TRC Final Report

Volume 5

Chapter 9

Subsection 9

36 The questioning of Captain Jeffrey T Benzien at his amnesty hearing in Cape Town provided another example of the difficulties many perpetrators face in reconciling with themselves, their families, their victims and the rest of society. Amongst those who questioned Captain Benzien was Mr Tony Yengeni, one of his victims, who asked him to demonstrate his torture methods:

Captain Benzien: It was a cloth bag that would be submerged in water to get it completely wet. And then the way I applied it was: I get the person to lie down on the ground, on his stomach normally on a mat or something similar with that person’s hands handcuffed behind his back.

Then I would take up a position in the small of the person’s back, put my feet through between his arms to maintain my balance and then pull the bag over the person’s head and twist it closed around the neck in that way, cutting off the air supply to the person.

Chairperson: What happens to the person while he is being choked? Can you describe [it]?

Captain Benzien: There would be movement. There would be head movement, distress. All the time there would be questions being asked: do you want to speak? And as soon as an indication was given that this person wanted to speak, the air would be allowed back to this person to say what he wanted to say.

Mr Tony Yengeni: Would the person groan, moan, cry, scream? What would the person do?

Captain Benzien: Yes, the person would moan, cry, although muffled; yes, it does happen.

Mr Tony Yengeni: And you did this to each and every one of us?

Captain Benzien: To the majority of you, yes.

Mr Tony Yengeni: But were there any … was there any physical condition that would make you to release the bag on the part of the person who is tortured?

Captain Benzien: On occasions people have I presume, and I say presume, lost consciousness. They would go slack and every time that was done, I would release the bag…

Mr Tony Yengeni: What kind of man uses a method like this – one of the wet bag, to people, to other human beings, repeatedly and listening to those moans and cries and groans and taking each of those people very near to their deaths – what kind of man are you? What kind of man is it that, that can do that kind of – what kind of human being is that Mr Benzien?

I want to understand really why, what happened? I am not talking now about the politics or your family. I am talking about the man behind the wet bag? When you do those things, what happens to you as a human being? What goes through your head, your mind? You know, what effect does that torture activity done to you as a human being?

Captain Benzien: Mr Yengeni, not only you have asked me that question. I

– I, Jeff Benzien, have asked myself that question to such an extent that I voluntarily – and it is not easy for me to say this in a full court with a lot of people who do not know me … approached psychiatrists to have myself evaluated, to find out what type of person am I.

I had the fortune or misfortune of growing up in a white environment in Cape Town. I did not, either through my own stupidity or ignorance, as long as I was one of the whites, the privileged whites who had an education, who had a house, I couldn’t see it being taken away. If you ask me what type of person is it that can do that, I ask myself the same question.

37 Ronnie Kasrils spoke of the appeal he had made to the soldiers who had fired on marchers at Bisho:

I would like to say a few words about the Ciskeian soldiers who opened fire on the march. An irony of this rainbow nation of ours, as you’ve coined it Archbishop, is that, with all the strange things happening, Raymond Mhlaba is now here at Bisho where Oupa Gqozo used to lord it. Here I am, a Deputy Minister of Defence in this democratic government, and I have a responsibility to the soldiers of this country including [these] and to the members of former SADF who trained and commanded them. We are creating a new defence force of seven former antagonistic forces, and we can only do this on the basis of reconciliation, which is vital to the well-being of our society and our future.

Can we blame any of the – any individual in their rank? I’ve had to meet them, old SADF, former Ciskei. I’ve been to the barracks here at Bisho – on a tour of inspection with Minister Modise, trying to create this new defence force which must defend and guard the freedom and the sovereignty which the Archbishop referred to, and I have had to grapple with my conscience. They were products of an evil system that conditioned them to fear the manifestations of democracy, and they were programmed to believe that we were devils incarnate.

As I have mentioned, they must have been worked up … to believe that we were a threat to their lives. As recently as this past Friday I visited Defence Headquarters here in King William’s Town and, through the commanding officers, I encouraged them all to seek indemnity because they did commit a heinous crime. They must expunge their guilt by telling the truth and seeking forgiveness from their victims. They can shed light on what actually happened and need to be encouraged to seek indemnity because this is the key thing: they have been afraid to tell the truth. And I have been told stories about this officer and that commander, and this one who is suicidal and this one who is drinking himself to death, and I must tell you that I have feeling for them, which is why I am making this statement, and I have sent back this message to tell them they’ve got nothing to fear if they come forward.

But that’s not the only thing. It’s not the only thing in creating a new defence force, because anyone in our new defence force now must demonstrate by their actions as soldiers that they wish to serve and protect the people of our country and our democratic system.