&#9;TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

&#9;UWC HEARING - DAY 2 - TUESDAY 6 AUGUST 1996



CASE NO:&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;CT/00853

VICTIM:&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;LLEWELLYN NEIL CORNELIUS LINKS

NATURE OF VIOLENCE:&#9;&#9;SHOT BY POLICE

TESTIMONY FROM:&#9;&#9;LLEWELLYN NEIL CORNELIUS LINKS



LLEWELLYN NEIL CORNELIUS LINKS&#9;Duly sworn states

COMMISSIONER: Thank you very much you may be seated. Dr Orr is going to lead you in your evidence, and I now hand over to her.

DR ORR: Thank you Denzil, good morning Llewellyn welcome. As I said to you on Sunday what happens here today is about you and your story. But before you tell us what happened you in 1989 I just want to read a brief note from our research department so that the audience can understand the context and the circumstances that were prevailing at that time. The last white elections for the tricameral parliament on 6 September 1989 sparked off nationwide protests, demonstrations and violence. During these days about 25 people were shot dead and hunderds were injured. Violent clashes between activist and police commenced serveral days before the elections. By the 3rd of September about 1000 people had been arrested. Police did not confirm the number of dead and injured. Llewelly was shot during these events. Llewellyn before you tell us what happened in 1989 can you just tell us a little bit about yourself, how old you are, do you have a family, where do you live. --- Yes Wendy I am 25 years old, I was born in Ravensmead and I have two children, and at the time of the incident I was living in Belhar.

&#9;Thank you, can you now go on to tell us what happened that evening, the 5th of September 1989. --- It was approximately three o'clock and I was on my way to work from Belhar. But I had noticed that there weren't any taxi's in Parow thus I was forced to take a taxi as far as Modderdam station, hence I took an Elsies River taxi until - as far as Modderdom and from Modderdam I walked down De La Rey Road. When I got to the corner of - where Pep Stores is in Uitsig, I observed that it was rather busy in the road, and the road had been blocked with stones and - the first thing that crossed my mind was is it what I think it is, and as I carried on walking, my suspicions were confirmed and I noted these groups of people that were standing around in the road. And throwing stones towards the vehicles that were passing. When I got to Ravensead High School I was facing the groups that were throwing the stones and I decided to change my direction and move from the left side of the road to the right hand side so that I could walk through the group. One of the people in the group recognised me and asked me if I was on my way to work, which I answered yes, he then said go well Llewellyn. When I got to the corner of Hennie Fortuin Road, one of the people asked me for a cigarette. I gave the person the cigarette, and when I turned facing De La Rey Road, two policeman came to remove the branches that were in the middle of the road and both of them had shotguns. The one started shooting and I felt something like a wind and something like pebbles striking my skin and one of them struck my eye. I turned around and starting running away, but I ran into the railing in the road and fell, and two people helped me get up and ran away with me. And during that movement the other policeman also just started shooting. These two people ran and took me to the nearest house and the people in the house then proceeded to clean my face and cleaned the blood off my face. The one person by then name of Toy Muller, Toy Muller's daughter I am not sure what here name is but she said that it seemed as if the birdshot is in your eye, and I then said no it's probably just on top, and she said no it's in your eye. From that moment onwards I do not know what happened around me, all that I do remember is that they said that someone should call an ambulance and I regained consciousness in hospital after that. And I was in a state of semi consciousness when they asked me for my name. One of them recognised me and gave my name at the hospital. Thereafter they admitted me at the casualty unit where a doctor diagnosed that the bird shot had penetrated my eye and had damaged my cornea. The doctor asked me if he should remove my eye or if I - I said no, and wanted to know if it was not possible that he could just clean it and just try and repair the damaged parts. His response was that it was possible. I was in hospital for about a month and two weeks after I was discharged, and up and until the beginning of January 1990, I had to continue visiting the hospital. And I had to go back but due to financial constrains I could not continue going to the hospital. I then went back to work, but due to the injury that I had sustained I could not at that stage do my work efficiently enough. I was working at a dye house and the heat was affecting my eye and I was then forced to resign due to my injury, that is all thank you.

&#9;Can I just take you back to that evening when you were shot, did the police give any warning beforehand, did they say we give you three minutes to disperse or we'll shoot, or did they just shoot? --- No not according to what I can remember.

&#9;And now what is your vision like in that eye that was damaged, can you see anything out of it? --- I would say I have 20% vision, I cannot see any colors, all I can see is - are forms for example dark colors like blue and that's about all, black and blue.

&#9;Are you working at the moment? --- No.

&#9;Thank you Llewellyn I have no further questions, I a going to hand over to the chairperson. ---- Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, any further questions, Glenda Wildschut.

MS WILDSCHUT: Llewellyn can I just ask you about the work that you were - where you were working before, did they at work perhaps offer to put you into another position at work so that you can - so that you are able to continue working at the firm even though your eye was hurt? --- No - no Glenda.

&#9;Did you ever make that request at work that they could put you in another position so that you're able to stay with the company? --- I did ask at that stage, I asked my supervisor but he - his response to me was no it is not possible, and I then felt that I had to resign.

&#9;Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Denzil Potgieter.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you Chairperson, Llewellyn firstly did you consult an attorney in connection with instituting a claim? --- I did approach the union, SACTO, and they referred me to a attorney in Bellville-South, but this attorney referred me to another one in Retreat. And when I got to Retreat, I did not - I couldn't find the building in which the lawyer was housed or the address which they gave me I couldn't find. So I just thought that it just wasn't worth it any more.

&#9;So you didn't received any compensation whatsoever? --- No.

&#9;If I understand your evidence correctly then you were basically on your way to work, you didn't have anything to do with these incidents, which were taking place in the streets at that stage, is that correct? --- Yes.

&#9;And then you were shot and at the moment you are suffering the consequences thereof as you'd told us about your eye. How do you feel - what is your feeling towards the police and how do you feel about this incident? --- Well after the operation in hospital it felt as though something had been taken away from me and at that stage I even considered suicide. I was contemplating suicide and a nurse by the name of Linda Amen, became a good friend of mine and she helped me through the emotional pain, I can say she carried me through the emotional pain. The other side is that at that stage and up until 1994, I hated the police force and the policeman that did this to me. But I - afterwards I said to myself that is it the person, or the policeman because even though it was the person that had done this, he was carrying out orders from a higher authority. And it happened in the apartheid era, so I just thought to myself Llewellyn you have to live with it.

&#9;So if I understand you correctly you are saying that blame the system more than the individual who pulled the trigger and caused the damage to your eye? --- I would say Denzil that the system and the person who pulled the trigger at the time, I blame both because if the person that had pulled the trigger was a bit more careful, wasn't a bit more careful, more innocent people would have suffered.

&#9;What was your health like before this incident? --- I was healthy, I could see with both my eyes.

&#9;And you had a permanent job? --- Yes.

&#9;And you say at the moment you are unemployed what - why is that? --- There were a few problems of the past year, the place where I worked at the time of the incident was Meritex, and because the nature of my job was such that the heat in the factory affected my eye and I simply had to resign because of that. Afterwards I worked for a community developed organization up until 1995. And due to financial constrains the organization collapsed and although I am matriculated I could not study further to achieve my ideals as a technician.

&#9;You are still very young, do you have any request that you would like to lodge to us as a Commission? --- Yes, if it is at all possible there are possibilities that someone who's cornea is damaged can be repaired. And if it is possible that I would like to ask that I - it be made possible for me to undergo such an operation so that I can regain my vision 100% in order to pursue my goals in life.

&#9;We take congnisance thereof, fortunately we do have the necessary expertise in order to decide upon that. Is there anything else? --- No.

&#9;Thank you very much Mr Links, thank you Chairperson. --- Okay.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, we appreciated the fact that you have come here to come and give your evidence and I think what surprises most of us is that people who have experienced terrible - had terrible experiences still show that humanity and it is amazing that people can still laugh and be human in spite of having experienced all these terrible experiences. And we just want to say thank you to people like yourself, mostly the youth in our land, for the contribution which they made towards the freedom of our country. Perhaps if we can always remember the cost - the price which had to be paid for this freedom, if we can remember what this freedom cost us, then it would not be possible to just let it go that easily. One of the aspects that we've been aware of as many people would be aware of has been the randomness of some of these violations, many of these violations earlier Mary Burton asked one of the witnesses were you - did they in fact deliberately set out after you or did - did it happen because you were the first black person on the scene. And one can say basically the same thing about what happened to you because you were on your way to work and maybe if you got there a little later, it would not have happened or if you had got there a little earlier, it might not have happened. That's the one thing, I mean just the randomness of evil, but the second that we - we've been aware of has been the abuse of power, that is so clearly evident, I mean when people because they are carrying guns will shoot and often and often and I think if we didn't have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission there are very-very many stories that the world certainly our nation would not know. I mean a very small group of people would know that this kind of thing happened. And I hope that all of us who would want to commit ourselves. I mean one of the things about this commission is that we are saying what must be done to ensure that things of this kind don't happen again. I mean we - we are looking at our history, our past in part in order to say we hope that things of this kind will not happen again. That a young person like you who walked down the street and someone - and especially someone who is suppose to be protecting them, pops out a gun and shoots. That each one of us will be committed to saying never again. We will not tolerate that something of this kind should happen again in our country. Thank you.

























