Tebbutt Commission : Part 6 (continued)

A Police Post was set up in Central City Complex at the time Me Complex was built. It was usually manned by two policemen. Other policemen were deployed at the commercial banks in the Complex. Inspector Mpho Thomas Thibedi, to whom reference has been made earlier in this Report, who was then a sergeant, was in charge of the Post during March 1994. The Post consisted of a charge office and an office of the Branch Commander, as well as some holding cells.

Once night of 9 March 1994, Constable (now Sergeant) Pheneas Sonnyboy Tsoku and Constable (also now Sergeant) Letsetsi were on duty in the charge office portion of the Post. In the Branch Commander's Office were Sergeant Shadrack Botlhoko, then attached to the Murder and Robbery Unit at Loate Police Station, and the deceased. The deceased and Botlhoko were on stand-by and on call in case they were needed. They were asleep in the office.. What happened then was described by Tsoku and Botlheko.

Tsoku said that at about 00:15 three men entered the office. One was wearing a balaclava cap. One of the men approached him and the other two went to He Branch Commander's office. Two of the men were armed: one with a revolver and one with a 9 mm pistol. One of the armed men pointed his firearm at him and Letsetsi and told them to lie down. At the same time, Tsoku said, he heard the sound of a shot from the office.. He dived under a table and then crawled out of the entrance door and ran to a security office in the Complex to ring the Loate Police and tell them that they had been attacked and to ask them to come to their assistance. While on his way to the of police and also while telephoning he heard further shots. Before escaping from the charge office he saw that the men had the police R4 rifles which were standing in the charge office. Tsoku said he returned to the Police Post where he found Botlhoko and Letsetsi where they had taken cover. The deceased was lying on his back on the floor of the office.

Botlhoko said that he awoke from where he had been sleeping on three chairs in the Branch Commander's Office when he heard tables being moved and then shots being fired. He saw the deceased wrestling with an unknown assailant who had on a balaclava. Botlhoko said he was armed but as he got up from the chairs, his firearm fell between two of them. He went to the deceased's assistance but another man with a rifle entered the office. He struggled with the man and disarmed him of the rifle which, however, had no magazine and he could therefore not fire it. He hit the deceased's attacker over the head with the butt of the rifle. While struggling for the rifle, said Botlhoko, he heard shots being fired. The man he hit over the head did not fall down but pushed him and he, Botlhoko, fell under a counter. He heard two or three more shots being fired. Both attackers ran away. The deceased fell to the floor. Botlhoko said he then retrieved his own firearm from under the chairs and began firing randomly but the attackers had fled. He saw the face of his attacker and had made an identikit but none of the men was arrested.

Sergeant Mpho Jeoffrey Oss said that at about 01:00 on 9 March 1994 he was called to the Central City Police Post. He found Botlhoko and Tsoku there. He also found the body of the deceased lying on his back on the floor. He had a chest wound. He was dead. Oss said he found six 9 mm empty cartridge cases, two 9 mm short live rounds and three bullet heads lying from one to twelve paces around the deceased. A post-mortem examination of the body revealed that the deceased had a bullet wound in the left front of the chest which had penetrated the lungs and liver and two bullet wounds in the right buttock. He also had bruising to his right wrist and ring finger. Two shots at least must have been fired, one from the front and one from behind the deceased, probably, according to Captain Brits from a 9 mm pistol. Death would have been instantaneous. The Branch Commander, Inspector Thibedi, said that on 11 March 1994 he decided to close the Central City Police Post because of the hostile mood of the crowds and because he only had two policemen on duty there. He was also influenced in his decision to close it because of the death of the deceased. In his view two policemen were not enough to man the post properly. Inspector Thibedi said he felt that if there had been extra manpower (a request for extra men prior to the death of the deceased had been refused) and the entrance to Central City had been controlled in the evenings, the incident leading to the death of the deceased could have been prevented.

The Commission is unable to find, however, that this represented negligence on the part of any members of the Bophutatswana Police Force, as the attack on the Police Post, despite a request for extra men to man it, could not, in the Commission's view, have reasonably been foreseen. The failure to deploy extra men there did not amount to negligence.

The deceased in this case was apparently shot near the Central City Complex. On 11 March 1994 he was admitted to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital in the earlier part of the morning with a single gunshot wound to the buttock. He was examined by Dr Odisong Montwedi there. His condition was then satisfactory. Later, however, his condition deteriorated and he died at 16:15. The post-mortem examination, performed by Dr Dubasi, revealed that the gunshot wound had penetrated the deceased's abdomen. Fragments of a bullet were found in the body which Captain Brits identified as 5,56 cm bullets having come from a high velocity rifle such as an R4 or R5 rifle. The cause of death was determined as a "bullet wound of the abdomen". John Khumalo testified that the deceased worked at Nyongules Tavern belonging to Khumalo's family. He was middle aged. On 11 March 1994 at between 09:00 and 10:00 he and the deceased went to a dry cleaning depot near Mabopane railway station to collect some of the deceased's clothing. When they got there they found that the drycleaners had been broken into and its contents taken by looters. Shots were being fired from the direction of nearby Central City and people were running away. He did not see who was firing the shots. He and the deceased also ran and in so doing became separated.

A short while later he saw people who had been shot being put into a combi to be taken to hospital. He saw that the deceased was one of them. The deceased was still alive. He asked the deceased where he had been. The deceased said he had been to Central City. He did not ask the deceased what had happened to him. The deceased was bleeding from his back and was in severe pain. He tried to go to the hospital with the deceased but the combi was overcrowded so he went home to tell the people there what had happened. He later heard that the deceased had died.

Khumalo said that the people who were doing the shooting were blacks in civilian clothing. He also saw a green "Hippo" of the Bophuthatswana Police there. Those who were firing the shots were moving around Central City shooting looters trying to get into Central City. They appeared to be guarding the Complex. They were not firing teargas but live ammunition from pistols. He did, however, see one man on the "Hippo" holding a rifle although he did not see him firing it. Khumalo said that at the time he thought that the men were either part of the Police or were soldiers but he could not say with any assurance who they were or if they were members of security firms guarding the area. Having regard to the evidence of Andre Herbst, Inspector Van Vollenstee, Deon Gerber and other witnesses, the probabilities are that those who Khumalo saw shooting at the crowds of looters were members of the Bophuthatswana Police, who were, as many were on that day, dressed in civilian clothing.

The circumstances in which the deceased came to be shot were described to the Commission by three witnesses, Boy Sithole, Billy Raseroka and David Dibakwane. Sithole said that he and the deceased and Raseroka and Dibakwane, together with other men, had been drinking at a tavern in the Temba area on Sunday morning, 13 March 1994. At about 14:00 they decided to go home. They were walking along the Temba-Babelegi main road, he and the deceased about 40 to 50 paces behind the rest of the group, when a white Isuzu Combi with a stripe along the side travelling from the other direction in which they were walking pulled up on the opposite side of the road next to them with a number of occupants in it. The driver, who had a gun in his right hand, fired shots into the air. He and the deceased started running away. At that stage one of the other men in the Combi got out of the vehicle with what Sithole said was a rifle in his hand and shot at them. The deceased was hit and fell. The deceased was about six paces from the Combi at the time.

Sithole said he turned to help the deceased and saw the man outside the Combi get back into it. The Combi then drove away. Sithole said that the men in the Combi were black policemen. He saw clearly that the man who shot the deceased was dressed in camouflage uniform. He opened the deceased's shirt and found he had been hit on the left side of the chest below the nipple. There was a green mark there. There was no blood. The deceased was unconscious. Another Combi pulled up and assisted him to get the deceased home where Sithole laid him down under a tree. A short while later he realised that the deceased was dead. Sithole said he went to the police to report the matter. He found the same white Combi parked outside the police station with policemen sitting in it. Sithole said that as he walked past it he said "Guys, the man you shot is dead.". He did not know if the man who fired the shot was in the Combi. When he reported the incident, the policeman to whom he reported asked him "Are you sure he is dead?". Sithole said that when he replied "Yes" the policeman said "It does not matter; he is a dog.". Sithole said he did not know the policeman and would not recognise him again. He also would not recognise the man who shot the deceased or the driver of the Combi. He had, in fact, attended an identification parade on 6 October 1997 and had not been able to identify either of the men. He had pointed out the wrong person as the man he thought was the driver.

Sithole said the police removed the body later that afternoon. A large number had arrived armed in six vehicles, including the Combi and had "come in a manner as if they were attacking". Sithole said that neither he nor the deceased nor any of the group ahead of them were carrrying anything in their hands and certainly not any looted goods. They had just been relaxing and drinking, a fact corroborated by an analysis of the deceased's blood showing a concentration of 0.30% which Dr Kanuki said would have made him highly intoxicated. Raseroka and Dibakwane also said that the Combi was a white one with a stripe along the side. The stripe, they said, was an orange one. When the Combi pulled up next to Sithole and the deceased and shots were fired from it, they were ahead of Sithole and the deceased by some distance. They both said they then ran away and did not see the shooting of the deceased.

A post-mortem examination by Dr Kariuki revealed that the deceased had suffered an injury to his left chest in which three ribs had been fractured, his sternum bruised and his heart had been ruptured. Dr Kariuki said he found two circular "burn-like" marks on the chest. He thought that the injury could have been caused by a rubber bullet fired from a stopper gun at close range. Captain Brits's opinion was that as there were two circular marks, the injury could have been caused by a "baton" cartridge which contains two rubber balls fired from close range.

It would seem likely that one or other of these projectiles caused the fatal injuries in this case. Sergeant Markus Ferreira of the Investigating Team, who investigated the case on behalf of the Commission, testified that his investigations brought him to Sergeant Mere, then of the Ga-Rankuwa Flying Squad. He interviewed Sergeant Mere and told him that it was alleged that he had shot the deceased. Sergeant Mere reacted by saying that he had heard that such allegations were being made against him and that he wondered why the Murder and Robbery Unit did not investigate the matter and report to the Attorney-General. Ferreira said he told Sergeant Mere that he could have legal representation and said he had taken both Sergeant Mere and the man who was said to have driven the Combi, Sergeant July Modise, to the offices of the attorney who had appeared for several policemen at the Commission, Mr Julian Meltz, where they had both made statements in which, while they admitted having been in a white Isuzu Combi with a black and orange stripe on its side on Sunday, 13 March 1994, they denied that any shots had been fired from it. They also said that the Special Branch of the Bophuthatswana Police also used a white Isuzu Combi with an orange stripe along its side.

Sergeant Ferreira said that while on the way to Mr Meltz's office Sergeant Mere had said that he had not realised that he could kill a person with a rubber stopper and that he was trying to stop the men who were running away with stolen goods in order to search them. Sergeant Ferreira's evidence was corroborated by that of another member of the Investigating Team, Sergeant Jacob Moatshe. Sergeant Mere also gave evidence. He denied that he had said what was attributed to him by Sergeant Ferreira on the way to Mr Meltz's office and also said that Sergeant Ferreira was lying about what had occurred when he first interviewed him. He had, for example, said Sergeant Mere, not told him he could have legal representation. Sergeant Mere appeared to the Commission to be a singularly unconvincing witness who tried to raise a smokescreen of irrelevance to avoid directly dealing with the main issue viz. what if anything, he said on the way to Mr Meltz's office. His denial about being offered legal representation has little substance viewed against the fact that Sergeant Ferreira was the one who took him and Sergeant Modise to Mr Meltz.

The Commission also called Sergeant Modise to testify as to what had happened in the car on the way there. Asked if Sergeant Mere had said what Sergeant Ferreira and Sergeant Moatshe said he did, Sergeant Modise said "I did not hear that". Pressed as to whether he meant by his answer that he did not hear the remarks or that the remarks were never made, Sergeant Modise simply repeated "I did not hear that". It was obvious to the Commission that on the one hand he did not want to be untruthful while on the other hand he did not want to let Sergeant Mere down and therefore resorted to the lame reply "I did not hear that". The Commission accepts the evidence of Sergeant Ferreira and Sergeant Moatshe that the remark attributed to Sergeant Mere was made by him. It is also significant that Sergeant Mere stated during his evidence that when he and the other policemen in the Combi set out on their patrol on the Sunday morning they took with them not rifles or shotguns but stopper guns. The probabilities therefore are that the deceased died as a result of being shot by a rubber bullet fired by Sergeant Mere.

The matter does not end there, however. Sergeant Ferreira testified that members of the police force were instructed to use teargas to control and disperse unruly crowds and thereafter they could use rubber bullets to do so. It was therefore realistic for any policeman to think that firing a rubber bullet at a person would not have fatal consequences. It would, however, seem to the Commission that having witnessed a demonstration of the firing of a rubber bullet from a stopper gun, any policeman would reasonably have known that firing a rubber bullet at a person from short range would probably cause such person an injury. As it is on the evidence doubtful if the deceased was in possession of stolen goods, the actions of Sergeant Mere in firing a rubber bullet from a stopper gun at a distance of 6 paces may well have constituted an assault. However, having regard to the inability of Sithole or anyone else to identify the deceased's assailant, the fact that another branch of the Bophuthatswana Police used a similar vehicle to the white Combi and the denials of both Sergeant Mere and Sergeant Modise that any shots were fired by them, it is probable that although the circumstances point strongly towards Sergeant Mere being the deceased's assailant, a criminal trial court may be unable to find proof of this beyond reasonable doubt.

The events surrounding this incident were described to the Commission by four witnesses viz. a sergeant of the Bophuthatswana Police who was off duty at the time, Sergeant Richard Maanwane; a Detective Sergeant of the Bophuthatswana Police, Phillimon Kupane, who was on duty at the Complex at the time, and two security guards employed by Counterforce Security Company to guard the Complex, Daniel Leshata Mosupye and Jacob Kgalama Tladi.

Maanwane said that on 11 March 1994 he was at the Rantol Complex at a dairy there. A large crowd of people, which he estimated at about 80, were looting and breaking into shops at the Complex. The crowd was very hostile and he was afraid of them as they knew him as a policeman and he would have been putting himself in danger if he had interfered with them. He saw two security guards there. The crowd was advancing on them. He then heard a shot and saw a small boy fall to the ground.

The boy had not initially been part of the crowd but was crossing a road as if to join them when he was shot. He did not go to the boy to assist him. He only heard one shot and could not say who had fired it. Maanwane said that if he had been one of the security guards he would have been afraid as the crowd which was advancing on them were throwing stones and bricks at them and their lives were in serious danger.

Kupane said he was in charge of a contingent of Bophuthatswana Police who were trying to disperse the crowds of looters at the Rantol Complex. Shops there had been looted and though some people had left, others were throwing stones at them. The crowd was very aggressive. The security guards had run away. He was then told of a young boy who was lying across the street from the Complex. He went to the child who was dead with a gunshot wound on his left side under the armpit. Nobody knew who the child was until an elderly man appeared and said he was the child's grandfather and that the boy's name was Obakeng.

Daniel Mosupye said that on 11 March 1994 he, Jacob Tladi and another guard, Morris Taulatswala were on duty at Rantol Complex. He was armed with a .765 pistol and Tladi with a .38 revolver. While on duty they heard of the looting at the Checkers Complex at Temba and the manager decided as a result to close the Spar store at the Rantol Complex. The three of them, however, remained on duty. Shortly thereafter a large and very aggressive crowd came towards the Complex and started to batter down the sliding door to the Spar store. To try and disperse the crowd he and Tladi fired warning shots into the air. Tladi also fired "horizontally towards the crowd". The crowd then turned against them and he and Tladi were in serious danger of their lives. They had both run out of bullets and sensing this the crowd advanced on them and the three of them fled to the Makapan Police Station for assistance. There had been no police presence up to then. The police then came to disperse the crowd.

He did not know at that stage that a boy had been shot and had died. He heard that later when he returned with the police and saw the boy being put into a police van to be taken from the scene. The police were shooting with rifles and shotguns to disperse the crowd but the boy had been shot before the police arrived. Mosupye could not say if he or Tladi had shot the boy. Tladi's evidence was similar to that of Mosupye. He said that when the crowd started to break down the door to the Spar shop, he and Mosupye fired warning shots into the air to try and scare off the crowd. The crowd was hostile and threw missiles at them. They fired shots until they ran out of ammunition and then ran away to seek police assistance. They were in serious danger of their lives. Tladi said he fired four shots altogether. He did not see if he had hit anyone. He, too, could not say if it were he or Mosupye who had shot the deceased.

The Commission accepts the evidence of Mosupye and Tladi, supported as it is by that of Maanwane. It is clear to the Commission that while they may have shot into the air, they also shot directly at the hostile crowd of looters as they were in danger of their lives from the latter. The deceased was not deliberately shot by them but was probably struck when they fired at the crowd as aforementioned.

The time of the entry is given as 1 1:00 on Saturday, 1 2 March 1 994. It was this entry that gave rise to one of the cases investigated by the Commission. Captain Van Gent of the Investigating Team did the investigation. He said that despite diligent search he had not been able to find any murder docket. Furthermore he had not be able to find the Occurrence Book in which the entry VB 836/3/94 is referred to. It had either disappeared or been destroyed. He had followed up the entry "DK82". It was a call sign used by members of a certain police district, the letters "DK" standing for "Distrikkommissaris". He had been able to obtain no information as to who had possibly made the report to Rietgat Police Station. The officer commanding the Police Station, Superintendent Baloyi, had also been able to give him no information about the case.

Both he and Superintendent Baloyi had searched the records at the police station but had found nothing which could assist them. Central City had fallen under Loate Police Station. A search of their records had also revealed nothing. He had searched the records of every mortuary in the vicinity but could not find the name Paul Sehula or any name even vaguely similar or resembling it in any of the mortuary registers.

Moriat Springbok said the deceased was his younger brother. He was a scholar. At about 15:45 on Friday, 1 I March 1994 the deceased left home saying he was going to study. He did not return home. His body was found at Ga-Rankuwa Mortuary on 15 March 1994. A post-mortem examination by Dr Kariuki showed that he had multiple gunshot wounds to his right neck, chest and back of the chest. Two shots had been fired at him: one from the front, the other from behind by two shotguns, one using SSG pellets and the other using no. 5 pellets both of which types were found in the body.

The body of the deceased was probably picked up by Inspector Ezekiel Molefe who said he was patrolling in the vicinity of Central City in a police van at about 16:00 on Friday, 11 March 1994. Looting was in progress and shots were being fired. Members of the Bophuthatswana Police Force and Army were on the scene, the former being armed with pump-action shotguns, R4 rifles and "stopper" guns, the latter with R4 rifles. There were also members of the Internal Stability Unit of the South African Police present armed with 9 mm Parabellums and R4 rifles. Molefe said he saw a man being carried from inside the Complex to He back entrance and loading zone of the OK Bazaars store there. He did not appear dead. He took him to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital. He was a young man, about 14 to 17 years old. The senior police officer in the area at the time was Captain Lucas Lelaka who instructed him to take the injured youth to hospital. Shown an identity picture of the deceased, Molefe said he was not sure if that was the youth he had picked up. Molefe said there were a number of Bophuthatswana policemen at the loading zone of the OK Bazaars. Molefe, who was an indifferent and evasive witness, said he could not recognise any of them. He did not see Lieutenant Kubu, whom he knew, there, although it is common cause that Lieutenant Kubu was present at the time with Captain Lelaka. He saw no looted goods on any of the police vehicles there.

Superintendent Johannes van Rhyn, who was a Captain in Unit 1 of the Internal Stability Unit of the South African Police in March 1994 and to whose evidence the Commission has referred in detail in that portion of its Report dealing with allegations of looting by the Bophuthatswana Police members said that after talking to Captain Lelaka at the OK Bakers loading zone he heard shots being fired at the front of Central City. He and his driver, Warrant-officer Willem Smit, went there and saw five or six members of the Bophuthatswana Police in uniform, two of whom were armed with shotguns. Two youths carrying groceries in plastic bags were running away from them when they were shot at with the shotguns. One who was clearly hit, stumbled and fell but stood up again and continued running. He was obviously wounded. At this stage a confrontation occurred between his men and the Bophuthatswana policemen both sides training their weapons on the other. Nothing eventuated from this, however, Superintendent Van Rhyn said he and Warrant-officer Smit then went to look for the wounded youth but could not find him. They did, however, find a man lying dead on the middle island of a road near the Complex. From a photograph from which he identified the man, it is clear that this was the deceased SELLO VICTOR DIALE, CASE B4 supra.

This is another case where the Commission had no positive evidence as to where or by whom the deceased was shot. Jane Mathe, who lived with the deceased as man and wife, said the deceased left home at about 16:00 on Friday, 11 March 1994 to go to Mabopane railway station to meet a relative who was arriving to stay with them. At about 17:00 she heard that the deceased had been shot. Neighbours who had a car drove her to try and find him. Along the way they met the deceased walking homewards. He had been shot in the head and was bleeding from his forehead and from below his nose on his upper lip and he also had a wound on the side of his head. Ms Mathe said she asked him what had happened to him. He said he had been shot by some white policemen. He did not say if they were in uniform or where they had shot him. She did not ask him too much as he was in pain and she thought he would live to tell her everything later. They took the deceased to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital where he was treated. She visited him twice on the Saturday. His head was bandaged and he was on oxygen. He died on the morning of Sunday, 13 March 1994. Where they found him walking was some distance from Central City. There were a lot of people there but she heard no shooting. No witnesses could be traced who had seen the shooting.

The post-mortem examination by Dr Dubasi revealed a bullet entrance wound on the right temporal area. An operation had been performed at the hospital prior to his death to relieve the pressure on the brain from swelling there. The cause of death was "a gunshot wound on the right cerebral hemisphere and cerebellum haematoma in right face and back of neck".

The deceased in this case was shot by a member of the Bophuthatswana Police Force, whose identity, however, cannot be established. The post-mortem report was that the deceased died from a gunshot wound fired from behind by a high velocity firearm. The bullet entered the right buttock and exited from the front left thigh, severing the femoral blood vessels. The wife of the deceased, Mrs Mamiki Martha Tshabalala, said she left for work at about 06:20 on Friday, 11 March 1994. Her husband was still at home preparing to go to work later. On her way to work she saw men on horseback chasing people around. She thought they were soldiers. She also saw Bophuthatswana Police in green uniforms. On her return home from work she was told that her husband had been shot. She did not know how this had happened.

Mrs Sunny Lekalakala said that on 11 March 1994 at about 07:00 she went in her bakkie to look for her 1 5-year old son, Phillip, who was not at home when she woke up. She went to Central City from where she heard sounds of gunfire. Things there were chaotic. She parked near the Molema Bottle Store which is a little way from Central City. She had a friend, Mrs Christina Setshedi, with her. She left the latter at the bakkie while she looked around for her son. She saw Bophuthatswana Police in green and camouflage uniforms chasing looters around and firing shots at them. The situation was chaotic and she returned to her bakkie. As she got there a number of young men carrying a wounded man, who was bleeding from the waist down, forced her to take the man in her bakkie to Clinic III. There she was told to take him to the Soshanguve Medical Centre where on arrival there the man was certified dead. The Police arrived shortly afterwards and took him away. The man was the deceased. Mrs Lekalakala said she did not know him or how he had been injured. Mrs Setshedi said that she was waiting at Mrs Lekalakala's bakkie while the latter was looking for her son.

The situation was chaotic. People were carrying goods which they had looted from Central City and the Police were firing randomly at the looters with teargas and also live ammunition. She realised this when she saw a man heading towards their bakkie carrying a wardrobe on his head. Police told him to stop and put the wardrobe down. The police, of whom there were about five or six, were black Bophuthatswana Policemen wearing green uniforms. They were armed with rifles. The man started arguing with the police. Mrs Setshedi said she could not hear what the argument was about but one of the policemen suddenly shot the man. About four young men went up to the police and asked them to pick the man up. When the police did not do so, the young men picked up the man and carried him to their bakkie and told Mrs Lekalakala to take him to Soshanguve or they would burn her bakkie. She then did so. The policeman was about 3 paces from the man when he shot him with his rifle. Mrs Setshedi said she could not hear what the man said to the police. He was gesticulating and unarmed. She could also not say if the man was moving away or trying to run away from the police when he was shot. The policeman who shot him was the one who was doing most of the arguing with the man. She could not say if the man was behaving aggressively but she thought "that the police were not behaving as policemen because out of an argument they can't just shoot a person". If they had wanted to arrest the man the police could have done so as there were enough of them. The man was not armed. Mrs Setshedi said she was surprised at the police's behaviour.

The deceased in this case, whose identity and whereabouts of his body could not be established, was shot by a young police constable of the South African Police in Central City when during the looting there, the deceased attacked the constable from a distance of two to three paces with bricks and iron pipes. The constable, Constable (now Sergeant) Rikus Johannes Boshoff and his senior during March 1994, Sergeant (now Inspector) Mornay Francois van Vollenstee, described to the Commission how the death occurred.

Van Vollenstee said on Friday, 11 March 1994 he was a section leader of Unit l of the Internal Stability Unit of the South African Police with seven policemen under his command. Boshoffwas one of them. Their task was to help to stabilise the situation in the Central City area. At about 13:00 they were instructed to enter Bophuthatswana to render their assistance. He said that he saw the looting at Central City Complex and Bophuthatswana Police members firing shots. Their Unit's instructions were to try to curb the looting using the minimum of force. Shots were fired at them. There was total chaos at Central City. He found the bodies of about 6 people lying dead in the vicinity. The Complex was burning fiercely and they could not enter it. Using teargas and rubber bullets they drove the looters away from the Complex. He and his men were constantly fired on. He did not know by whom. His main worry was that one of his men might be hit by these shots.

Van Vollenstee said that by about 19:30 the situation had stabilised to such an extent that he decided that he and Boshoff could undertake a foot patrol. They went in the direction of a subway at the Complex. As they neared it five black men ran past them towards the subway carrying looted items. He shouted "Stop, police" at them but they continued running. He chased them and caught two of the men from behind. He tried to handcuff them but they resisted vigorously. While he was doing this he heard Boshoff shout "Hy het my gun". He succeeded in handcuffing one of the men and then saw that Boshoff was wrestling with a man who had hold of Boshoffs rifle. He shouted to Boshoff "Kry net jou gun terug". He had to turn his attention once more to one of the men he had caught and when he looked at Boshoff again he saw that Boshoff had retrieved his rifle but the man was then throwing stones, bricks and other rubble lying there at Boshoff. The man kept advancing on Boshoff throwing stones and bricks and pieces of pipe at him. The man was very aggressive. Van Vollenstee said he was greatly concerned that if the man hit Boshoff with one of the missiles at such a short distance - they were only metre apart - he could seriously injure Boshoffor even kill him. He thought Boshoffwas in danger of his life.

The man was then seen lying on the ground. He had a wound in the shoulder and was dead. Boshoff was obviously deeply shocked. Van Vollenstee added that if Boshoffhad been hit by any of the missiles that the man continuously threw at him, the latter could have got possession of Reshows firearm and his, Van Vollenstee's, life would then also have been in danger.

Boshoff said he was 19 years old at the time and had been in the police for one year. His evidence as to what happened up to the time they reached the subway was exactly the same as that of Van Vollenstee. Boshoff, like Van Vollenstee, said their main worry was that they may be shot by people who had been firing at them. None of the men had bullet-proof jackets. It was also fairly dark. There was a great deal of smoke from the burning Central City Complex and from the Ga-Rankuwa railway station, which was also on fire. The visibility was poor. Because of the dangerous situation, said Boshoff, he had loaded his rifle with live ammunition.

Boshoff, too, testified to the five men who ran past them carrying looted goods, to Van Vollenstee's shouting to them "Stop, police", and to his chasing after the men. The rearmost one turned back and ran into the Complex. Boshoffsaid he ran after this man who dropped his looted goods. He called to the man "Polisie, kom uit". The next moment the man suddenly leapt upon him, tore his rifle from his hands and pressed the barrel against his chest. The man was physically bigger than he was. At He time he weighed only 65 kg and was physically slender. Boshoff said that because the rifle was loaded he thought that the man was going to shoot him and that his last moment had come. He shouted to Van Vollenstee "Hy het my gun". Boshoff said he stepped backwards and stumbled over bricks that were lying. He instinctively grabbed for his gun and he and the man struggled for possession of it. He again fell over the bricks and the momentum of his fall enabled him to wrest the gun from the man. The man then started throwing bricks and pieces of iron at him from short range. He realised that the man intended to injure him severely and even to kill him. The fact that he had his gun back again did not deter the man at all who continued to advance on him, throwing missiles all the while. He was in danger of his life. He realised then that the only way to stop the man was to shoot him. He fired his rifle from the hip intending to shoot him in the legs to demobilise him and to miss his vital organs. The man fell to the ground and all was still.

Van Vollenstee later drove their Nyala nearer to light up the scene. He then saw that the man had blood on his shirt from his shoulder and that he was dead. He was about 1.85 metre tall and strongly built. Boshoff said he thought the reason that the man was struck in the shoulder while he had fired at his legs was that when the shot went off the man was bending down to pick up more missiles to throw at him. Boshoff said that had he not shot the man the latter could have severely injured or even killed him, in which event Van Vollenstee's life would also have been in danger as the man would then have had hold of his loaded rifle. The incident was immediately reported to the Operations Centre over the radio by Van Vollenstee. They were instructed to continue with their foot patrol, which they did despite his being severely shocked by what had happened. Neither Boshoffnor Van Vollenstee knew what had happened to the body, it being led to other policemen to remove it. No one had ever identified the body and there is no record presently in existence of any post-mortem having been performed on it.

In seven cases inquests had been held by magistrates into the deaths in question and in one case three members of the Bophuthatswana Police had been tried and acquitted by a Regional Court Magistrate on a charge of murder arising out of the death of the deceased in that case. This notwithstanding the Investigation Team nevertheless fully investigated each one of the cases, not with a view to enabling the Commission to decide if the verdict of the Magistrate in each case was correct or not (which it would neither have been the function, nor within the competence, of the Commission to do so) but to determine whether there was any additional evidence to that placed before the Magistrate which the Commission would have to consider in relation to the deaths. As pointed out earlier in this Report in a large number of cases the Police had not conducted adequate investigations into the various deaths and in some instances had not even opened dockets in regard to them. To ensure that the circumstances of the deaths were properly established this necessitated the Investigating Team having again to investigate those cases even where inquests had been held and findings made. The Commission herein below deals with each one of the eight cases involved.

They were Elia Khonkhobe, Simon Mosetho and James Legalamitiwa. It was alleged that the deceased, an 18-year old youth, was part of a crowd at the Ganyesa Shopping Complex intending to loot the shops in the Complex on the night of Saturday, 12 March 1994. The crowd was throwing stones at the Complex. Ganyesa was situated in the former Bophuthatswana. The Bophuthatswana Police took action against the crowd. It was alleged against the three policemen that they had assaulted the deceased when arresting him at the scene and again at the Ganyesa Police Station. The deceased died of his injuries at the Vryburg Hospital on 14 March 1994. A post-mortem examination report handed in at the trial gave the cause of death as "skedelfraktuur met subdurale en subarachnoidale bloeding".

At the trial the State called seven witnesses. At the close of the State case the defence applied for the discharge of the three accused. The Regional Magistrate found the evidence of the State witnesses to be so contradictory as not to warrant the accused being put on their defence. They were accordingly found not guilty and discharged. The Commission has read the statements of the witnesses and can find no fault with the Magistrate's decision. The Investigating Team could find no further evidence.

The deceased, aged 33 years at the time of his death, was found dead about 16:00, on 11 March 1994 in a shop in Central City Complex. He had a gunshot wound to the head causing his head to explode. He was obviously looting there. Dr Kariuki and Captain Brits felt that he had been shot at close range by a high velocity firearm. It would appear that the deceased was the man who Lieutenant-Colonel Herbst said he saw being shot by a member of the Bophuthatswana Police dressed in civilian clothes, in Pick 'n Pay. The Magistrate of Odi held an Inquest No. 115/95 on 14 June 1 997 and found

In this case the Magistrate at Lehurutshe held an Inquest No. 42/95 on 25 May 1995 into the death of the deceased, a 13-year-old girl who died on 11 March 1994. She was one of a group of adults and schoolchildren who attacked the shop of one Ishmael Mooketzi at Motlhabeng Village stoning it and threatening to kill him. He fired three shots and fled. Two boys were wounded and the deceased fatally wounded sustaining a gunshot wound to the head. The mob burnt down both the shop and Mooketzi's house. A large number of affidavits from witnesses were handed in at the inquest and also a post-mortem examination report.

The Magistrate of Kudumane held an Inquest No 12/96 on 12 July 1996 into the death of the deceased, a 18 year old schoolboy, who was shot when the Bophuthatswana Police dispersed a crowd at Maruping Village during the period of unrest. Drs E G Amlima and W J Geyer conducted the post-mortem and found the cause of death to be "Cardio-respiratory failure due to severe bleeding from internal organs from multiple gun shot". Further investigation by the Investigation Team revealed, however, that the deceased was probably shot by an unidentified member of the Bophuthatswana Police.

The Magistrate forwarded the Inquest proceedings to the Attorney-General for his decision. The Attorney-General agreed with these findings as does the Commission, save that in the light of the evidence obtained by the Investigation Team the deceased was, it would seem, probably shot by an unidentified member of the Bophuthatswana Police Force.

The Magistrate of Odi held an Inquest No. 02/96 on 23 January 1996 into the death of the deceased a 21 -year-old man who was found shot at Central City Complex during the period of unrest. He had a shotgun wound in the chest. A post-mortem examination by Dr Kariuki showed that he also had a bruised face, a fractured left arm, gunshot wounds to the thighs and to the left arm.

Neither the investigating officer Detective Sergeant J M Putuka of the Murder and Robbery Unit at Winterveld Police Station nor the members of the Investigating Team could find anyone who could say where, when, how or by whom he had been shot. The Magistrate made the following findings:

The Commission has great difficulty in understanding how the Magistrate could have come to this latter finding in the light of the evidence before him of Detective Sergeant Putuka and in the light of the injuries suffered by the deceased. The only basis for his finding could be an affidavit before him of Lieutenant Prince Johannes Kubu, to which reference was been made earlier in this Report. In it is a general statement reading as follows:

As mentioned earlier Lieutenant Kubu said he saw no members of the Internal Stability Unit shooting anyone nor could he confirm that they had done so. The Commission finds therefore that the finding that the deceased was shot by members of the Stability Unit cannot be supported. Nor is there any evidence to support the finding that the date of death was 12 March 1994. The deceased may have been shot on 11 March 1994 before the arrival of the members of the Internal Stability Unit. The Commission finds that the circumstances of the death can not be established and therefore it cannot be determined if anyone can be held responsible for it.

Apart from the witnesses who attested to affidavits handed in at the inquest, the Investigating Team also found a witness, Inspector Thabo Mphatudi, who found the body of the deceased. He found it at about 11:00 on Friday, 1 1 March 1994 in the veld near Central City Complex. The body was taken to the Mortuary at about 12:00 on that day. No other witnesses could be found who could say by whom or in what circumstances the deceased was shot. Dr Kariuki told the Commission that the deceased had suffered one gunshot wound to the head fired from the front. Captain Brits was of opinion that it had been caused by a 9 mm or .357 handgun. The Commission agrees with the inquest findings.

The investigation officer in this case was also Detective Sergeant J M Putuka. He filed an affidavit at the inquest in which he said that the deceased was shot "at Mabopane Shopping Complex during the unrest times at Central City". The deceased was not identified at the Mortuary. Dr Kariuki told the Commission that the deceased had three gunshot wounds to the left side of the neck, chest and also Captain Brits thought he had been shot by a shotgun using SSG pellets. The Investigating Team could also find no witnesses as to when, where or by whom the deceased had been shot nor anyone who could identify him. The same affidavit by Lieutenant Kubu as was produced in Case B29: Jan Lesiba Ntauwatswala, was also produced at the inquest in this case but here the Magistrate - correctly, in the Commission's view - appears to have disregarded it. The Commission agrees with the inquest findings.

On the last day on which the Commission heard evidence a witness came forward to say he had heard of the Commission and wished to bring certain facts to its attention. He was Ephraim Masola, a bus driver from the Manyeneng area of Hammanskraal. He said that if it were not for the presence of the Internal Stability Unit and soldiers on horseback (who appeared to have been members of the South African Defence Force), members of the Bophuthatswana Police Force would have killed him and others in numbers. He said that a community meeting was being held by about 100 people at the Manyeneng Stadium during the unrest period and at the time of the looting when he heard that members of the Internal Stability Unit were outside. He asked the person in charge of them, one De Beer, to stand guard and see to it that the Bophuthatswana Police did not disrupt the meeting. About 10 minutes later, the police in "Hippos", Flying Squad vehicles and police vans arrived. He asked De Beer if they were safe. While talking to De Beer one of the policemen tried to run him over with his car but he was pulled to safety by an Internal Stability Unit member. Masola said that the policeman said his intention was to kill him. The Internal Stability Unit prevented any further incidents.

Masola also testified to having seen members of the Bophuthatswana Police Force stealing a safe from the First National Bank at the Temba Complex and had also seen them trying to shoot open safes at businesses in Babalegi. He had seen policemen looting furniture from a furniture store at Temba and loading the items into a police "Nyala" which he saw them later off-loading at a house close to where he stayed. Masola also testified to having been present at an argument between members of the Bophuthatswana Police and of the South African Defence Force, the former accusing the latter of interfering with their wives, at a party at a house at Manyeneng. The police had fired shots at the house killing three children and wounding four others there. He could point out the house. At the request of the Commission, Captain Van Gent and Sergeant Ferreira of the Investigating Team investigated these allegations. They ascertained that a shooting had indeed taken place at the house mentioned. This had occurred on 9 April 1994 when two teenagers, Thomas Ponki Makhubela, 19, and Daniel Mampye, 17 were shot dead and four others wounded when a school teacher and a member of the South African Defence Force had fired on them using a weapon of the latter. The two men were charged with and convicted on two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder and each sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

These deaths fell outside the Terms of Reference of the Commission and no more need be said about them. As to the allegations of looting it must be said that on Masola's own admission he is at loggerheads with the police and has a particular grievance against two of them, one Isaac Dikobe and one Gavamba, who he said had taken away the wives of himself and his father-in-law. Be that as it may it was, as stated above, not the Commission's function to investigate allegations of looting by the former Bophuthatswana Police which, if it chooses to do so, the South African Police may wish to investigate.

Part Six, Section 4 Continued

5. Cases Where Inquests Or Criminal Trials Were Held By Magistrates Into Thee Deaths And Where The Commission Did Not Come To A Conclusion Different From That Of The Magistrates