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High Court of South Africa IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA GAUTENG LOCAL DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG CASE NO: 445/2019 DATE: 2020-01-29 FORMAL INQUEST in terms of section 5 of the Inquest Act 58 of 1999 into the death of the late DR NEIL HUDSON AGGETT BEFORE THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE MAKUME ON BEHALF OF THE STATE : ADV J MLOTSHWA : ADV S SINGH ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILY : ADV H VARNEY : ADV SCOTT : ADV FAKIR ON BEHALF OF SAPS : ADV F COETZEE [Previous SAPS] ON BEHALF OF SAPS : ADV M AMOJEE [Current SAPS] INTERPRETERS : MS X HEGENI 537 KENSON STREET | CONSTANTIA PARK | PRETORIA P.O BOX 32917 | GLENSTANTIA | 0100 Tel : 012 993 1335 | Cell: +27784987479 | Fax : 086 601 5996 Email: [email protected] | [email protected] Website: www.veritastranscribing.co.za 1 RECORD PROCEEDINGS ON 29 JANUARY 2020 [09:28] COURT CLERK: Now it is the matter of the Inquest of the late Doctor Neil Hudson Aggett, case number 445/2019. COURT: Thank you. Yes, before we, we proceed, you recall that yesterday I had indicated my unavailability for tomorrow afternoon from two o’clock. The position has changed, I am now available, the program has been re-arranged, so please, you can do your arrangements as if I am available for tomorrow in the afternoon. I will cancel. 10 MR VARNEY: Noted sir, duly, thank you. COURT: Thank you. MR VARNEY: M'Lord, before we commence with our witness for today, I have undertaken to keep the Court appraised as to our efforts in tracing the balance of the first Inquest record. COURT: Yes. MR VARNEY: We have a small bit of good news. We received confirmation from the archival department from the University of Sussex in England that they, in fact, do have what appears to be an original copy of the B(2) folder. M'Lord, 20 we have asked them to, as quickly as they can digitize that document and to send to us. And then either to make arrangements to courier to original or to certify a true copy to us as soon as possible. Because, as soon as we get the digitized copy, we will circulate those, pending the delivery of the original, or a certified true copy. 445/2019_29.01.2020-db /... 2 DISCUSSION COURT: Well this was good information, thank you very much, yes. MR VARNEY: M'Lord, I have indicated that we were going to hand up a few exhibits dealing with the interesting career of Brigadier Rooirus Swanepoel. COURT: Yes. MR VARNEY: In fact, we will be dealing with that either later today or in due course. But we thought it might be helpful M'Lord, to hand up to you the calendars for December 1981 as 10 well as January and February 1982. And M'Lord, according to our records, we can then mark that EXHIBIT G(12). COURT: G(12). MR VARNEY: And we do have copies for our colleagues as well to hand out. COURT: This is the calendar for 1981, okay, yes. what did you mark it? MR VARNEY: G(12), M'Lord. COURT: ANNEXURE G(12). Okay, thank you. MR VARNEY: M'Lord, the other exhibits we intend to hand up 20 this morning are connected to our next witness, who is Barbara Anne Hogan, so perhaps with the leave of the Court, we can call her now and she can confirm these exhibits before we hand them up? COURT: Thank you, Ms Hogan? MR VARNEY: Barbara Anne Hogan. 445/2019_29.01.2020-db /... MR VARNEY 3 B A HOGAN BARBARA ANNE HOGAN: duly sworn states COURT: Thank you, yes, you may be seated, Ms Hogan. EXAMINATION BY MR VARNEY: Ms Hogan, firstly, I would express my appreciation for you taking the time out to appear in Court today, we also appreciate the fact that you have come up from Cape Town in order to assist us. And, certainly from the side of the Aggett family, we understand that giving evidence in this matter cannot be an easy experience for you, and as you are aware, we will at times, be asking you to 10 recount some of your experiences and we understand that some of the experiences were quite traumatic, that you endured in Security Branch detention. And should you, at any point in time feel the need to take a break and to catch your breath, certainly indicate that to the Court. COURT: Yes. MR VARNEY: Mm, M'Lord, we are now going to deal with the affidavit of the witness, Barbara Anne Hogan. Ms Hogan, do you have a copy of your affidavit that you signed on 28 January 2020, with you? 20 MS HOGAN: Yes, I do. MR VARNEY: And do you confirm that this is your affidavit which you signed and attested? COURT: Does the Court have a copy? MR VARNEY: M'Lord, I beg your pardon, I should have handed it up before. 445/2019_29.01.2020-db /... MR VARNEY 4 B A HOGAN COURT: I do not have a copy of it. MR VARNEY: So, with the leave of the Court, let me hand up the original affidavit of Barbara Anne Hogan, M'Lord, we will mark that as G(13). COURT: Thank you. MR VARNEY: And Ms Hogan, do you confirm that this is your affidavit that you made out? MS HOGAN: Yes, it is. MR VARNEY: Thank you. 10 MR VARNEY: Now, in your affidavit Ms Hogan, you also make reference to other affidavits. Let us describe the first one, you make reference to two affidavits that featured as exhibits in the firs inquest. One affidavit is signed, and the other affidavit is unsigned. Dealing first with the signed affidavit, so Paragraph 5 of your recent affidavit, you make reference to the affidavit you signed on 22 February 1982, and that was put up as an exhibit in the first inquest, it was marked B(4.2.1), and you also make reference to a previous version of that affidavit which was unsigned, but nonetheless featured as an exhibit, 20 and it was marked B(3.1.3). And somewhat later, in your evidence, you then make reference to yet a further exhibit, which is titled the Close Comrades List, and that featured in the first inquest as an exhibit marked B(3.5.21). Just to assist M'Lord, we have made copies for the Court so that you do not have to scramble around amongst your record, and with the 445/2019_29.01.2020-db /... MR VARNEY 5 B A HOGAN leave of the Court I will hand these up. COURT: Thank you. MR VARNEY: The witness does have her own copy and the parties of course, will have their copies. We are just going to mark them quickly. And with the leave of the Court, we will hand up these copies bearing the signed affidavit and the unsigned affidavit and the Close Comrades List, which appeared in the first inquest, thank you. To the Court, Ms Hogan, can I confirm that you have copies? 10 MS HOGAN: Just the Close Comrades one I do not have copies here with me. MR VARNEY: So, the only, you do not have a copy of the closed Comrade ...[intervenes]. MS HOGAN: Yes, I have got sorry, it is not attached anywhere. MR VARNEY: Yes, we do have a copy for you. MS HOGAN: Thank you. COURT: So, are we going to retain the original exhibit descriptions? 20 MR VARNEY: Yes, M'Lord, since those are already exhibits in the first inquest. COURT: Yes. MR VARNEY: We can just retain those exhibit numbers without having to re-number. COURT: Okay. Yes. 445/2019_29.01.2020-db /... MR VARNEY 6 B A HOGAN MR VARNEY: Ms Hogan, perhaps if I can refer you to the section of your affidavit where you deal with your own background and history, an d I think it will be very useful for this Court to hear about yourself, when and where you were born, the education that you received, and then we will commence with your early political career. But perhaps you can give the Court some of the highlights of your early life. MS HOGAN: Okay. I was born in Benoni and schooled there. I went to University in 1970, got BA Honours in Development 10 Studies there. Later enrolled for a master’s degree looking at unemployment in South-Africa. I became involved at a very early stage, this was in the early 70’s at the height of the power of apartheid, in student protest movements against the government. I was arrested for the first time when I was 18 years old, and later on, I became part of a group of students who established a workers’ advice office for black workers, called the Industrial Aids Society. M'Lord, you would recall that, at that stage, in the early 70’s, there was virtually no independent black trade union movement whosoever. FOSATU 20 did not exist, the FOSATU unions did not exist, and so, out of that Industrial Aids Society which assisted black workers in their day-to-day problems that they had at the workplace, emerges two of the most powerful FOSATU unions, the Metal and Allied Workers’ Union and the Transport and General Workers’ Union. 445/2019_29.01.2020-db /... MR VARNEY 7 B A HOGAN COURT: Mm. MR VARNEY: Mm, I also during the 76, during uprisings in Soweto, I also assisted with a group of others in preparing pamphlets for the SS, I was there at the time.
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