensive, goal-oriented manner to facilitate, amongst other things, further arrests and detentions).

10 These orders were brutally put into operation. Those arrested were subjected to protracted and severe torture. Methods used to extract ‘confessions’ included electric shocks, suffocation with a wet bag, severe physical assault and being deprived of food and water. Some BMW members recall being forced to drink water from the toilet bowl to quench their thirst. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the torture, however, was the systematic sexual abuse to which these youngsters were subjected. This included being sodomised with the barrel of a revolver and a baton. Activists were deliberately placed in cells with hardened criminals and gangsters who repeatedly raped them. Jacques Adonis was thrown into a cell with common law criminals who were told “Maak met hom wat jy wil.”⁶ (Do what you want to him). Those members of the BMW who made statements to the Commission were between fourteen and twenty-one years old at the time of their detention and torture.

11 The consequences of participating in the violent activities of the BMW – prolonged detention, brutal torture and imprisonment with common criminals – will be felt by the individuals concerned, their families and friends and the community of Bonteheuwel for decades. Those BMW members who came to the Commission all displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. They reported similar symptoms in comrades who chose not to approach the Commission. Most had to discontinue their education and many had not been able to resume it. Because of this, they are unemployed or have low-skill, low-wage jobs. Some have turned to drugs and alcohol to obliterate their painful memories. Others have transferred their ‘skills’ of violence and armed conflict to gangsterism. Violence against family members is not uncommon, and many find long-term, trusting relationships impossible to sustain.

12 BMW members were teenagers in the 1980s; at the time of the Commission hearing, they were only in their twenties. They should have been involved in studies, work, friendships and establishing families. The fact that so many of them remained unable to function adequately can be attributed to the unstable and violent life they led as BMW members, and to the extreme forces of torture and abuse they experienced at the hands of the security forces. In addition, the UDF and the ANC supported and encouraged these young children, aged between eleven and eighteen years, to participate in organised violence, without preparing them for the consequences of such actions.

After the unbanning of the ANC, they (the BMW members) were left to their own devices. As things simmered down, they found themselves naked and vulnerable, lost and exposed, without direction. These guys were literally born on the streets, born in the eye of the storm. They did not have a history before 1986. They had little schooling or skills, except in zipguns and petrol bombs. They were the shocktroops.⁷

I felt that the true purpose of the severe police interrogation was to break us mentally, to ensure that we were not able to function normally again. I could say that the cops succeeded in their interrogation, because if I look at the guys now…