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TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
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TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

UWC HEARING - DAY 1 - MONDAY 5 AUGUST 1996



CASE NO:&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;CT/00739

VICTIM:&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;ABRAHAM THANDUXOLO CINGO

NATURE OF VIOLENCE:&#9;&#9;SHOOTING AND ASSAULT BY POLICE

TESTIMONY FROM:&#9;&#9;ABRAHAM THANDUXOLO CINGO



CHAIRPERSON: ... the gun, tell us what happened to you and as we have listened this morning, we have been reminded of how many young people and how many school children were involved in the whole struggle and the whole conflict. But before you tell us that story, will you please stand to take the oath.

ABRAHAM THANDUXOLO CINGO&#9;&#9;Duly sworn states

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, thank you, will you be seated please. Mr Cingo Dr Wendy Orr is going to assist you in the telling of your story. I just remind you and all of us that it's your story and that she is there to assist you. Thank you very much, Wendy.

DR ORR: Thank you. I'd like to repeat Dr Boraine's words of welcome and thanks to you for being here today. To start off with can you just tell us a little bit about yourself. Where do you live, are you married, what work do you do. --- My name I Abraham Thanduxolo Cingo, living in Khayelitsha in TR.

&#9;Are you - do you have a family, are you employed at the moment? --- I have three children and I stay with them, with their mother, but I am not working there - at the moment. I just live on asking from my mother. 

&#9;You are going to tell us about an incident in February 1986. How old were you then? --- I was 17 years old.

&#9;And you were a pupil at a school in Khayelitsha is that correct? --- Yes I was a pupil there.

&#9;Can you tell us what happened on that day? --- Yes I can. &#9;Just relax and take your time. --- On this particular day I was shot on my way to school, it was during short break at school and the time was quarter past ten. So I was going to school, I heard - I felt some shots and I didn't know where they were coming from and who was firing them. I just jumped into the nearest yard and I covered myself with blankets on a bed in that house. Three people came following me, they were being chased I think by those white men who had shot me. One of the people hid under the bed, the other one behind the door, then the third one stood next to the bed as I was covering myself with blankets. So these whites came in, one was Leon le Roux and Sergeant Garreth. They were dressed in overalls with the council grey and they had some head covering. They did not know that I was there, there were - they did not know that I was the one who had been shot, they were just aware that there were three others. Because I was scared, I was panting a lot, that is when they were attracted. And they uncovered the blanket and they handcuffed me. And they took me to a van that they were driving which was outside. They drove to the police station, where we were beaten up, the whole day by the policemen. When our parents came to find out where we were, were told they that had - they sent us to Mitchell's Plain whereas that was not the truth, they were keeping us and beating us all the time. Later at about - a little after six, when they were going off duty they took me to -with intention to take me to a hospital, because they were leaving in Parow in Tygerberg, so they were going to take me to a police - to a hospital. Blood was coming out of my ears and my whole body was covered with blood. Then I was taken to the Tygerberg Hospital and this hospital, this policeman were in a hurry, because they were going off duty. Then they asked that the bullets should not be taken out of my body, instead I should just bandaged. They insisted, the nurses insisted but these policeman refused because they were in a hurry, they even said that I should not be admitted and spent the night in the hospital. They wanted to take me to a cell. Yes they put Betadine on and bandaged me and they threw me into the back of a van and took me to a cell where I spent two days. On the third day I was taken to appear in Court. This Court was in Langa township, which was there long before, long ago. The witnesses -we were - there were four of us who were arrested and we had a lot of witnesses, the Court use to be full to the brim, and this people use to be very angry because we had been shot and we were innocent. So the Magistrate kept on postponing the case until the witnesses got tired and they wouldn't want to go to Court. So the Court was moved to Wynberg, that is where we were, we were imprisoned for five years.

&#9;I'd just like to ask you a few questions to help me understand what was happening in Khayelitsha at that time and what happened to you on that particular day. What was the situation in Khayelitsha, was there unrest, was there rioting? --- Yes, there was some struggle but people were not being beaten, it's only that the truck drivers were being forbidden from getting into Khayelitsha because the people, the residence of Khayelitsha did not want the truck belonging to whites to get into the township. 

&#9;And you said that when the police came looking for you when you were hiding in that house, they weren't in police uniform, they were in - it appeared as if they were trying to disguise themselves, is that correct? --- It is true, that is true.

&#9;You were then arrested when they found that you'd been shot, they arrested you, because you were shot. They believed that because you had been shot, you must of been participating in the riots? --- That's right.

&#9;And then they kept you at the police station for the whole day before they took you to the hospital even though you had been injured? --- That's right.

&#9;Were any of the police ever charged for the injuries that they caused you? --- They use to negotiate together with the Magistrate's and then the people who were found to be guilty was only us, other wise they were not laid, no charge was laid on them.

&#9;At the hospital you say that you saw a nurse, did you ever see a doctor at Tygerberg Hospital? --- No doctor attended to me, it's only nurses who attended to me, they bandaged me, they bandaged me because the policeman were in a hurry.

&#9;And in spite of the fact that the nurse felt that you should be sleeping in the hospital, staying over in the hospital, the police took you back to the cells. Is that correct? --- Yes, it's like that.

&#9;Where were you injured on what parts of your body were you injured? --- My whole body was injured on the - on the back there was some wounds, bullet wounds. And even on my legs.

&#9;How had that incident affected your life, do you still suffer from any effects of those injuries or from what happened that day? --- Yes it's like that. I am very uncomfortable.

&#9;Can you tell us a little bit more, do you mean that you're in pain. What has the injuries done to you? --- I am limping now and this bullets cannot be taken out because they are there within the tendons and when I walk, I walk with difficulty even when I hit against something I feel a pain. It becomes very painful even my ear too it oozes at times because that time blood came out of my ear.

&#9;Thank you, I have no further questions.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Dr Orr, are there any further questions. Mr Cingo we have listened very carefully to your story and you are one of many who were caught up in the conflict which gripped our whole country for a very long time. And as I said earlier, one of the group of people who suffered more than many others were children and young people. Who - many of whom decided that they had to take a stand against what was happening in the country if they were had to have any kind of future at all. it was a very costly decision that was taken, and you still have problems. You have asked if we can assist, we will certainly try and do what we can. We want to thank you very specially for coming to today. We realize that this not an easy decision to come to the Commission. We will go back into the records and see what we can discover, but we are grateful to you and we wish and hope that the injuries that you suffered are not going to affect you as much as they have in the past. Thank you very much indeed for coming today.



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