1.Introduction
2.Identity Of Deceased Not Established
3.Deceased Identified Although Severely Burnt
4.Remaining Deaths:
     Cases B1 to B24
     Cases B25 to B49
5.Matters Finalised By A Court Of Law

1.1 The Commission turns then to consider those deaths. As in the case of those killed in the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area, the Commission has set out a list of the names of all the deceased, save in the case of those who were not, or could not be, identified and allocated a case number to each one. To distinguish them from the deaths in the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area, the Commission has enumerated those whose deaths fell outside the Commission's terms of reference as C 1 to C40 (in Annexure C hereto) and enumerated the others whose deaths were investigated as B1 to B52 (Annexure B hereto).

1.2 In all instances post-mortem examinations were carried out on the bodies of the deceased. Some of these were performed by Dr C G Fosseus and Dr Percival Dubasi, forensic pathologists, with the latter currently a lecturer in forensic medicine at Medunsa University. Most of them, however, were performed by Dr Francis Kariuki, a forensic pathologist at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital. Dr A J Coetzee, the district surgeon of Vryburg, Dr N J Reddy, the senior medical officer of Lehurutshe and Dr E G Amlima with Dr W J Geyer, senior medical officers of Kudumane, also performed post-mortem examinations.

1.3 The Commission also had the benefit of the evidence of a ballistics expert of the South African Police, Captain Theunis Brits, who, from the wounds found at the post-mortem examinations and from pellets, spent bullets and fragments of such pellets and bullets found in certain of the bodies during the post-mortem examinations, was able to express opinions as to the types of weapons used to fire the shots causing the wounds in question, the number of shots fired, and the distance at which the shots were probably fired.

2. Deaths Where The Deceased Was Not Or Could Not Be Identified

CASES NO B39 - B48

The evidence was that on 11 March 1994 the Central City Complex was completely burnt down and that as a result part of the roof burnt and collapsed. Detective Sergeant Andrew Molokoane, who is employed at the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary testified that on 15 March 1994 he and Constable Raymond Tapi went to Cental City where bodies were pointed out to them under the rubble of the burnt collapsed roof. All the bodies were decomposed and burnt beyond recognition. They took them to the Mortuary. Inspector Ramoa Mokgoko also collected the remains of some four bodies there on 25 March 1994. Dr Percival Dubasi, who conducted post-mortem examinations on the bodies, testified that the bodies were burnt and charred to such an extent that he could not determine the cause of death in each case nor, having been burnt beyond recognition, were they capable of identification not even by fingerprinting (their hands having been burnt away) nor by DNA finger-printing by reason of the extent of the charring. From fragments of broken bones and small pieces of unburnt clothing he could determine that in cases B39 to B44 the bodies were those of male adults and in cases no B45, 46, 47 and 48 the bodies were those of four male children. Both Sergeant Molokoane and Inspector Mokgoko testified that they gave every assistance to those who came to the Mortuary to attempt to identify the bodies. Up to five families a day came there but despite their giving these families all the help they could, none of the bodies could be identified.

No findings as required by the Commission's Terms of Reference can therefore be made.

3. Death Where The Deceased Was Identified Although Severely Burnt

CASE NO B7: WATKINS LEBETHE

The body of this deceased was also found under the rubble of the collapsed roof at Central City Complex. It too had been severely burnt and was decomposed. It was, however, identified as the body of Watkins Lebethe from a fragment of a T-shirt he had been wearing. Dr Francis Kariuki who conducted the post-mortem found the cause of death to be "severe burns". The concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood was low, leading Dr Karinki to the opinion that the deceased had probably died before being burnt and buried under the rubble of the collapsed and burnt roof.

The Magistrate of Odi held an inquest in terms of the Inquest Act, No 58 of 1959 on 16 July 1996 into the death of the deceased and found

(a) the identity of the deceased is Watkins Lebethe, aged 30 years.
(b) the date of death is 15 March 1994.
(c) the cause of the death was "severe burns - charred".
(d) as to whether the death was brought about by an act or omission prima facie involving or amounting to an offence on the post of any person, the Magistrate found "undetermined".

Due to the lapse of time between the violence in the former Bophuthatswana in the week of 7 to 14 March 1994 and the appointment in 1996 of the Commission and the carrying out of its subsequent activities and proceedings many witnesses had disappeared and in the case of several of the deaths nobody who could testify to the circumstances in which the deceased had died could, despite diligent and exhaustive investigation by the Investigation Team, be traced. That occurred in this case.

This deceased died as a result of a shotgun wound to the head. He was apparently taken to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital but the hospital file in regard to him has disappeared without trace. His body was later found at Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary where according to the Mortuary records it was identified by one Lydia Bakane. Strenuous efforts to trace the latter including interviewing people in Koppies and in Odi Prison had proved unsuccessful. A press report asking for anyone knowing her whereabouts to contact the Investigating Team had also borne no fruit. No one who could say how the deceased had been shot could be found nor could anyone say where the body had been found.

The Commission therefore finds that

The facts in these two cases are the same. Both the deceased were shot by white men who probably were policemen, although it was not possible to establish with certainty who they were.

Jacob Ntshudisane (for ease I shall refer to him as Jacob) said he and the two deceased were friends. At about 16:00 on 11 March 1994 he said he was on his way on foot from Hammanskloof to Temba when the two deceased who were in Baloyi's car, a Datsun Pulsar, picked him up. Because of the looting around the Checkers Complex in Temba, some of the streets in the area had been barricaded. They accordingly drove into one of the residential areas to find a way round to get to Makapanstadt. Baloyi was a hawker and there were some of his goods in the car. Baloyi drove and he and Jacob sat in the front seat with Nonyane in the back.

As they were turning into a street in the Temba residential area a vehicle followed them. Shots were fired from this vehicle hitting the tyres of their car causing it to stop. The vehicle was a white 4 X 4 bakkie without a canopy. Jacob said he saw two white men in the cab of this vehicle. No one was in the back. Jacob said he and the deceased sat in their car for a while. The other vehicle was about 30 to 40 paces behind them. Baloyi got out first and started moving from the driver's side past the front of their car, with his back to the other vehicle. He was shot in the back by the whites who were firing from out of the windows of their vehicle. Nonyane then also got out of their car and also set off away from the whites' vehicle. He too was shot in the back. Jacob said he was then left alone in the car. He opened the car door near to him and was shot in the hand by a shotgun pellet. He closed the door. After a while he decided to surrender and emerged from the car with his arms raised. As he did so he was shot in the stomach and lower part of the chest. He lost consciousness. He came to in Ga-Rankuwa Hospital. Jacob said the whites were not in uniform. He could not identify them in any way. There was nothing to show that the vehicle was a police vehicle. It had a computer registration number which he could not remember.

Daniel Boiyane, who lives in the residential area in question said he and a friend, Dineo Mokone, were walking home at about 16:30 on Friday, 11 March 1994 when a Datsun Pulsar car, in which there were three black men, passed them followed by a white bakkie. Shots were fired at the car from the bakkie. He and Dineo split up and ran for cover in different directions. He ran into a house there and peeped out of the windows. He saw two white men in the bakkie, shooting out of the windows of the latter. He saw one of the occupants of the car get out and fall, shot, to the ground. He was worried about Dineo and went to look for her. She said she had been shot in the right side. He was concerned about getting her to hospital and although he saw the men lying near to their car, he did not attend to them. He wrote down the registration number of the bakkie and kept it for some time but while tidying up recently had thrown away the paper on which the number was written. He could not now remember the number in its entirely but remembered that the last letter in the number was an "H". Eveline Shakwane said that Dineo Mokone was her daughter.

Dineo also had a sister, Mavis. On 11 March 1994 she was at home in the afternoon. It was chaotic in the area around Checkers. She said that she saw a white Datsun Pulsar with three black men inside being chased by a white bakkie without a canopy in which there were two white men. One was driving and one was leaning out of the passenger window shooting at the Pulsar with a "long gun". The Pulsar came to a stop, its tyre having been shot. One of the men in the Pulsar got out and started to run away. He was shot by the white man. Another got out and surrendered with his arms raised. He too was shot.

At that stage Dineo and Mavis, who had been out away from home, returned. Mavis told her that Dineo had been shot. Mrs Shakwane said she checked this and found that Dineo had been shot in the back. Shortly afterwards members of the Bophuthatswana Police arrived in two vehicles and picked up the men who had been shot. The whites, who were in civilian clothes, were then still on the scene. They had looked at the bodies before the Bophuthatswana Police arrived. The latter were in uniform. One of the vehicles appeared to be a mortuary van. Mrs Shakwane said she could not say if the whites and the Bophuthatswana Police had spoken to one another as she was then busy attending to Dineo. The latter's wound was a serious one, requiring her to go to hospital. She had by now completely recovered. A post-mortem examination performed by Dr Kariuki showed that the deceased Baloyi had died from shotgun wounds to the buttock, pelvis and abdomen, fired from behind him. The deceased Nonyane died from multiple shotgun wounds to his chest, back of the neck and left arm penetrating the chest and collapsing the lungs. The doctor removed ten shotgun pellets from the left arm, four from the chest and four from the back of the neck. He felt - and Captain Brits agreed with him - that two blasts from the shotgun had been fired at Nonyane. The police found the Datsun at the scene with the bodies of the two deceased lying near it. There were pellet marks on the boot of the car and holes on the sides of it

. Sergeant Isaac Mokgokolo who attended at the scene, said the people there "were fighting us". They were shouting that "these whites are just shooting us" and "fighting" with him and colleague because they were policemen. They thought the whites were policemen. It seems likely that the whites were police and that they followed the Datsun and shot at it because they saw the goods in the car and thought that the men in the car had got them by looting and were looters. This assumption seems all the more likely in the light of the evidence of Mrs Shakwane that they were still on the scene when the Bophuthatswana Police arrived to pick up the bodies, having made no attempt to get away. The Bophuthatswana Police, too, appeared to have done nothing about arresting them.

The Commission therefore finds that

The deceased in this case was shot at Central City Complex during the rioting there. Oupa Samuel Makameta testified that on Friday, 11 March 1994 he and the deceased went in the fattens car to Central City. They had a hawker's stall there and having heard that there was looting in progress at the Complex they wanted to find out if their stall was damaged. They parked the car at the stall and went to the Complex, splitting up to go to separate entrances. Police of the Bophuthatswana Police Force were firing teargas at the looters. Makameta said he went back to the car. While it was parked there a woman, Thoko Skhosana, whom they knew, wanted to put some looted goods into the car. While waiting for the deceased to return, said Makameta, he saw white policemen shooting at the crowd, firing live ammunition. He ran away. While running he saw a man being shot in the thigh. He (Makameta) was also struck by a rubber bullet. The deceased did not return to his car and Thoko told him that the deceased had been shot inside the Complex. He took a taxi home. The white policemen who were shooting at the crowd were wearing the blue uniform of the South African Police. Other whites who were also shooting were dressed in civilian clothes and some in brown uniforms. He thought the latter were soldiers. They were also wearing helmets with visors. The Bophuthatswana Police, who were all blacks, only fired teargas. Makameta said he heard later that the deceased's body was found near the Pick 'n Pay Shop in the Complex. He did not know where or by whom the deceased had been shot. A postmortem examination by Dr Kariuki revealed that the deceased died as a result of a bullet wound to the head. Only one shot caused the wound. It had probably been fired, according to Captain Brits, from a high-velocity firearm (an R4 or R5 or LM4 of LMS rifle) from a distance. This type of firearm was used by members of the Security Forces. Private security firms also used them. The latter used Vektors, which are similar to R4 and RS and LM4 and LMS rifles, as well. There is no evidence of any South African Police having been at the complex at the time or any white soldiers. Makameta may have therefore confused Security Firm members with Police or Defence Force members. Whatever the position, there is complete uncertainty as to who shot the deceased.

The Commission therefore finds that

This is another case where the deceased was shot while looting at Central City Complex but where it is not known how, where or by whom he was shot. Oupa John Mogwebi, a cousin of the deceased, testified that he and the deceased went to Central City to loot arriving there at about 06:30 to join a large crowd of looters. Members of the Bophuthatswana Police Force were firing teargas at the crowd and members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force were using batons and teargas to keep the crowds away from the Complex. He and the deceased became separated when the teargas was fired and he went home. He heard later that the deceased had been shot. He could not say where, how or by whom he had been shot. The deceased's body was subsequently identified at the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary by another cousin of his, Lettah Diale, a police sergeant employed at the Mortuary. She also identified him from a newspaper photograph showing him lying with a wound to his head next to a road near the Central City Complex that is seen burning in the background. The post-mortem report is that the deceased died from a head injury due to a gunshot wound causing the deceased's head to explode. This "exploded head" injury, said Captain Brits, was typical of a shot from a high velocity firearm such as an R4 of R5 rifle. The Commission could also in this case not determine the circumstances in which the deceased had been shot. It finds accordingly that

In this case, too, the circumstances in which the deceased was shot cannot be determined. The post-mortem report shows that he died as a result of gunshot wounds to his chest from the back. Three such wounds were found on the deceased's back, perforating his lungs and rupturing his diaphragm. Captain Brits concluded from experiments conducted by him that these had been caused by a shot from a shotgun using SSG pellets, which are large pellets, at a distance of about 50 metre. The deceased's mother who identified the body of her son who was 22 at the time, at Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary said he left home at about 04:40 on Friday, 11 March 1994. He did not say where he was going. He did not return home. She searched for him for about two weeks before finding his body at the Mortuary on 24 March 1994. Police evidence was that the deceased's body was one of those found and picked up at Central City and taken to the Mortuary. Nobody could be found who could say where, how or by whom he had been shot.

The Commission therefore finds that

In this case too nobody could be found who could say where or by whom or in what circumstances the deceased had been shot. The post-mortem report showed that the deceased had been shot. He had suffered a compound fracture of the right lower leg caused by a blast from a shotgun, many shotgun pellets being found in the inner aspect of the right thigh. The cause of death, according to Dr Karinki, was blood loss due to a shotgun wound to the right lower leg. Captain Brits agreed that the wound was caused by one shot from a shotgun using SSG pellets at a distance of more than 10 metres. The deceased's name was obtained from the Mortuary register but it was impossible to find who had identified the body. The register showed that he had been given a pauper's burial. The records of the Department of Internal Affairs showed that a person with the deceased's name was still alive but an official said that the documentary evidence of his death may not have yet reached the Department. Nobody had identified the body. No one could be found to say where the body had been picked up and taken to the mortuary nor could anyone be found, despite exhaustive enquiries by the Investigating Team, who could say where or by whom or in what circumstances the deceased had been shot.

The Commission therefore finds that

The deceased in this case was killed during the looting of "Uncle Nats". The post-mortem revealed that he had been shot on the left-side under the armpit and in the head by somebody with a shotgun and that he also had a severe head injury caused by a blunt instrument. How he came to sustain these injuries could not be established because, although the main road from Ga-Rankuwa to Brits, known then as Mangope Highway, runs alongside the place where "Uncle Nats" was situated and members of the Bophuthatswana Police and Defence Force were patrolling along that road, there is no evidence of any shooting by anyone at the scene where the deceased's body was found, which was in a road running between the house of the owner of "Uncle Nats" and the latter shopping complex there.

Dr Kariuki who performed the post-mortem said that it appeared that the deceased had been shot by a shotgun at close range, an opinion concurred in by Captain Brits. Shotgun pellets were found in the body. The cause of dead was determined as "multiple injuries due to shotgun wounds to head and chest with superadded blunt trauma". Dr Kariuki did not feel that the head injury had been caused by a brick having been thrown at the deceased as there were no lacerations of the skin. It seemed rather that he had been struck by a blunt instrument. He could not say which had occurred first; the hitting with a blunt instrument or the shooting.

A friend of the deceased, Lucky Mashaba, told how he had met the deceased while people were looting the shopping complex at "Uncle Nats". He saw no Police or Army personnel or any security guards. He, the deceased and others went to Ga-Rankuwa to loot there. When they got there they heard shots being fired and decided to turn back. They passed a shebeen where they bought some beers and then went back home. To get there they had to pass between the "Uncle Nats" house and shopping complex. Both of these were burning and people were also looting from both. The situation was chaotic. Mashaba said he decided to go on home. The deceased, however, chose to remain at the scene. Mashaba said the deceased was standing watching the looters when he left the deceased.

The next day he heard that the deceased had died. Mashaba said that when he left the deceased he saw no Police or Army personnel. It was, however, dark. There was a great deal of smoke and visibility was extremely poor. The deceased was not highly under the influence but earlier the deceased and his friends had drunk some of the liquor they had taken from the shops. A blood sample taken from the deceased at the post-mortem showed that he had a small amount of alcohol in his blood (0,07%), which is less than the legal limit of 0,08%. The Commission accordingly finds that

The deceased in this case was shot by a security guard, who was protecting the goods in a store, while the deceased and a number of others were trying to loot the goods and attacked the guard in order to do so.

How the deceased came to be shot was described by the security guard, Lucas Mofokeng. He said that in March 1994 he was employed by Hammanskraal Security of Babelegi. On Friday, 11 March 1994 he was on duty at the Checkers (or Temba) Complex as a guard at Sales House, a store in the Complex. People had earlier that afternoon looted at the shop but had run away when security guards had arrived there at about 19:00. The glass door to the shop had been broken. He was instructed by a superior of his to stay in the shop as an armed guard. He was armed with a pump-action shotgun, for which he was given a packet of cartridges. He had a casual guard, William Modiba, with him. During the night a large group of women and children came bursting into the shop. He fired a number of shots in the air into the ceiling and the people withdrew. In the early hours of the morning at about 04:00, said Mofokeng, he and Modiba were sitting in the dark at the back of the shop when a group of people entered it. There were about eight males and two females in the group. Someone in the group said they knew where the guards were hiding.

Mofokeng said the deceased was the leading person in the group. He was holding a plastic bottle of methylated spirits. He advanced into the shop while the others were still at the door. It looked as if the others were waiting for the deceased to attack him and that they would then enter the shop and steal the goods. The deceased was running towards him with the bottle in his hand in an aggressive manner. Mofokeng said he had no chance to fire a warning shot as the deceased was coming straight towards him. When the deceased was about 4 paces from him, said Mofokeng, he shot him with one blast from his shotgun. The deceased fell where he had been shot. He covered the deceased's body with some clothes. The bottle fell to the floor.

The brother of the deceased, William Lekgetho, said that after watching the news on television at 18:30 on Thursday, 10 March 1994, in which they saw people in the Mmabatho area celebrating the fall of the Mangope government and looting the shops there, he and the deceased, who was 26 years old, wanted to go to the Checkers Complex where they could hear people whistling and singing. Sounds of gunshots could also be heard. Their father, Jockey Lekgetho, told them they could not go there as it was too dangerous. In the early hours of Friday, 11 March 1994 he and the deceased decided to disobey their father's orders and go to the Complex. They wanted to go to the side of it where there were lights but they were warned by people not to go there as shots were being fired. Somewhere in the dark he and the deceased split up. Later he heard a shot and then heard someone scream. He recognised the voice as that of his brother. He wanted to go and check if it was but was warned not to go near as he might get shot. He went home. He was very worried and was talking to himself when his parents heard him and asked what had happened. He told them he suspected that his brother had been shot. The deceased was later found dead at the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary. The deceased's father, Jockey Lekgetho, said William told him they had gone into Sales House. The security officers were hiding behind the counter. William said there was a group of people. The deceased was at the front of them. As they moved in the security guards started firing and the deceased was hit. The whole group then scattered.

Jockey Lekgetho said he went to the shop and saw blood on the floor. From the amount of blood he thought the deceased had only been shot in the foot or the leg but he later went to look for the deceased and found him at the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary. A post-mortem examination by Dr Kariuki revealed that the deceased had a shotgun wound to the right side of the body, 16 pellets having perforated the intestines, liver, spleen and aorta. There was also a collapsed lung. Dr Kariuki was of opinion, with which Captain Brits agreed, that there was just one blast from the shotgun and that the shot had been fired from close range (three to four metre according to Captain Brits). Death would have been instantaneous.

Inspector Sello Sebidi said he was called to Sales House in the Checkers Complex where he found Mofokeng who told him there was a body inside the shop "that I have shot". Mofokeng who was "very much upset" and visibly shaking, said the people had been trying to attack him using a petrol bomb. Inspector Sebidi said he did not find a bottle of methylated spirits in the shop but the shop was in a mess with clothes scattered about and the bottle may have been hidden under them.

Mofokeng impressed the Commission as an honest and truthful witness. His version of what occurred is also corroborated by the accounts given by the other witnesses, particularly those of the deceased's father and of Inspector Sebidi. The Commission accordingly finds that when the deceased was shot by Mofokeng, the latter was acting in self-defence during an attack on him in which the deceased had a bottle with him which Mofokeng believed was a petrol bomb.

The Commission therefore finds that

This case is similar to the last. The deceased's son, Godfrey Lekubu, said he saw his father at about 10:00 on Friday, it March 1994 at Rietgat railway station on the South African side at a time when people were coming from nearby Central City Complex with looted goods. He heard shots being fired from around the station. His father, the deceased, told him that with the chaotic conditions there at the time it was not safe and told Godfrey, who was 21, to go home. When he left, said Godfrey, the deceased was standing talking to some friends. Later that afternoon the police arrived at their house and told him that the deceased had been shot and was dead. The deceased's body was found at Clinic III, a hospital about 2 km from Central City, where it appears to have been taken after he was shot. Nobody could be found who could say where, how, or by whom he had been shot. The post-mortem report shows that he died as a result of a shotgun wound to the chest fired at short range causing instantaneous death. Captain Brits concluded that it was fired from closer than 5 metre. The Commission therefore finds that

In this case there had been an eyewitness to the event in which the deceased was shot, one Christopher Mahlangu, but by the time the Commission sat the witness had disappeared without trace and despite diligent search and a press report to which no response was forthcoming, he could not be found.

The deceased's body was allegedly identified by one Jane Mahlangu. An address was given viz 1650 Mahlangu Stand at which she could be found. A person known as Jane was found there but she said she had not identified the body nor could she have done so as she was a patient in the HE Verwoerd Hospital in Pretoria at the time. An address given for the Jane Mahlangu who is alleged to have identified the body at which she could be found was given as 717 President Steyn Street where the Excelsior Mini Market is situated. The owner of the latter said that a Jane Mahlangu had worked there but had left in 1995 and her present whereabouts were unknown. All efforts to trace Jane Mahlangu and Christopher Mahlangu, including the placing of a press report, proved fruitless and unsuccessful.

The post-mortem examination showed that the deceased had died as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest entering through the left lower back and exiting through the front of the left chest, perforating the left lung, liver and also the right lung.

        Detective Sergeant Samuel Sebola of the South African Police at Rietgat said that on 11 March 1994 he was called to Clinic III to pick up the body of a male there who had a wound in the chest. He was identified to Sebola by his brother, Christopher Mahlangu. Sebola said he took a statement from the latter at the Clinic. He wrote it down as it was told to him. Christopher Mahlangu signed and attested it before him as a Commissioner of Oaths after it had been read back to him. In his statement he said the following:

        "On Friday 1994-03-11 at about 04:00 I was with my elder brother Eric Mahlangu. We were from my sister Jane Mahlangu who is residing at Malatji Stand just behind Central City.

        There was a taxi which was parked on the tar road and behind the taxi there was a Bophuthatswana Police van. After crossing the tar road an unknown policeman came out of the police vehicle and a fire-arm was in his hand. The policeman was in full uniform. He stopped in the middle of the tar road and pointed a fire-arm at us. We were about to run away and suddenly a shot was fired. 1 then ran away and when I look at the back I saw the deceased falling on the ground.

        I hide myself on the grass and the policeman who shot at us went to where my brother fell. The policeman stopped to where at the point my brother fell, kicked him and said that he was not through with my brother, and he went back to the van and drove away. 1 went to the deceased and found that he was shot. I then went back to my sister's house and explained to her what happened. From my sister I went to home and explained to my mother that Eric was shot.

My mother organised a transport and myself, my sister and the driver took the deceased to Clinic III Block BE Soshanguve. The suspect is a member of the Bophuthatswana Police. I don't know the suspect and I cannot identify him. Two black males who were walking behind us before the shooting told me that they know the suspect very well.

They are Themba and Masoja but I don't know their residential house numbers but their houses are known. That is all what I can say."

All attempts by the Investigating Team to trace either Themba or Masoja also proved unsuccessful. While it would appear therefore from the statement that the deceased died as a result of being shot by a policeman of the Bophuthatswana Police, the statement of Christopher Mahlangu could not be confirmed in evidence before the Commission.

The Commission therefore finds that

This is yet another case where the Commission was unable to determine who had shot the deceased. The post-mortem examination performed by Dr Kariuki showed that the deceased had died of a gunshot wound to the head. There were the following entry wounds: one below the right eye and one above the left. Both Dr Kariuki and Captain Brits concluded that the deceased was probably shot from a distance by someone using a shotgun as there was no "exploded head" and the entry wounds were probably caused at the same time. The brother of the deceased, Johannes Mathe, said the deceased, who lived with him, left home on Friday, 11 March 1994 saying he was going to their sister Pauline to get some money to go to work. He later heard that the deceased had been shot. He identified the body at the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary on 14 March 1994. Pauline Mathe said the deceased came to her house on 11 March 1994 at about 13:00 to borrow R5 to get to his work place to collect his wages. She later heard that he had been shot at Trala Park next to Molema Bottle Store and close to Central City and had been taken to Clinic III. When she got there she was told by the nursing staff that he had died. She did not know where or by whom he had been shot but near Trala Park she saw black people in camouflage uniforms firing shots. She could, however, not say who they were nor at who they were shooting nor what weapons they were using.

The Commission therefore finds that

In this case too, no witnesses as to the death of the deceased could be found. This deceased had first been recorded in the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary register as "Unknown" and later as "Paul Maluleka" before being identified in Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary as Paulo Fernando Maunze by one Lucas Joao Macuacua, of Maputo, Mozambique, according to the register. All efforts to trace Macuacua had proved unsuccessful. The deceased's body was found on 11 March 1994 opposite a factory known as Penbro in Babelegi, an area where there was large scale looting. He had a massive wound to the head, which had exploded, eviscerating the brain. It was, according to Captain Brits, a classic example of an "exploded head" caused by a shot to the head from a high velocity rifle such as a R4 or R5. No witness could be traced or other facts found as to the circumstances in which, or by whom, the deceased had been shot.

The Commission finds that

In this case too, no witnesses as to the death of the deceased could be found. This deceased's name was obtained from the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary register. A post-mortem examination was carried out on the body. The deceased died as a result of gunshot wounds to the back of the head, disrupting the base of the skull. There were two wounds entrance close to one another.

Captain Brits was of the view that the wounds were probably caused by a shotgun using SSG pellets, two of which probably struck the head of the deceased simultaneous. It was unlikely that two wounds could have been caused by two separate shots with a rifle as it would have meant that the shots would have had to have been fired simultaneously because the first shot would have caused the deceased to drop immediately. A second shot would then not have caused an entrance wound as close to the first one as the two were in this instance. Moreover, a shot to the head with a high velocity firearm such as a rifle would probably have resulted in an "exploded head". This had not occurred. Furthermore there were no exit wounds which would invariably have been expected with a shot to the head with a rifle.

According to the Mortuary register the deceased had been identified by one John Mokone. Sergeant Markus Ferreira of the Investigating Team who investigated cases B1, B6, B16 and the present one for the Commission testified that he went to a company known as "Sunnyway Bop" where John Mokone was alleged to have worked but he was not on their pay roll nor had other employees there heard of him. The deceased had, according to other documents, been buried by Masigo Funeral Parlour of Stinkwater at Ramotse Village at Moretele. The Funeral Parlour had no record of this. Sergeant Ferreira also attended a tribal meeting at the tribal offices at Ramotse where all the tribal chiefs were present. None of them knew of anyone by the name of Mokone who had been buried in their area. Sergeant Ferreira did, however, find the name of one Pieter Mokone who gave him an address of No. 1011, Temba, where an elderly lady said she had a son named Morris Mokone. The latter was, however, alive and well and living in the Free State. Sergeant Ferreira, as in the other cases, despite diligent search and intensive investigation, was unable to find anyone who could say where the deceased's body had been found, or where or by whom or in what circumstances he had been shot.

The Commission therefore finds that

This is another case where no witnesses could be found to testify as to how the deceased met his death.

Mmatlala Anna Letlokwa said she had lived with the deceased as man and wife and had two children by him. On Friday, 11 March 1994 the deceased left home in the Temba area at about 10:00 with a friend with whom he worked. She did not know the friend's name or his present whereabouts nor would she able to recognise him. At about 16:00 she was told that the deceased had been shot at the Checkers Complex. She went to look for him there but could not found him. His body was later found at the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary. She did not know how, where or by whom he had been shot. The people who told her he had been shot were foreigners living near them who had since moved away. She did not know who they were or where they are now. Despite extensive enquiries by the Investigating Team no witnesses could be found as to the circumstances of his death. A post-mortem examination by Dr Kariuki showed that the deceased had suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the left shoulder passing into the left anterior chest, perforating the aorta and collapsing the right lung. The entry wound was not round. Because of this, both Dr Kariuki and Captain Brits were of opinion that the wound had probably been caused when a bullet fired from a high velocity rifle had ricocheted, hitting the deceased.

The Commission therefore finds that

A number of deceased were shot at or near a bridge over a railway line at Babelegi and which is not far from a Checkers store that is situated there. One of these was the deceased in this case, a 28 year old man who normally lived in Pretoria but who in March 1994 was visiting his parents in Suurman Village near Babelegi. His mother, Mrs Martha Moloantoa, said that at about 11:00 on 11 March 1994 the deceased left home. At about 14:30 she heard that he had been shot near the above bridge and that he had hired a taxi to take him to the house of her sister-in-law. She went there and took the deceased, who was injured with a wound in the back, to a doctor who was not in. She then took him to Jubilee Hospital but it was closed as the personnel were on strike. She then decided to take him to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital but he died on the way there. Mrs Moloantoa said the deceased told her he had been shot by white men in uniform but he did not say if they were wearing police or army uniforms or those of a security firm. He was in pain and crying. The taxi driver told her he had found the injured deceased at the bridge. A post-mortem examination revealed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound of the left lower back which had lacerated the small and large intestines and the left kidney. The weapon causing it had been fired from the deceased's back. A flattened SSG pellet was found in the body. Captain Brits described how when a shotgun is fired some of the pellets fly off in directions other than that of the main group of pellets. These are knows as "flyers" . He was of the opinion, from the finding of the flattened SSG pellet, that the deceased had been hit by one of these "flyers".

An interesting aspect of Mrs Moloantoa's evidence was her describing how she had seen white men on bakkies dressed in khaki clothing that day in Hammanskraal, a fact confirmed in the evidence of her sister-in-law Mrs Pauline Mathe. It is this evidence that the Commission has referred to earlier in its discussion as to the presence of members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging in the Ga-Rankuwa-Babelegi-Mabopane area.

The Commission finds that

This deceased was probably killed in a private dispute unrelated to the unrest in the areas under discussion.

His father, Thomas Monyepau, said his son, 27 years old at the time, left his home at Mmakau Stadt at about noon on Friday, 11 March 1994. He never returned. His father found his body at the Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary on 21 March 1994. He heard that his son had died at Zone 16, Ga-Rankuwa which is about 4 km from Mmakau Stadt. Detective Inspector Tebedi Motshoane said that at about 08:15 on Saturday, 12 March 1994 he was called by residents in his area, which is Zone 16, to a spot where he found the body of a dead man lying on the grass on the side of a road there. The man was not known in the area and nobody could tell him who he was. The spot was off the beaten track and was some 7 to 8 km from the main road leading to the area and some 7 to 10 minutes drive from "Uncle Nats". There was no blood near the deceased and it seemed that he could have been carried to the spot and dumped there. A post-mortem examination showed that he had been shot in the right shoulder. Both lungs were collapsed. A bullet was found in the left armpit. This was identified by Captain Brits as a 9 mm bullet which had been fired by a Makarov pistol. Such a pistol was not used by any of the Security Forces but was occasionally found in the possession of private persons.

The Commission therefore finds that

This is a case where the deceased was also shot at or near a bridge. This bridge is near the Ga-Rankuwa Shopping Complex.

Helen Moremang, the mother of the deceased, said her son, who was then 21 years old, left home on Friday, 11 March 1994 at about 19:00 after watching the news on television. He did not say where he was going. At about 22:00 she received a telephone call to say he had been shot at Zone 4, which is near the bridge. She went there and found him injured.

He had been shot in the left buttock. He also complained of a burning pain in his stomach. He was taken to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital where he was operated on. At about 04:30 she was told that he had died.

A post-mortem examination showed that the deceased had died of a gunshot wound of the abdomen. He had been shot from behind by a high velocity weapon firing a 5.56 mm bullet, which was retrieved from the body. Mrs Moremang said the deceased told her that he was sitting on the bridge with one Meshack Sebai to get a better view of what was happening at the nearby OK Bazaars building when shots were fired at them from the direction of OK Bazaars. He and Sebai ran away but he was hit in the buttock and fell and was taken by some ladies to a house in Zone 4 where his mother found him. He did not know who had shot at him.

Sebai said he and the deceased were walking to the Ga-Rankuwa Complex to loot. At the bridge on the way there they stood on some poles to see what was happening at the Complex when shooting started from the direction of OK Bazaars. People around them started running away and they did too. As they ran the deceased was shot from the back. Shots were being fired repeatedly at the people running away. The Complex was guarded by members of Counterforce Security Company and as he saw no police in the area, Sebai presumed it was those members who were shooting. It was, however, only a presumption. Where the deceased fell was about 250 metre from the Complex.

4.17.2 CASE NO B14: DOROTHY TEBOGO MASANGO

This is another case where the deceased was shot at or near the bridge near the Ga-Rankuwa Shopping Complex. Rachel Moeletsi testified that she and the deceased were together in Zone 4 walking in the direction of OK Bazaars near the bridge there when shooting started in their direction. They started running away and the deceased fell. She ran on, others also running away told her that the deceased had been shot. The deceased's husband later arrived on the scene and confirmed that the deceased had been shot and was dead. Where she fell, as in the case of case B23 SOKISE LUCAS MOREMANG, was about 250 metres from the Complex. Shots were, she said, being fired repeatedly from the direction of OK Bazaars but she did not see by whom they were fired. She, too, saw no police in the area. Dr Dubasi, who performed the post-mortem examination, found that the deceased had died from a single gunshot wound from a high velocity firearm that had entered the body of the deceased in the left spine, passing through the aorta, trachea and oesophagus to exit via the left clavicle. She had been shot from the back. Dr Dubasi thought she had been struck while in a stooping running position.

In the cases of both CASE B23, SOKISE LUCAS MOREMANG and CASE B14, DOROTHY TEBOGO MASANGO, the probable cause of their deaths emerged from the evidence of an employee of Counterforce Security Company, DEON GERBER, who was a watch commander in the firm. He said that the firm guarded premises in Babelegi, Temba and Ga-Rarankuwa, including the Ga-Rankuwa Shopping Complex.

On Friday, 11 March 1994 at about 20:30 he was called to the Complex, being informed that there was a crowd of people who were about to loot the Complex. There were four guards on duty there at the time. He took about fifteen men with him in a bakkie to the Complex. The four guards were not armed. There were no police there at the time. When he arrived at the Complex, the crowd was already inside it. The guards were outside. There was also a crowd of between 100 and 200 people in front of the Complex. Some of the men win him were armed. The firm had an Armed Response Unit which also arrived on the scene. It was under the command of one Craig Blumenthal. Six members of the Unit were armed with a shotgun, LM4 rifles, and a B'nP 9 mm semi-automatic submachine gun. He, Gerber, was armed with one of these. It fired a 5,56 mm bullet. Blumenthal and one other man were armed with LM4 rifles. Gerber said he did not know any of the members of the Aimed Response Unit, other than Blumenthal, or what their names were. Gerber said a whole series of shots were fired into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd but not directly at the crowd although they, the security guards, were being regularly fired on. They did not return the fire. The crowd were fairly aggressive but only verbally abused them. Only one stone was thrown at them.

Gerber said he had heard the evidence before the Commission that people had been shot with 5,56 mm bullets. Shots had only been fired by members of the Counterforce Security firm. There were no police present at the time. Gerber said that although he had not done so, it was possible that members of the Armed Response Unit had fired at the crowd. At about 23:00 members of the Bophuthatswana Police began moving around the Complex and they then withdrew. There were no members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force there. Everything was chaotic and anyone who said they were there, could be confused. He had told nobody that the Bophuthatswana Defence Force was there.

Captain Marius van Gent of the Investigating Team said he had made strenuous efforts to locate Craig Blumenthal. He had consulted the records of the Department of the Interior, and the Central Criminal Record Centre and had consulted the Pretoria Murder and Robbery Unit. He was told that Blumenthal had left the country for overseas. A warrant for his arrest awaited him in South Africa. He could also not trace any other members of the Armed Response Unit. Counterforce Security Company has since been liquidated and does not exist anymore.

It would seem prima facie therefore, that on the probabilities both SOKISE LUCAS MOREMANG and DOROTHY TEBOGO MASANGO were shot by members of the Armed Response Unit of Counterforce Security Company either on their own initiative or on the orders of Craig Blumenthal. The identity of those members could not be established by the Commission.

In the cases of CASE B23, SOKISE LUCAS MOREMANG and CASE B 14, DOROTHY TEBOGO MASANGO the Commission therefore finds that

1. In CASE B23, SOKISE LUCAS MOREMANG

4.18 CASE NO B24: MARGARET SHOBI MOSHOBANE AND CASE NO B31: PHILLIP THANDUKWAZI PHAKATHI

In both these cases nobody could say where, by whom or in what circumstances the deceased had met their deaths. The bodies of both deceased were found at about 09:30 on Friday, 11 March 1994 inside Central City by Inspector Phokie Moima, that of Phillip Phakathi being found inside the OK Bazaars store there. At the time members of the Internal Stability Unit of the South African Police were on hand, some of them were guarding looters who had been arrested. Nobody knew when or how or by whom the deceased had met their deaths. The deceased in CASE B24, MOSHOBANE, had a bullet wound through the mouth fracturing the lower jaw and pharynx. The cause of death, according to the post-mortem report was a "gunshot wound to the mouth and pharynx with head injury". Captain Brits concluded that it had been caused by a single bullet fired at a distance from a high velocity firearm. The deceased in Case No B3 1, Phakathi had been shot by a shotgun fired at short range from the back with wounds to the chest, lungs and neck, according to the post-mortem report of Dr Kariuki. Both bodies were later found at the mortuary and identified by relatives: Margaret Moshobane by her mother and Phillip Phakathi by his father.

Both deceased appear to have been shot inside Central City while engaged in looting there. Nobody could be traced who could say in what circumstances or by whom they had been shot.

The Commission therefore finds that
1. In CASE B24 MARGARET SHOBI MOSHOBANE

2. In CASE B31 PH1LLIP THANDUKWAZI PHAKATHI