Boipatong 20 June 1992 (Sub Titled WATCHING the PROTECTORS at WORK!) Audrey, Shelagh Mary, Marie, Ollie and Rob Went to the Vaal on the 20 June
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Boipatong 20 June 1992 (sub titled WATCHING THE PROTECTORS AT WORK!) Audrey, Shelagh Mary, Marie, Ollie and Rob went to the Vaal on the 20 June. We first went to Vereeniging to pick up a contact, Steve. We then went to Bophelong, there we left Rob and Ollie, and the rest of us went to Boipatong with Steve. We drove into the township looking for our contacts. It was then decided to go back to Amatola Street, which faces the factories/industries eg Cape Gate. While driving up we met hundreds of people with cardboard posters and paper posters condemning de Klerk’s approaching visit. There were many PAC people visible in their T-shirts and holding PAC banners. When we got to Amatola Street there were many people milling around. A woman Elizabeth, tried to get people to give us statements. She did this in a very rough way and actually frightened people. We told her to "cool it". While speaking to people we found that some of them were very reluctant to give us a story (fear), others would tell us a story but not surrender their names. While we were talking to some people I saw Casspirs and Nyalas come tearing out from the township along the road that faces Cape Gate. Behind the casspirs and Nyalas came a whitish car, then a veiy official black car, followed by another whitish car and then some more casspirs and Nyalas. There goes de Klerk I said (12.30 pm). The people with their placards and banners came closely behind the exiting speedy procession. The people had chased de Klerk out of Boipatong. Meanwhile casspirs and nyalas had assembled together and armed men in the brown uniforms formed a line in front of the singing dancing people. The people shouted abuse at the police, like.... get out you murderers....one bullet one settler etc. A few stones (heard the sounds) were thrown at the vehicles. It looked as if there would be a confrontation. After a while I saw Benny Alexander call the people. He spoke to them and then they let the casspirs through into the township. It was as this was happening that we got the news that the police had killed a child near the Stadium. All, on hearing this, moved off to the other side of the township. We got into the car and also went in that direction. On the way we made an appointment to come back and interview someone. We got to what seemed to be a soccer field, we saw that the casspirs and nyalas had assembled in a circle with armed men on the field next to the cleared ground. We had been told that a child had been shot and was in Hippo No 7. People were saying Hippo No 7 did the shooting. We walked close to the men with guns and then slipped through their guard. Audrey and I made our way towards the centre where three police were trying to keep a man away and some members of the press and us. When we got near I could see that the body was that of an adult male. TTie corpse was lying very straight on the back. We left the inner circle and went back to where the people were assembled in a semi circle looking in and demanding to know who it was that lay in the centre. The more they asked and shouted their demands the less the police tried to help. We told the people round about us that it was a male adult. A young PAC man, whom I had encountered earlier on, came to me and said there was a woman who had been able to see something of what happened earlier on. He brought her to me, she told the following: I saw two young people (one tall and the other like a 12 year old) running across the field behind a yellow hippo, No 7. It turned around and I heard "Staan, ek sal jou skiet". I heard shots saw one ran away and then could not see clearly. We then decided that we had better go and take some statements. As I was walking along between the people, a man stopped me and said "we must go they are going to kill again". His face was very fearful and his whole being felt what he was saying. I mentioned this to Audrey. We left and after taking a few statements we went back to "Slovo Park" to meet Ollie and Rob as we had arranged. When we got there, people were all excited and talking and we heard that the police had opened fire and had killed and injured people. People all spoke together and what I heard was, that when the mortuary car came and the stretcher was brought out the people got more demanding in wanting to know the identity of the dead person. During the shooting one of the armed men was heard to say "Who told you to shot." A name had been given - Capt H Le Roux. We then continued to take statements from some people in "Joe Slovo Park". We then returned to Johannesburg. BOIPATONG 21 JUNE 1992 When we arrived in Boipatong we came upon the Nelson Mandela procession going around the township. The people were singing: We and the land are bleeding and dying and you act like a lamb. We joined the crowd and went to a soccer field, where we heard Mr Sotsu give an explanation of the happenings of the 20 June. Mr Sotsu read out the names of the dead. Mandela then addressed the crowd of ± 20 000 expressing sympathy and a promise of action. The crowd and Mandela’s group left for Zone 7 Sebokeng to hold a rally there. STATEMENTS FROM BOIPATONG Taken on 21 June 1992 \1 SEIPATI MBATHA 131 JOE SLOVO PARK My father Mr Mbatha was killed. I was asleep and my mother woke me up. She said that we must get out as it is bad outside. My mother took the baby, my younger sister on her back. I said "I’m not going out" but my mother insisted and she went out alone with the baby. I saw that my mother turned back and she was knocking on the door of the next shack, No 133. I saw a man in a dark blue overall and a sport cap running after my mother and then I heard him start to stab her and the baby. My father went out to see and spoke to the man and said "OK Com, its alright" (meaning its enough). Then this man started hacking my father. There was no verbal reply from this attacker. After a while I went out to my father and the same man came running back towards me, and I returned into the house. The man left. My mother had managed to crawl back into house 133. After that my father could not be found. Next morning my father was found in the veld with bullet wounds and he as dead. My baby sister was taken to hospital and is in Ward 1, Sebokeng Hospital. JOHANNES MBATHA NO 8 JOE SLOVO PARK I am the younger brother of Mr Mbatha (deceased). In our house we were sleeping and woke up because we heard breaking of our windows. I looked out and saw 3 groups of men. One group was busy hitting the shacks (they had white head bands and white bands on their arms), they saw me and attacked the house saying "Get out Mandela’s dogs", they seemed to move off. I peeped through a hole in the wall of the shack and saw a group of men wearing mid-thigh dark lumber jackets. It seemed the head was covered I could not see their faces. The men with the white bands saw me and told (in Zulu) the men with the jackets that this house must be attended to, "all in this house must be killed". The men with the jackets surrounded the house while the others broke the door. They came in it was dark. My wife hid under the bed and I hid behind a cupboard. They called for matches and looking around they saw my wife. "Mgwaze" (stab) they said. They proceeded to stab my wife. They went to the cupboard and tried to open it. I held very tight on the back of the cupboard so they would not find me. They took the radio and some clothes and then left. After ±15 minutes I came out from the cupboard and went to look at my wife to see how she was. I pulled her out from under the bed and she screamed for help. I went next door and as I was going I saw the men (attackers) going to two (2) hippos (camouflage). The men entered these hippos. The indicator lights of the hippos were going on and off like making signals for the men. I went to ask a neighbour to phone the ambulance. It was some local place and they said the ambulance was not available as it had gone to fetch some drunks. We phoned the Sebokeng Hospital. The ambulance came very quickly and then the hippos moved off. I helped my wife into the ambulance and got in also. We watched the hippos going in the direction of the Kwa Madala hostel as we drove to the Sebokeng Hospital. My wife Pauline Mbatha is in Ward 18.