S u J & y V t f f 1-

BOIPATONG WITNESSES tell of family members being butchered, and white men with long guns

Security .forces in the dock► •Ij ' * ' - —---------—m------------------- --------Hattinph anoloeised to the voune W(

■ Massacre hearing: The ■ANC suspended negotiations with the Government after the massacre at Boipatong. This week the Goldstone Commission began hearing evidence on allegations of security-force

. involvement in the murder of 38 people in the township.By Pm T hornycroft

BOIPATONG and June 17 seemed on some other awful planet, unconnected with this week’s orderly procedures and legal courtesies in Vereeniging’s Civic Centre.

The comfort and modest plushness in the Council’s chamber Is far from the shacks, the blood, the screams and the recriminations.

Even the witnesses, reliving the night which •; plunged South Africa into a void, are solemn but composed as they recall ail that was gro­tesque among the blood-soaked dust, squalor and corrugated iron.

Justice Goldstone and his team, including a former chief Justice of India, P N BhagwaU, sit ■t the top end of the chamber.

In a semi-circle just below is an extraordi­nary collection of South African legal men, most with a background in historic battles ei­ther for or against the structures bound up with apartheid.

On the right, advocate Louis Vlsser, SC, for Inkatha. In the legal fraternity he has a nick­name, “Goue Vissertjie” — little golden fish — a nickname earned through years of apparent­ly profitable legal work for the SAP.

For the SADF was Anton Mostcrt, who, as a judge when Mr Justice Goldstone was still

FAMILIAR SIGHT . . . in the townships, as witnesses give their evi­dence to the Goldstone Commission. " cture: ken oosierhroek

at the Bar, blew the whistle on the Govern­ment during the Information scandal.

Advocate “Flip” Hattingh, who appeared for the CCB during the Harms Commission, had been hired by the SAP during this hearing.

For the ANC on the other sweep of the semi-circle were some familiar faces irorn days just gone, when banned people or banned organisations were in the dock, Advocates Arthur Chaskelson and Denis Kuny.

And the witnesses, a former petrol pump attendant, a fruit and vegetable seller, a petite young woman whose brother and mother were hacked to death a breath away from her, and another Boipatong resident.

All spoke through aninterpreter as they re-- ■ " ■" ^ ^ lc s parked near thecalled seeing SAP

township before it erupted, or white men, wearing balaclavas and carrying “long” gunsstabbing in the night, as they hid.

Hattingh, the first-world advocate, skilled in the art of nuance had to deal with witnesses from the third world, through an interpreter. A drawn-out procedure where nuances were still-born on those in the stand who unblink- ingly recreated where they were standing, what they heard, where the hippos were, what the attackers said, when the SAP arrived.

The critical point was whether any of them were white. And, unblinkingly, witnesses claimed some of them were. Time between one event and another was not measured in hours or minutes, but by "quite a long time, or “not such a long time”. _____

Hattingh apologised to the young woman be­fore cross-examination for asking her to relive the night she sat on an upturned bucket “deep” in a large, lean-to “box” fixed to the shack.

The “box", used for storing pots, pans and a tin bath. She was hiding at the back of the “box” with her younger brother, while two members of her family closer to the front were being butchered.

She told chairman Judge Goldstone and his committee that her mother, cowering in the “box”, was killed because she had moved her arm protectively to command silence from her terrified children.

Petrol pump attendant, Meshak Theonae said he had lost his job at the garage across the road from the township because, he claimed, his employer accused him of giving information about what he had seen before the massacre to the ANC.

Through Hattingh, garage owner Jannie van Zyl, who was not at the hearings, denied this, saying Meshak Theoane dismissed himself by not coming to work after picking up his wages two days after the massacre.

The subject meticulously pondered by the Goldstone Commission is allegations of securi­ty force involvement in the massacre

Another witness made a point poignantly central to the chasm between police and peo­ple. He did not want to co-operate and make a statement to the SAP after the massacre, be­cause although they said “they were from Goldstone,” they travelled in a Casspir. He clearly didn’t believe these policemen had any­thing to do with the Goldstone Commission. “I couldn’t give information to people in a Cas­spir. I fear these people and decided to be brief with them and get rid of them.”

This week will be the turn of the SAP and SADF to present evidence refuting any invol­vement in the deaths in Boipatong on June 17 when Codesa was limping, but still alive

S t 'J ;

THE UN and the Goldstone Commission want to spare no one in ettorts to root out violence

Probe police and ALL the armies■ Investigate everyone:The UN and Goldstone Commission want all armed forces independently investigated as a matter of urgency for their role in violence.By David Breier

1 CORRESPONDENT

«CALC

JUS1\ JUSTICE Goldstone dropped a bombshell yesterday by stressing the need for the “fullest inquiry into tbe operations of the SA P’, after the defensive police response this week to tbe Waddington Report on Boipa-

tong.Both the United Nations and the

Goldstone Commission want a thor­ough investigation into the SAP and SA Defence Force, as well as the Kwazulu Police (KZP).

They also want investigations into ANCs arm ed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the PACs armed wing, the Azanian People’s Libera-- tion Army (Apia) as well as “certain security firm s”.

Goldstone says the most impor­tant recommendation of UN Secre­tary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali late this week concerned the need for investigating these bodies.

The UN report follows the recent 10-day fact-finding mission by spe­cial envoy Cyrus Vance.

The judge called on the SA Gov-

GOLOSTONE . . . BOUTROS-GHALIget moving. . . . take steps.

em inent, the Kwazulu G overnm ent,' the ANC and the PAC “as a m atter of urgency” to support the recom ­mendation that their arm ed forces be investigated.

The judge said the need for an amnesty for all members of these forces had to be addressed urgently to make the inquiry m ore affective.

A spokesman for Minister of De­fence Gene Louw said it was up to the President to re a c t

Commissioner of Police Johan van der Merwe agreed with the principle of an inquiry into the SAP, but the investigating body should be “thoroughly considered”.

ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus said the recommendation was im­portant and positive and would have to be studied by the ANCs execu­tive. The PAC was not availablefor com m ent

Mr Justice Goldstone said that for some years there had been wide­spread and senous allegations about unlawful activities by m embers of the SADF. SAP, MK, Apia and KZP.

F urther piecemeal investigations into violence would merely "scratch

the surface and unless the SADF and SAP are fully investigated by a neu­tra l and reliable body, they will have no prospect of receiving the tru s t confidence and co-operation of the South African public.” he said.

Evidence a t the Boipatong inqui­ry illustrated this.

He said the inquiry would need access to MK and Apia camps and arm s caches in a number of coun­tries, and would require internation­al personnel and the consent of the relevant African countries.

The KZP was widely perceived to be a force acting as an arm of^jje IFP and had to be investigated

Judge Goldstone said that adequate support manpower and re­sources, his commission could carry out the investigations.

Foreign eyes expected to cut SA’s violenceBy David BreierPOLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

INTERNATIONAL peace observers are to become a regular feature in South Africa after this week’s suc­cessful UN monitoring exercise which helped to reduce mass action violence.

UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has recommended at least 30 UN peace observers, sup­plemented if necessary by international organisa­tions such as the Organisation for African Unity, the Commonwealth and the European Community.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pik Botha, in his initial reaction before studying the UN rep o rt welcomed

J t s "constructive comments" on the National Peace

J * /

J i n d National Peace Secretariat m em ber P ete r liastrow said monitors would have a restraining ef­fect on all actors involved in violence as the maul political groups vied for international support

“No-one can afford to be seen in the presence of m onito rs b la ta n tly to d is reg a rd in te rn a tio n a l norms.” he said.■ South Africa will be back at the UN General As­sembly within 12 months, ready to play an active role in Africa through various international bodies.

That was the confident prediction this weekend by the country's energetic new Director-General of For­eign Affairs Leo “Rusty” Evans, who in October re­places the suave Neil van Heerden. who has now been appointed ambassador to the European Com­munity in Brussels.

Vlok ‘not involved’MINISTER of Correctional Services Adriaan Vlok yesterday strongly denied media charges th a t he had been involved in the killing of M atthew Gon- iwe and three other activists in 1985.

Vlok said in a statem ent that because of the seri­ousness of the accusations, he wished to confirm he was chairman of a meeting asked to conduct an in­vestigation and m ake recom m endations ‘on the handling of the violence and the senous general un­rest situation prevalent in the country”.

In the process, the possible reappointm ent of Gon- iwe, who a t tha t tim e had been suspended from his post as teacher, w as also looked a t , and on a aubseauent occasion it was in fact recommended that Goniwe be reappointed.

"An aspect which emerges from this media re­porting and which I also find extremely disturbing, is the deduction that someone apparently listened in Illegally to a telephone discussion which I had with a deputy Attorney-General.” the Minister said. “I view this in a very senous ligh t” — Sapa.

Goldstone backs UN proposals31.

r*?»-

security forces, private armies

SADF INQUIRYSunday Times Reporters

THE Goldstone commission yesterday declared itself ready to carry out a full- scale inquiry Into the security forces and political armies, as demanded by UN secretary general Boutros Boutros- Ghali. i i V- f j ,

A top cabinet source described the UN pro­posal “constructive” but warned that the se­curity forces — especially the SADF — would resist a fullscale probe.

The SADF’s hostility to probing by the Goldstone commission came to the surface this week during the Boipatong massacre when counsel for the SADF refused to hand over a file demanded by Mr justice Richard Goldstone. The file was eventually handed over after Judge Goldstone raised the pos­sibility of holding the advocate in contempt.

In a statement welcoming the UN proposal Judge Goldstone said yesterday: “Unless the SADF and SAP are fully investigated by a neutral and reliable body, they will nave no prospect of receiving the trust, confidence and co-operation of the South African public.”

' t ■Targets

Aspects of security force activities which remain hid­den are the CCB, police dirty tricks, special forces action and the possible existence of so-called “hit squads”.

On the ANC side, unanswered questions remain about deaths in African training camps, torture, and the activi­ties of township self-defence units.

Both the SAP and the Kwazulu police, often called the armed wing of the Inkatha Freedom Party, have been targets of many accusations-of illegal actions, brutality and misuse of force. V;/ ; . tZ

Judge Goldstone called on the government, the Kwa- *" • lulu government, the ANC and the PAC to immediately : • support the UN recommendation. “Without their active - * support and encouragement this recommendation would ' • not be capable of implementation,” be said. \ ,■ ’

He caid that for some years there had been widespread ‘aDd •MfMu* allegations concerning unlawful activities by members of the security forces and political armies.

were loiiBM »»ty Jartifled;**

.. T fe |-” qn?i8sipn -is-of the unanimous and firm view tnat rartbir piecemeal investigations into specific inci­dents of violence will not do more than scratch the

SADF inquiryronnmmAvi/tBtinfl fai-tr firaanicatinnt _ tho

surface of the widespread perceptions which make all of these agencies the object of mistrust, distrust and suspicion.”

“The commission be­lieves that if it is not able to investigate fully the operations of these agen­cies, it will not be able to carry out its mandate of making recommendations for curbing the violence.”

Judge Goldstone also that the commission

be given the right to visit camps of the resistance groups and search for arms caches with the assistance of international groups. At the same time be appealed for a general amnesty to help the commission in its task., A cabinet source said he personally supporetd the recommendation that all military formations be in­vestigated, “but there might be elements in my ranks who will think he is going too far”.

"I think such an inquiry will allow the police and the army to move out of the present crisis."

Among recent conflicts between the Goldstone commission and the secur­ity forces have been a rejection by the SADF of a Goldstone committee

recommendation that^S2 Battalion, implicated' in widespread complaints of misconduct, be removed from Phola Park and never be deployed in townships again.

Only after Judge Gold­stone publicly complained about the government ig­noring his findings did State President FW de Klerk demobilise 32 Bat­talion.

In another instance, Judge Goldstone ordered Investigations in Decem­ber into the role-ttf'five policemen implicated in alleged attempts to kill community leaders in Schweirer Reneke.

BoostAgain, only after he took

the police to task were charges finally laid against three policemen for con­spiracy to commit murder. They will appear in court on August 10.

The main thrust of the secretary general’s propos­als is to boost the Gold­stone commission by giv­ing it wider powers of inquiry and attach UN observers to the organs of the National Peace Com­mittee — thus strengthen­ing the hands of these two bodies In their battle to force political parties to comply with peace-keep­ing measures.

Instead of merely prob­ing specific incidents of violence, the commission would also have new powers to investigate mili­

tary organisations — the army, police, the ANCs armed wing, the Azanian People’s Liberation Army and the Kwazuirf^olice.

Both the gWWnment and the ANC welcomed the UN recommendations yes­terday but did not commit themselves on detail The cabinet and the ANC* National Executive Com­mittee still have to con­sider them.

The key recommenda­tions of the UN secretary general's report relating to violence include: banning weapons in public, obser­vance of a code of conduct for mass demonstrations, party leaders to take steps to stop violence among supporters, and second­ment of personnel to the commission. /

To strengthen V ^i National Peace Commit­tee, the UN recommends support for its secretariat, a 24-hour operational cen­tre and the secondment of 30 UN observers.

□ To Page 2

L.v.

SADF, SAP present at massacre, say

two witnessesTWO witnesses ap­pearing before the Goldstone Commis­sion yesterday testified that SA Defence Force and SA Police mem­bers had been present in Boipatong during the June 17 massacre which claimed more than 40 lives.

A witness who Mr Jus­tice Richard Goldstone ruled could only be iden­tified as Ms B, told the four-man committee that her house in the township had been attacked by about 200 armed men. The attackers were un­able to enter the house because of burglar proof­ing. There had been gun­shots nearby, she said.

When Ms B had looked out of a back window, she had seen about 200 men wearing white headbands.

She alleged a security force Casspir had been parked nearby with its lights shining in the direc­tion of her house.

She could see the Casspir clearly because of a nearby Apollo light — a floodlight perched on a tall mast like, those com­mon in Black townships. The Casspir had later dri­ven away.

Another witness, Mr Ishmael Mahasella, told

the commission he had been doing shift work at the Cape Gate Factory in the township on June 17.

He had knocked off early because of warnings of pending trouble in the township.

For “reasons of safety” the workers had gathered at the factory gate to walk into the township to­gether. Youths had war­ned them that “the Zulu’s from KwaMadala were attacking”.

They entered the town­ship as one group but when shots were fired at them by a group of about 200 men, they had run back to the factory.

They had seen an SADF vehicle passing them and had stopped it.

“We asked them to ac­company us into the township. They said their vehicle was not bullet proof but they promised to try and stop the shoot­ing.” .

However, the vehicle then headed towards KwaMadala Hostel, not the township.

It returned accompa­nied by an SADF arm­oured vehicle.

oured vehicle told the workers nothing was going on in the township, but while the driver was speaking they could hear the sound of gunshots and breaking glass, Mr Maha­sella said.

“He also said that the SADF could not arrest anyone, but only take them out of the town­ship.”

The SADF driver then escorted White workers, who had travelled in their cars, out of the area.

Afterwards ambulances arriving on the scene agreed to take the work­ers into the township to help clear barricades.

They had helped the paramedics in a house-to- house search for the in­jured.

Mr Mahasella said police had tried to pre­vent them entering a home in which two dead' children and an injured mother lay.

“They said to us that we must go home and that they would take care of the situation, but we were not satisfied with that.”

Mr Anton Mostert, counsel for the SADF,

said Mr Mahasella’s ac­count more-or-less sup­ported the SA D Fs ac­count of the evening in question with a few minor differences.

He reiterated the SADF had not been in any way involved in the massacre and that the only unit present in the township had been the Vaal Commando, an ac­tive citizen unit charged with guarding iscor.

The Committee of the Commission is currently hearing evidence on alle­gations of security force complicity in the massa­cre.

It has heard seven wit- 1 nesses, all of whom have j alleged security forces. I and /or White men were i present in Boipatong township at the time of the attack.

The Committee will continue to sit this week.

Today the police will submit a 26-page docu­ment outlining the police version of events on the night of June 17. The document was compiled by the officer who is in­vestigating allegations of police complicity in the massacre, Maj Christo Davidson.

Meanwhile, eighty-two i residents of KwaMadala

■Hosiel near Boipatong appeared in the Vander- bijlpark Magistrate’s Court yesterday • on charges of public violence and murder in connection with the massacre.

They were not asked toP '^ d; „•> ■ : /

Bail was refused, and the 82 were remanded un­til August 28. —Sapa.

Goldstone: Press report incorrect

MR Justice Richard Goldstone yesterday rul­ed that certain aspects of a Sunday Times news­paper report on last week’s proceedings of the Goldstone Commission had been incorrect, and ordered the newspaper’s editor to publish the cor­rect facts in the next edi­tion.

Mr Justice Goldstone’s ruling follows an objec­tion lodged by counsel for the SADF, Mr Anton Mostert, who said the re­port in the latest edition of the Sunday Times “contained blatant false­hoods”.

Mr Mostert told the Goldstone Committee, hearing evidence on the June 17 Boipatong massa­cre, that the reported claim that the SADF had displayed hostility to probing by the Commis­sion, was incorrect.

“There was no such \ hostility. We made the fullest possible disclo­sure.”

He asked Mr Justice Goldstone to call Sunday Times editor Ken Owen to appear before the Commission and explain.

After consideration of the report, Mr Justice Goldstone ruled this would be unnecessary.

“However the Commit­tee does request the edi­tor of Sunday Times to publish the correct facts as set out ... with appro­priate prominence in the next edition of the Sun­day Times."

Mr Justice Goldstone described as misleading the headlincon the front

page of the newspaper which reati "Judge urges SADF Inquiry”.

He also denied the SADF had reacted with “hostility" to probing by the Commission as stated in the newspaper report.

Mr Justice Goldstone said the SADF had in­formed the committee on Wednesday that it was prepared to make two documents requested by the ANC available only to himself.

However, “the Chair­man refused to receive documents which were not open for pemsal by all the members of the com­mittee.

“On the afternoon of August 7 counsel for the SADF informed the Committee that the docu­ments were available for all the members of the Committee.”

The Committee later

ruled that the documents were irrelevant to the in­quiry and they were re­turned to SADF counsel.

Mr Justice Goldstone said reference in an edito­rial on Page 16 of the Sun­day Times that the SADF was trying “brazenly to withhold information from the Commission” was also incorrect. — Sapa.

COMMENT

Cutting to the bone

THE UN and Judge Richard Goldstone have taken a cru­cial step towards finally get­ting to the bottom of the

causes of violence — proposing a comprehensive series of investiga­tions by an independent inquisitor into those state, party political and private iorces which have been accused of playing a part.

One suspects that none will come out of an investigation with clean hands. Chief Buthelezi has sworn blind that the KwaZulu Police is essentially as pure as the driven snow. Law and Order Minister Her- nus Kriel and his generals deny any substantive SAP shortcomings. Judge Goldstone’s exasperation at this is illustrated by his comment that the SAP response to the Wad- dington report “provides yet fur­ther evidence of the need for the fullest inquiry into the operations of the SAP”.

Oddly enough, the only person to have shown candour in these mat­ters recently is former Umkhonto we Sizwe chief Chris Hani, who con­cedes that the discipline of ANC- created self-defence units — to put it euphemistically — leaves some­thing to be desired. Candour, how­ever, does not solve the problem.

Judge Goldstone’s call for an am­nesty to facilitate his investigations poses dilemmas. The purpose of an amnesty is not merely to facilitate an investigator’s work — it is to facilitate negotiation and recon­ciliation in a divided society. That was the purpose behind the indem­

nities granted to anti-apartheid political offenders, and it should be the purpose behind any extension of that system. However, a blanket amnesty for all offences committed at any time is inappropriate.

Firstly, the definition of a politi­cal offence contained in the stand­ing ANC/government agreement should not be broadened other than to acknowledge that political of­fences could have been carried out to preserve the status quo. It is at present confined to acts designed to overthrow that order. It must not be extended to include acts such as those perpetrated by mass murder­er Barend Strydom.

Secondly, the ANC view that state officials who may have com­mitted offences must specify those offences before being granted in­demnity (as ANC returnees had to do) is not unreasonable, but may bring practical problems.

Thirdly, a troubling precedent could be set by bringing forward the existing October 8 1990 cut-off date after which perpetrators of crimes are not eligible for indemnity. It could create expectations that any offence will be pardoned later.

As a rigid application of the agreement may prevent witnesses coming forward, Judge Goldstone could be empowered to grant in- demnity to individuals who co-oper- ate with his inquiries. This would place a heavy burden on the judge, but these decisions must be put be­yond the reach of the politicians.

Boipatong death: officer suspendedA MURDER charge is being investi­gated against a policeman who alleg­edly shot dead a panga-wielding man in Boipatong on June 20 — the day of President R W de Klerk’s aborted visit to the township — police spokesman Col David Bruce said yesterday.

Bruce said the incident happened at 12.30pm, a few hours after De Klerk’s visit.

The policeman has been suspended from duty and a murder docket has been for­warded to the attorney-general to decide whether to press charges.

The incident happened three days after the June 17 massacre of more than 40 people in the township.

In unrest incidents yesterday, two more people died in political fighting in Port Shepstone's Murchison township. Police said this brought the death toll in the area to at least 12 since the weekend began.

Delegations from the ANC, Inkatha, churches and police were scheduled to visit the area today to try to end the kill­ings. More than 50 people have been killed in fighting between the ANC and Inkatha in Murchison since mid-June.

Sapa reports the director of church- based human rights organisation. Practi­cal Ministries, the Rev Danny Chetty, said the situation was “very tense and very violent”.

This had prompted him to arrange to­day’s meeting.

inkatha had yet to confirm its atten­dance at the meeting, although national chairman Frank Mdlalose had indicated a delegation would be sent, said Chetty.

He said everything depended on Inkatha now, explaining that the ANC and SA Po­lice had said they would attend the meet­ing only if an Inkatha delegation arrived.

Chetty said the latest spate of killings had again created a refugee crisis, with more than 1000 people having fled their homes in Murchison. People were still flee­ing the township yesterday.

_____________ R A Y H A R T L E Y _____________

Most refugees were taking shelter at Murchison's hospital and at Port Shepstone churches and were being assisted by the Red Cross, he said.

"Everything has come to a standstill in these areas,” he said, referring to daily schooling and usual community activity.

Meanwhile, a caller to the police, identi­fying himself as the “Lion of the Apia forces”, yesterday claimed responsibility for killing a municipal policeman at Katle- hong on the East Rand on Monday.

The caller also claimed responsibility for the killing of policemen in other areas, such as Kagiso. He did not elaborate. Apia is the PAC’s military wing.

Sapa reports a municipal policeman was killed by unknown gunmen in Katlehong on Monday, Witwatersrand police said yester­day.

W/O Andy Pieke said Const J de Wet Moloi, 55, was walking in Khumaio Street at 12.20pm when two men shot him and took his 9mm pistol□ The Goldstone commission of inquiry into violence between ANC and Inkatha members at Wesselton, near Ermelo in August 1990. will resume its sitting in Pre­toria today.

The hearing stems from reports in the Weekly Mail that members of a local gang known as the Black Cats, with the help of inkatha members, attacked ANC support­ers in a funeral procession.

Former Black Cats members gave evi­dence that Inkatha members armed with firearms, including automatic rifles, were involved in the attack on ANC supporters. On the other hand, IFP witnesses said the violence started when ANC supporters fired at Inkatha’s funeral procession.

The Black Cats are alleged to be mem­bers of the Inkatha Youth Brigade branch at Wesselton.

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‘I saw Casspir on nighto f massacre’AN SA Police Special

Constable and resident of Boipatong, Constable N M Xaba, yesterday testi­fied to the Goldstone Commission that he had seen a camouflaged arm­oured vehicle accompany­ing armed men in Boipa­tong on the night of the June 17 massacre.

He told the Commis­sion that since giving a statement to the police to this effect, he had experi­enced a degree of aliena­tion from White officers and had also come under threat from youths in the township because of his status as a policeman.

He said the men run­ning in front of and be­hind the Casspir on the night of the massacre had been armed with guns and were chanting "this is our day" in Zulu.

"1 could not believe what I had seen."

Mr Xaba said on the following day. after hear­ing township residents complaining that police were killing people, he and other policemen from Boipatong had decided to discuss the issue.

A group of about nine

Black policemen includ­ing Const Xaba had walk­ed around the township, but had been forced to disperse when confronted by armed youths.

Mr Xaba and a friend he identified only as “Sello" decided after fur­ther threats to leave the township and stay in Se- bokeng.

They had later at­tended a meeting of Black policemen and had decid­ed, because of their fear of their White colleagues, to tell the SA Defence

Force what they had seen.A Colonel Vosloo of

the Group 17 unit of the SADF had invited Const Xaba and Sello to “speak freely” .

They had then been re­ferred to the riot police station in Powerville to give statements to police.

“I feared the riot police as I had seen them speak very roughly to people," Const Xaba said.

After their statements were taken they had wait­ed for transport back to Sebokeng. Two White policemen had passed them on the road and told them they ‘ spoke sh..t” in their statements.

Under cross-examina­tion by ANC counsel Ar­thur Chaskelson, Const Xaba said it had not been easy to give evidence be­fore the Commission as he was afraid.

“ 1 have seen bad treat­ment from the police and on a number of occasions 1 have been treated badly. Policemen do not address me in a polite way."

He said he feared something would happen to him as his giving evi­dence had "displeased some people”. —S?Pa.-... ... ,• .

n'l li I. <•

NEWS Goldstone agrees spe Alists should examine tape#

Experts to hear tapesSowetan Correspondent and Sapa _________

Tin; c o m m i s s i o n inquiring into the Boipatong massacre agreed that cop­ies of lape recordings between secu­rity forces on Ihe night of the killings be heard by both police and private

experts.Commission chairman Mr Juslicc Richara

Goldstone said this would prevent "further alle­gations of tampering with the tapes .

The commission was told at its hearing in Verceniging on Tuesday and yesterday that in­formation contained in police tape recordings or radio messages between security force units on the night of the massacre had been erased by mistake.

Meanwhile, Law and Order Minister Mr liernus Kriel and the Commissioner ol Police have expressed concern al the impression cre­ated by the erasure of 13 hours of police radio calls recorded on the day.

This was disclosed yesterday by counsel for the police, Mr P Haltingh, SC, who said Kriel and Commissioner of Police General Johan van der Merwe were “perturbed” by the impressioncreated by the reports.

Haltingh told the commission: “We believe we have an explanation for what happened and we would like to pul it to you as soon as possi­ble.” . .

Yesterday the Goldstone Commission was again told that information contained on police tapes and relevant to it had been destroyed due tooperational error.

The officer in charge of Ihe operations control room al the Verecniging Internal Stability Unit, Sergeant Use O’Reilly, told the commission that taping equipment which automatically recorded

■ WE BLUNDERED Sergeant tells Commission

police had used recording equipment incorrecdy:telephone and radio conversations by security Torce members had been used incorrectly since its installation in March.

The unit had only become aware that it was using the equipment incorrectly alter the massa- crc.

Only then had investigations revealed that all conversations between about 2pm on June 17 and 3am on June 18 had been taped over.

O'Reilly said the machine used ordinary com­mercial tapes, but only one side could be used, or information would be taped over.

The recording equipment was attached to telephones and to radios, and automatically re­corded all conversations by security force mem­bers using those particular frequencies or tel­ephones.

On June 18, the day alter the Boipatong massacre, she had turned over the tapes in the machines. This had resulted in the destruction of all information pertaining to action taken by security forces on the night ol June 17.

D u r i n g cross-examination by Mr Denis Kuny,SC, for the African National Congress, O’ Reilly confirmed that all tapes recorded since March 24 had been similarly affected.

She said ihe Verecniging ISU had not realised their mistake because only on one occasion had they had cause to play back a tape, and in that particular instance, the required information had not yet been taped over.

The commission is in possession of the tapes.• The outcome of an application for part of

the hearing to be held in camera is not yet clear.

■3<f. 3

WHY TAPES WERE WIPED CLEAN

THE Goldstone Com- ' mission heard evidence

yesterday from police witnesses that more

r than 13 hours of police I tape recordings of j radio calls made to the i Vereeniging Internal

Stability Unit on the ‘ night of the June 17 j massacre at Boipatong

had been wiped clean because the equipment had been used incor­

rectly.P olice sp o k esm a n . C o l­

o n e l Jo h a n M o ste rt, sa id th e po lice w ere exam in ing m o re m o d e rn an d su it­ab le reco rd in g eq u ip m en t w hich w o u ld p re v e n t a r e ­p e a t o f th e e ra su re o f re ­cord ings.

H e said th e S A P 's r e ­cen t c rea tio n o f th e In te r ­na l S tab ility D ivision m ean t eq u ip m e n t and p e rso n n e l h ad to be

p laced a t s ta t io n s w hich b e st su ited th e d iv ision .

T h e se in te rim a rra n g e ­m e n ts w e re necessa ry due to th e c ircu m stan ces p re ­va iling a t th e tim e .

" T h e lack o f tra in in g an d k n o w led g e reg a rd in g ra d io re c o rd in g e q u ip ­m e n t has b een iden tified a n d s tep s to rec tify it have a lread y b een ta k e n ,” he said .

Why tapes wiped cleaniFROM PAGE.1C a p ta in C ra ig K o tze .

Law an d O rd e r sp o k es ­m a n . said th e e ra su re o f the ta p e s w as “ex trem ely d a m a g in g " to th e c red ib il- itv an d re p u ta tio n o f the police.

H o w ev er, th e re w as “ no s in is te r m otive " b e ­h ind th e inc iden t.

H e a ttr ib u te d th e d e le ­tion o f 13 h o u rs o f critical ev id en ce o f the m o v e ­m en ts o f secu rity fo rces a ro u n d th e tim e o f th e m assacre to “ M u rp h y 's L a w ’.

H ie S A Police had in ­fo rm ed B ritish c rim in o l­og ist, D r P e te r W adding- to n — w ho had b een ch arg ed w ith look ing in to th e p o lic e 's han d lin g of th e inv estig a tio n o f the m assacre — a b o u t th e tap e e ra su re s , bu t he had d ec id ed n o t to re fe r to th e inc iden t in h is rep o rt.

H o w ev e r, D r W add ing - ton had id e n tified th e

fu n c tio n in g o f th e po lice o p e ra tio n a l room as d e fi­c ien t.

C ap t K otze sa id r e ­m ed ia l s tep s w e re b e in g ta k e n “ as rap id ly as p o ss ­ible" to im prove operation­al p ro c e d u re s an d e n su re th e re w o u ld n o t be a re p ­e titio n o f th e m ost u n fo r­tu n a te tap e -e ra s in g inci­d e n t.

T h e o ff ice r in ch arg e o f th e o p e ra tio n s c o n tro l ro o m a t th e V e reen ig in g IS U . Sgt Use O 'R e illy , to ld th e com m ission th e reco rd in g e q u ip m e n t had b een in co rrec tly u sed since its in s ta lla tio n in M arch a n d all ta p e s since th e n had b een sim ilarly a ffec ted .

C ro ss-ex am in ed by A N C co u n se l M r D en is K u n y , th a t she co u ld not p ro d u c e a ffec ted ta p e re ­co rd in g s m ad e p r io r to Ju n e 14 as th ese ta p e s had b e e n sen t to th e V e re en i­g ing C rim e In te lligence S erv ice fo r “c lean in g " . T h e C IS h ad special eq u ip m e n t fo r th is p u r­pose.

Sgt O 'R e illy ex p la in ed th a t th e e q u ip m e n t w as desig n ed so th a t o n ly one side o f a n o rm a l c o m m er­cial fo u r-tra ck ta p e cou ld b e u sed . If th e o th e r side o f th e ta p e w as u sed th e in fo rm a tio n w o u ld be ta p e d o ver.

F ro m th e tim e o f its in s ta lla tio n , un til sho rtly a f te r J u n e 17. th e s ta f f o f th e V e reen ig in g ISU had u sed b o th sides o f the ta p e , th e re b y w ip ing out m uch o f th e re c o rd ed rad io a n d te le p h o n e calls.

T h e y had o n ly becom e a w are o f th e ir e r ro r a fte r th e B o ip a to n g m assacre , w h en th e re lev a n t tapes h a d b e en p lay ed back .

T w o S A P o lice w it­n esses ca lled to give te c h ­n ical ev id en ce to th e co m ­m itte e co n firm ed they h a d a lso b e en u n aw are th a t on ly o n e side o f the ta p e sh o u ld be used .

C o lo n e l L eon M ar- ry a tt. w ho is a tta ch e d to th e C o m m u n ica tio n s U nit a n d w ho w as responsib le fo r th e p u rch ase o f the e q u ip m e n t fo r th e V e r­een ig in g IS U an d nine o th e r u n its , sa id he had o n ly b e co m e aw are e a r ­lie r th is m o n th th a t only o n e s id e o f th e tape sh o u ld be used .

H e had im m ed ia te ly s en t a le t te r to th e n ine o th e r u n its in possession o f s im ila r e q u ip m en t a d ­v ising th em o f th e p ro b ­lem .

W arra n t-O ff ic e r Jo h an van V u u re n . a tta c h e d to th e ra d io techn ica l u n it, co n firm ed to th e com m is­sion th a t he h ad in sta lled th e e q u ip m e n t a n d had g iven basic tra in in g to th o s e ch a rg ed w ith its o p ­e ra tio n .

“ I h a d n e v e r h e a rd o f any possib ility th a t one side o f th e ta p e w ou ld be e ra se d if th e ta p e was tu rn e d a ro u n d ." he said.

T h e C om m ission is in possess ion o f seven tapes w ith co n v ersa tio n s re co rd e d o n an d a f te r Ju n e17.

T h e h e a rin g con tinues. — S ap a .

'Police told me to alter evidence'A

SPECIAL constable who told the tiokl- stone Commission he had seen a Hippo in the township on the night of the Boipa­tong massacre yesterday testified that a week after the killings he was asked by a police

captain to change his statement.And in other evidence damaging to the police

this week, the commission also heard that a letter by a police technician was sent only hist week to 10 “priority” police stations, warning operators not to turn over the cassettes used in a four-chan­nel tape recorder.

The message came more than a month lixi late for the Vereeniging Internal Stability Unit, with police witnesses telling the court that their ta[*:s from the night of June 17 had been “partially erased".

Under cross-examination yesterday Special Constable Ntietsie Xaba said that a week after the massacre a police captain from the Vanoerbijl- park police station called him in to “correct mis­takes” to a statement he had made.

In his’ statement he described seeing a Hippo moving towards his house in Boipatong at about 1 lpm on June 17. “1 noticed two men in front of the Hippo. They were clothed in stTange apparel and had long firearms. They were dressed in white overalls and red headbands.

“It seems to me that the Hippo was not chasing them.” They screamed “tnis is our day” in Zulu and fired shots in the air, he said.

He also said he noticed another two men in camouflage police uniform behind the Hippo.

A week after he had made this statement, the captain told him to change the time that he saw the Hippo from 1 lpm to 9pm.

Xaba said he had refused.The special constable also told the commission

that photographs taken after the massacre were inaccurate, not showing the distances he had described.

This week at the Goldstone_____Commission... First the police tapes were accidentally erased.

Then a witness said police asked him to ‘correct mistakes ’ in his statement.

By JACQUIE GOLDING_____

He told the com m ission that he had been threatened if he did not change his statement. “The police captain threatened to hit me if I did not change certain important aspects o f my state­ment,” he said.

Earlier this week evidence was led that a recording of all radio messages between security force units taped during the night of J une ) 7 — at the height of the massacre in the Vaal township— were “accidentally erased”.

Witnesses testified that calls from 2pm on June 17 to 3am on June 18 had been “accidentally wiped out by the person on duty”.

A witness told the inquiry that neither police technicians nor operators from the Vereeniging Internal Stability Unit had been aware that tapes had been accidentally erased for the past six months. A new tape recorder was installed in March this year, the commission heard.

Last week Warrant Officer Johan van Vuuren, who installed the recording machine at the Vereeniging Internal Stability Unit, sent a letter warning operators to only use one side of the tape; otherwise the recording would be wiped clean.

Many valuable recordings of other incidents were now of no use, the commission heard.

Sergeant lisa O ’Reilly, who was in charge of the Vereeniging operation control room on June 17, said she had unknowingly turned the tape around and wiped two days of relevant recording— by mistake.

O ’Reilly turned over the tapes before going off duty at 4pm on June 17. The following morning she contacted a Captain Rons to check whether to turn the tape over. She said she “specifically

remembers turning the cassetlc around ’.Only O ’Reilly and Roos have access to the

machine, the commission heard.Counsel for the African National Congress,

Dennis Kuny SC, asked O ’Reilly why she had contacted Roos when she normally turned the tapes around, not know ing of the consequences.

O’Reilly testified that she was shown how to use the tape by Van Vuuren, who said she could use both sides of the cassette.

According to Van Vuuren and O’Reilly the operator’s handliook did not state only one side of the cassette could l>e used.

“ 1 realised that I could not tape on both sides after the Boipatong tapes were with the investi­gation team of the commission.”

Two experts from private firms are to make copies o f all the tapes and transcript- will then be given to all the |>arties involved in the hearing.

Counsel for the police, Flip Hallingh SC, expressed concern at media reports of the blank tapes, and asked that the police tie given a chance to put their case.

3 < b - 5THE GOLDSTONE COMMISSION

- C onstab le W as T h reaten ed W ith V io le n c e By Colleagues

By Adrienne Carlisle

VEREENIGENG Aug 13 Sapa

An SA Police special constable on Thursday told the Goldstone Commission police colleagues had threatened him with violence if he did not change a statement alleging the presence o f police Casspirs in Boipatong on the night of the June 17 massacre.

Constable Ntictsa Xaba on Wednesday testified before the Commission, which is hearing evidence on allegations o f security force involvement in the Boipatong massacre o f more than 40 people, that he had made a statement to the Vereeniging police to the effect that he had seen four Casspir armoured vehicles in the township on the night of June 17.

At least one of these vehicles appeared to be escorting attackers.

week later he had been recalled by a white police officer to correct a mistake" in his statement.

Mr Xaba alleged the policeman, whose name was not revealed to the Commission, had threatened to "donder" him if he did not change his statement

Mr Xaba, a Boipatong resident, said in his statement he had seen a Casspir in the street he lives in at about 11pm escorting four armed men, two in front of the vehicle and two behind.

The black men in front were wearing white overalls and red headbands and the white men "trotting" behind the vehicle were wearing camouflage uniforms.

He overheard shouts of "this is our day" in Zulu.

All four were armed with automatic weapons. When they had fired shots into the air he had run back to his shack and locked the door.

police officer later asked Mr Xaba to alter his statement to read that he had seen the Casspir at 9pm and that he had not seen the policmen on the ground behind the vehicle.

He also wanted Mr Xaba to change the statement to read that the Casspir was pursuing the two armed black men.

Counsel for the SAP Mr Flip Hattingh told Mr Xaba the police officer in question, if put before the Commission, would say 1 1 pm could not possibly have been the correct time because by then the massacre was over and the bodies were being removed.

I put it to you that you are deliberately distorting the discussion between you and the policeman.

"I suggest to you that you did not see what you tell us you saw. Most other witnesses have said the attack commenced at about 10pm."

Mr Xaba replied the wall clock which he had looked at on the night had indcated that it was 1 1 pm but confirmed that it could have been wrong.

"But what I said I saw, I saw."

Mr Hattingh put it to Mr Xaba that he had prepared his statement for the ANC ad for people wishing to implicate the police in the massacre.

Mr Xaba was subjected to six hours o f gruelling cross examination by Mr Hattingh, who told the Commission he considered him to be one of the most crucial witnesses.

Counsel for the ANC, Mr Arthur Chaskelson, put it to to the Commission that this was an inquiry and not an inquisition and that Mr Hattingh, while entitled to test evidence, should not "drive the witness into confusion and exhaustion".

The hearing will continue on Friday, the last day o f this particular sitting. The Committee will go into recess and may only continue hearing evidence on the Boipatong massacre in November.

Meanwhile the four-man Committee and representatives o f counsel are expected to embark on a night inspection of the township before the end of this sitting.

The committee intended going into the township when similar conditions to those which prevailed on June 17 were inevidence.

It is expected the inspection will take place on either Thursday or Friday night

THF. VIOLENCE

African Church Leaders Arrive On Peace M ission

DURBAN Aug 13 Sapa

Church leaders from ten African countries arrived in Durban on Thursday for the first leg o f a 10-day nationwide peace mission, SABC radio news reported.

The evangelists would hold talks with a wide spectrum of political and business leaders, including State President F W de Klerk and representatives from the African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party.

"W ithdoctor" K illed As R itual K illin gs Claim Th« Lives Of Two Children

JOHANNESBURG August 13 Sapa

Gruesome "muti murders" on the Reef have claimed the lives o! two children in the past three days.

On Tuesday police found the chopped-up body of a five-year-olc girl at a house in Evaton in the Vaal Triangle at 10.30pm afte the occupant of the house, an alleged "witchdoctor", had beer "necklaced" by a group o f angry men.

Police said the murdered man, identified as Pholakele Majola had been living in the area for some time.

The men had gone to Mr Majola's house and had found th< hacked remains of the child in a large plastic bag which hac been zipped closed. They dragged Mr Majola from his house ant "necklaced" him - placed a petrol-doused car tyre over his hea< and set him alight.

3

»r

I

%

‘Professionalism’ of police is dead

■ FALLING FILES Cases collapse because

ofgrowing incompetence in the security forces.

By Mathatha TseduInvestigations Editor

REMEMBER the lime when judges and magistrates used to compliment the police for their diligence and professionalism in in­vestigating cases?

Do you remember how the compliments always prefaced heavy sentences that would send mostly political activists to Robben Island and similar dungeons?’ The police then were proud of their record and bandied statistics about, show­ing their success rate.

That was in the “old” South Africa.The advent of the “new” South Africa,

and its violence and horrible killings has, however, changed all that.

The violence, which comes in all man­ners, has been blamed on the State, and police have been found wanting in both the efforts to curb the phenomenon, and in attempts to track the killers.

The advent of the “new” South Africa and the liberalisation of politics seems to have taken away the professionalism of the police that successive police ministers usedto boast about.

Only this week, police disclosed that they had wiped out 13 hours of tape record­ings relating to the Boipatong massacre.

It is now also a common occurrence for judges to lament the sloppiness of police investigations into massacres that have left many black people dead and thousands more maimed.

This week Rand Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice H D a n ie l s , joined a growing list of judges who have found reason to pub­licly rap police on the knuckles.

Presiding over the trial of four men charged with the slaying of 15 people who were attending a night vigil in Alexandra township on March 27 last year, Daniels found that police:

• Leaked information to witnesses be­fore an identity parade;

• Encouraged witnesses to give evi­dence to suit the Stale’s case;

• Had allowed witnesses going for an identity parade to discuss the suspects,

• Held two identity parades after the suspects had been charged and their names widely publicised;

•Failed to bring an informer whose sole information had been used to arrest one of the accused.

Daniels said the Slate's case had there­fore been riddled with inconsistencies, con­tradictions and fabrications, leaving him with no option but to discharge the four men as they had no case to answer to.

He found that a policeman had changed his evidence, rendering it useless and that of other witnesses suspect.

As a result, Mr Gibson Mbalha (28) Mr Derrick Majosi (21) Mr Christopher Mbalha (30) and Mr Petrus Buthelezi (31) walked out of the Rand Supreme Court free.

In previous cases, such as the discharge of the seven men last month charged with the massacre of 42 people in Scbokeng, police were found to have shown less than expected zeal in their investigations.

In the Alexandra case, they were found to have gone overboard in trying to secure a conviction, thus again rendering the proc­ess of justice ineffective.

Attack on a vigilThe trial followed the attack on a vigil of a student who had been killed in violence. At dawn, a group of armed men stormed into a tent where mourners were singing hymns and freedom songs, and opened fire with rifles and pistols.

Arrests of the four men followed infor­mation gathered from survivors and an informer. Now the men have been released, joining other similar accused who have been discharged because police investiga­tions were found wanting.

But the question hanging in the air now is whal will happen to these cases where police incompetence has led to discharge by default?

Is it the end of the road? Will the perpe­trators of the killings in Sebokeng, Jeppe station. Kliplown stalion and many other places never pay lor their crimes?

THE GOLDSTONE COMMISSION

Goldstone Wraps Up Sittings On Boipatong

By Adrienne Carlisle

JOHANNESBURG Aug 15 Sapa

The Goldstone Commission committee investigating the June 17 Boipatong massacre concluded its August sitting on Friday and will only resume hearing evidence on the incident in November.

During the week-and-a-half sitting, the committee heard allegations of involvement in the massacre by whites and/or security force members from eight witnesses, including an SA Police special constable living in Boipatong.The SA Police and SA Defence Force legal teams stood Firm in their conviction that the security forces had not in any way been involved in or facilitated the massacre and produced their own witnesses in corroboration.

The SA Police officer charged with investigating allegations of security force involvement, Maj Christo Davidson, this week exonerated the police and Defence Force, and even went so far as to tell the commission that he was satified that the police

had acted promptly and satisfactorily in response to reports of the massacre.

Maj Davidson caused a major stir by revealing to the Commission that the Vereeniging Internal Stability Unit not only kept records on incoming and outgoing telephone and radio calls but also recorded them with sophisticated equipment installed in March this year.

Initial cxcitement by the committee and the legal teams was quickly quashed when Maj Davidson went on to tell them that by some "operational error" the tapes of June 17 had been "accidentally" over taped.

It emerged later that the equipment was so designed that only one side o f a commercial tape could be used. If the tape is flipped and the other side used, the information is erased and taped over.

The police claimed they had been using the equipment incorrectly since its installation in March and had consistently destroyed information for three months without being aware of it.

They said they could not produce any tapes from before June 14 to corroborate their claim because they had all been "cleaned" by the Vereeniging Crime Intelligence Service which had special equipment for this purpose.

Outraged ANC counsel, Mr Arthur Chaskelson, earlier put it to Maj Davidson that the information pertaining to June 17 and possibly damning to the security forces, had been deliberately erased.

However on Friday police claims of erasure by error seemed to be supported by the initial findings of an independent agency which said the tapes had not been "bulk erased" per se.

Grinaker Electronics confirmed that the tapes had been turned around for further recording thus erasing information from the tape and writing new information over it.

The police have shamefacedly admitted to bungling and spokesman Col Johan Mostert issued a statement saying the lack o f training and knowledge regarding recording equipment had been identified and steps to rectify this were being taken.

n3 6 * fNevertheless the Commission has had to accept that information which may have proved crucial to its inquiry into allegations of security force involvement in the massacre, no longer exists.

Witnesses have given evidence which completely contradicts Maj Davidson's conclusions and have alleged:

— The presence o f white men in camouflage uniforms and armoured vehicles in the township during the attack;

-- Armoured vehicles escorting and transporting attackers;

— Participat'on by whites in murder and assault of township residents and damage to their property.

In an attempt to find out how much witnesses could have seen on the night o f June 17 the committee and legal counsel embarked on a moonlight inspection o f the township on Thursday.However, because some o f the powerful township lights were not fully functional and the moon was in a different phase to that o f the night o f June 17, it was difficult to establish the distances and detail that may have been perceived by witnesses

fon the night of the massacre.

The Commission will resume its public inquiry in Vereeniging on November 2 when it w ill continue to give its attention to allegations of security force involvement in the incident

Other terms of reference include identifying those responsible for the attack, the role played by the SADF and SAP before, during and after the attack and what steps should be taken to prevent the recurrence of such an incident.

The four-man committee includes the Commission's chairman, Mr Justice Richard Goldstone, assisted by deputy chairman Mr Neal Rossouw, Mr M S Sithole, and former Chief Justice of India, Mr P N Bhagwati.

The Inkatha Freedom Party, KwaZulu Government, SAP, SADF, ANC, and KwaMadal Hostel residents are all represented by legal teams.

M edia R elease

Issued by: African National Congress

ANC PRESS STA T E M E N T ON THE BOIPATONG TAPES

The initial reports by the experts brought in to assess the tapes pertinent to the Boipatong inquiry in no way exonerate the police. They merely determined that the tapes were erased by recording over the initial information.

iIWhether this was done deliberately, or as the police claim, they have since March been systematically recording over previous m essages, is a matter for the Goldstone Commission to determine. If it is the latter, then the criminal negligenc sheer scale o f incompetence defies credulity. Acceptinf explanation must also entail acknowledgement on the p the police that no-one ever listens to or stores the recordings made.

Once again, mis-reporting surrounding police activitie only served to muddy the waters.

Issued by:

The Department of Information and Publicity,P.O. Box 61884, Marshalltown 2107, Johannesburg.15 August, 1992

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12 INTERNATIONAL

Eyewitnesses blame Inkatha w Night of slaughter follows start of ANC n

Rampage through towHUNDRED4; of Int-atha warriors assisted by South African policc rampaged through Boipatong township on Wednesday night, (teens of eyewitnesses said yes­terday, and massacred at least 39 men, women and children The youngest victim was a nine-month old child stabbed to death.

At least 30 people were seri­ously wounded, According to the superintendent of the local hospi­tal, seven of those still interned Yesterday evening were children, two of whom were in intensive Care receiving treatment for "se­vere stab and hack wounds”.

The single bloodiest incident in the last .18 months of township warfare, the massacre was de­scribed by the ANC Secretary- General, Cyril Ramaphosa, dur­ing a visit yesterday to Boipatong, as “a national tragedy”,

The police ftlio patrolled Boi­patong., 40 mpcs south of Johan­nesburg. yesterday in their yellow vehicles inspired feelings of rage tnjong the crowds of people who gathered on the streets. Every­body — about 30 reporters fanned out" around the township inter­viewing eyewitnesses - £&'■<: a Similar version of events.

;At about 9pm policc had ar­rived in armoured vehicles and, firing pellets and teaf-gas, dis­persed young “comrades” from barricades they had erected to protect the community. Word had spread around the township all day that an attack was imminent from jnkatha supporters situated in the KwaMadala single men’s hn$tel half a mile away.

S^only before 10pm, with the streets cleared, the Inkatha war- riojrs arrived, armed with spears, knlv^i axes and automatic rifles Several were delivered to the towjftship inside police armoured vehicles, or Casspirs, The Inkatha men, wearing white headbands, mejyed up and dowii the township streets, attacking homes, looting, making and killing. They spoke Zulu. In some instances they asked people whether they were ANC supporters, killing them whatever the response. They fo- Cu$d. the worst of their energies on'a shanty settlement known as “Sl#vo Camp" on Boipatong’s eas'teni edge, Several eyewitnesses reported having seen white mena>nt»ng the attackcrs. _____ _

_____ Nomanc, whose neigh­bour at Slovo Camp was shot dcid, said he saw a group of InEfltha men marching in singly

From John Carlinin Boipatong

file and behind them, only 20 yards away from where he was standing, three w hite men in civil - ian clothes carrying automatic ri-, flesfSimon Moloi said he saw Foilr j TSfuvc Casspirs and a yellow po­licc bus arrive at the edge of the settlement at about 50pm, ‘Then Inkatha men iumped out of the back of the vehicles and advanced towards our homes,” Mr Moloi and his wife, Maria, ran out of their tin shack and fled in differ­ent directions. “As I ran the po­licemen in the Casspirs fired four shots at me. Luckily they missed.”Mr Moloi did not see Maria, eight months' pregnant, until 6,15 yes­terday morning. He had assumed she was hiding In the home of a friend, He found her dead on the dry grass, one bullet through her

^arin, another through her heart. '' A policcman who lives in Boi-]

l^ a n c , scared openly in the hor- “. rotof the rest of the community, ^ “This is wrong. It’s wrong I don't understand it The police brought \ the Inkatha people here and then s stayed all night as all this hap- J pened. They killed each and every <= person without asking questions. I £ don’t - I can’t - understand tC j

Mr'Ramaphosa, after a three- hour tour of the township yester­day afternoon, said he understood perfectly well. “We charge F W de Klerk and his government with complicity in this slaughter. It is becoming dear that tne govern­

ment’s agenda is that they’ want to negotiate with an ANC that is : powerless and has no following.”

Mr Ramaphosa said that the political killings — 79 nation-wide Since Monday - were the govern­ment's response to the launch oh Tuesday - i ANC “mass action” campaign esignecf to press for majority rule. Yesterday the offi­cial spokesman ai the Ministry of Law and Order, Captain Craig KoUe, blamed the ANC for the massacrc. “It is now quite obvious that the political temperature has been pushed unacceptabty high by ‘mass,action’ and has created a cli­mate'y 'hich Can make incidents such as these that much easier to happen,” Captain Kotze said .•

A forcfe Ot 400 armed police- ' men, backed by soldiers, raided KwaMadaja hostel last night and found large number* of spears and machetes, but made no arrests.

,________ . _ i

A woman in Boipatong grieves by flic body of a baby, one <

June 19, 1992

To: Ransdel1 (Jo’burg)

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BOIPATONG, SOUTH AFRICA

First, the door was kicked in. Then five men armed with spears and machetes barged into the tiny bedroom where Tselane

Dlaraini and four relatives were sleeping. **We are Inkatha and

today you will die,'' one man announced in Zulu as he drove his spear through Tselane's right thigh. "There's no men in this

house; it's only women,’' protested Tselane’s grandmother, who tried to hide under a bed. '‘Please stop killing us.11 An

attacker answered the old woman by plunging a spear into her back

three times. Tselane’s 21-year-old daughter, Maria, was hacked to death clutching her two-montb-old baby.

One day after the 16th anniversary of the massacre of

Soweto’s schoolchildren, 39 blacks, most of them women and

children, were slaughtered in a four-hour killing spree in this black township in the industrial Vaal Triangle south of

Johannesburg. With negotiations deadlocked over a transition to

multiracial rule, the massacre fueled hostilities between Nelson

Mandela’s African National Congress and President F.W. de Klerk’s government. We charge de Klerk and his government with

complicity in the slaughter,’1 declared Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC

secretary general. According to witnesses, some 200 members of~~1 Restoevrr Inkatha, a Zulu-dominated group that controls a nearby workers * ftocc'Ut-OT hostel, attacked Boipatong with the help of police and white

gunmen. Residents reported seeing Inkatha warriors arrive in a

police bus and armored personnel carriers_a claim a police " spokesman dismissed as " ludicrous. ’ ’ /

But Martha Hlengete, weeping over her cousin's corpse,

insisted she " s a w white skin." Five men burst through her door, j^rueacshe said, including four black Zulu speakers with spears and ’

machetes and a hooded, Afrikans-speaking white man with a gun.

The men shot and stabbed her cousin, then killed his 21-year-oldson. They left, ransacking her house and screaming "Dogs! Dogs!Dogs! * '

Like most townships in the turbulent Vaal Triangle,Boipatong is an ANC stronghold. Graffitti on a wall at a township 'entrance reads: "Welcome to Cuba." Since 1990, when Inkatha

forcibly took over many hostels in the region, the Vaal has been ,KJV/auyQvvwtorn by bloody conflict. Though police deny partiality. Amnesty

International claims police and hooded white men assisted Inkathaduring two similar attacks on Vaal townships in the paBt two Iyears.

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The scene here the day after the massacre was a nightmare

vision of what awaits South Africa unless the government and the ANC nuitjkiy cviue to terms. i?angs or ANC-supporting comrades

carried Molotov cocktails through the str««ts. Police firedteargas and buckshot into crowds. Blocks away, 300 Inkatha

supporters armed with guns, spears and axes formed a war party in

an abortive attempt to march through the township. Meanwhile, the women of Boipatong tearfully scrubbed the blood from their

shattered houses. In the words of the old African saying, when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.ERIC RANSDELL

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ki£w York Times16 T U M & I S 9 2

Hacks Die in South Africa Township MassacreBy BILL KELLER

I to The New York Times

B O IPA T O N G , South Africa, June 18 M o b s o f armed attackers shot and

^hacked tneir way through this black Jownship! and an adjoining squatter camp on 'Wednesday night, leaving at least 39 people dead and delivering a jolt to negotiations on South Africa’s political future.

Witnesses said today that the at­tackers were Zulu-speaking men who were brought to the scene and assisted in the seemingly random massacre by the South African Police. The police

repeatedly denied Involvement.The victims, in what was one of the

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largest township massacres ever car­ried out, Included a nine-month-old child impaled through the head and found lying in the arms of his dead mother, a pregnant woman riddled with gunshot and knife wounds and several elderly men and women shot or axed as they tried to flee their homes.

Dozens more were wounded, Includ­ing eight children who lingered in criti­cal condition tonight In the wards of SeboKteng Hospital.

After touring Boipatong. 35 miles

JEWISH WOMEN,-GIRLS REMEMBER TO UCHT Sh*bfa«t tin d U i th lt evening minuu* b*fort aunMt- bt NYC H I P.M. Ouukta NYC 1-800SABBATH. Info 7l*-TT4-»». - ADVT.

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»• Isouth of Johannesburg, and Slovo Park, the squatter settlement, Cyril Rama phosa, the secretary general of the African National Congress, told report­ers this afternoon, "We have never seen an incident as horrific as the one we have witnessed here.

"We charge de Klerk and his Gov­ernment with complicity in the slaugh- 5 ter that has taken place in this area,” * Mr. Ramaphosa said, referring to President F. W. de Klerk. He added that the incident "could very well lead to the negotiating process being de-

Continued on Page A7. Column 1 '

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39 IN SOUTH AFRICA 'M IN A MASSACRE*»m

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railed."- ’The congress is the Government’s principle negotiating partner in talks aimed at creating a transition goera- mem to draw up a new constitution and J'fion-r&cial political system. The con­gress announced on Tuesday a cam-' pqign of rallies and strikes aimed at Ijseaking an impasse in the talks and sjfeeding enfranchisement of the coun­try's black majority. . v . | * Mr. Ramaphosa suggested that the police, together with allies from the Conservative Zulu-based Inkatha Free- <kjm Party, had sponsored the massa- <&e, hoping to spread terror through

I tht townships and discredit the con­gress’s protest campaign. Inkatha de-

c n ie d any involvement.r ' -vIn turn, Capt. Craig Koue, a spokes-

' man for the Ministry of Law and Order, charged that the African National Con­gress’s "mass action" campaign "un-

i doubtediy created a climate tn which it I is easier for such incidents to take [■place." 1

President de JOerk issued a state­ment expressing “shock and revul sion" at the "mindless killings.”.

Residents of the township told the poUce and reporters,that thekniings were carried outjprtmarily by.'about

-200 men from the K w am a*a Hostelj a barracks workers

- ’that is a stronghold ol lnkathar They said the assailants spoke Zulu,-and some shouted Inkatha slogans. '

' ”l' Rivalry Among Blacks ^.-"'.Inkatha, a fierce political rival of the African National Congress, has Often /been accused of collaborating with po­lice in township wars. The Government Jias admitted providing secret .flnan- ,cial assistance to Inkatha to the past, /but denies using the organization as a ^surrogate in township violence. ~ ; / t ,* inkatha issued a statement tonight

/ disavowing any role in the m assacre.' / - Many witnesses today said they saw

police vehicles bringing Zulus into Boi­patong and Slovo Camp, and some said they saw white men in police^uniforms firing Into fleeing crowds."fn .Witnesses said the attackearaefp3m several directions, beginning at ’about 8 P,M. with assaults on the neat br)ck homes of Boipatong, arid resuming lat- er.with a siege of Slovo Park. ... , _

Witness Reports Police Fire - ;S - ^Imon Moloi. a 35-year-old taxi driv­

er, said heltnd his pregnant wife were ' roused from their corrugated shack In \ Slovo Park shortly before 10 P.M- by

M c l c \ shouts. He pointed to a clearing lessthan 100 feet off, where he said' he

CfbU-<U; Watched four or five irmored policeIkjvdujci^ ^ ^ t) transports and a yellow police bus un­

loading scores of Zulu jPfeni . r. - v ’-vr*! - A stheZ ulu ir sweprW l^Uw « t u ?

ment, rampaging from house to'house, j Mr. Moloi said, uniformed police fired | at fleeing residents.

I U T 3

(O n J - )Mr. Moloi said he and his 28-year-old

wife, Maria, were separated in the pan­ic He found her at dawn around the corner from his shanty, killed by two bqjlets and many cuts, nestled along­side the corpse of an old man. Nearby, neighbors found nine-month-old Aaron Mathope and his mother. Rebecca, bo]h dead of stab wounds.

Mr. MoJai’s account of the police role' w^s corroborated by several others who said they saw the attacks begin.”

•Jbe taxi driver said he was “in favor oflhe A.N.C.,’’ but stared in incompre­hension when asked if he could think of a possible motive for the assault.

Killed With Guns and Knives^ few blocks away in her ransacked Ti

brick bungalow at the comer of Lekoa antf Moshoeshoe Streets, Martha Hie- * (a/ io-aess. hlethe, 64, said four Zulus ted by a wljjtePman smashed their way into her Sho«se and killed two visiting cousins.

$ne of the men, Benjamin Mosoetse,49,«was still sprawled near his toppled armchair In a puddle of dried blood whien reporters arrived late this morn­ing His body showed both gunshot wounds and cuts. His son Samuel, 23, died en route to the hospital, Mrs. Hle- hlelhe said. *•

Residents said rumors of an attack ha<J been circulating for two days, and teen-agers were patrolling the town­ship streets last night in anticipation of trouble. They said police fired tear gas an$ pellets to clear the streets before the§rampage began. ' —

37-year-old..clerical workerj.who gave his name only as Bennett said he wajthed from his window as a police armored vehicle helped to smash an o p tin g Into the house across the street. j

/jt the hospital In Sebokeng, survi­vor? could add few details. None of those who were conscious could de­scribe the attackers’ arrival' t^jtbe township of provide evidence oTpollce corflpliclty.•;jJSV vr*j£;, :

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e African National Congress said after a survey of residents.(hat the de&h toll was over- Bven using the police figure 'of 39

corjirmed dead, R was the worst single spasm of township violence at least sinje January 1991,'w hen’attackers killed at least 38 nroUrners hbkllng a funlral vigil for a fallen potitical.com-. rade in S eb ok en g .~^ *ii^ 't« t# -' *i : qur while the Sebokeng Icfllings were aimed at political rivals, the’brutality on Wednesday In Boipatong had an indiscriminate quality that has become typical of township violence. Relatives and survivors said many victims had no'political affiliation. Some were members of evangelical ' Christian sects, that prohibit political Involve- ment. • - •* - v

The African National Congress and its illies say this randomness confirms their theory of a state-sponsored terror campaign aimed at .undermining re

r-spect for black Ieader3 .~*jSr?~ri i ''’r-‘' ” ‘ "JThe design is to create'an atmos­

phere in which this regime can contin­ue {o remain in power,” charged Joe Slovo, chairman of the South African Communist Party, in whose honor the Slovo Park squatter camp was named by its residents.

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Collection Number: AK2672 Goldstone Commission BOIPATONG ENQUIRY Records 1990-1999 PUBLISHER: Publisher:- Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand Location:- Johannesburg ©2012

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