by SACBC, South Africa, August 1997
THEME = JUSTICE
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) held hearings on human rights abuses in Zeerust, Rustenburg, and Brits (in former Bophuthatswana) from 6-8 May 1997. As with all such hearings, various people were invited to submit written statements on human rights abuses they had personally suffered or witnessed. Later, the TRC chose a representative group of these people to give testimonies at a public hearing, so that a fairly comprehensive picture of the types of human rights abuses in that area could be presented at the hearing.
Bishop Dowling, said: "I was approached by the TRC to submit two statements on such abuses, viz. the protest march in Phokeng village on 21 March 1991, during which a young man was shot dead, and many others injured; and the bombing of the church on St. Joseph's Mission, Phokeng, on 22 November 1991. These were two of several incidents which I was personally involved in, or witnessed over a period of some four years. A couple of weeks after submission of the written statements, I received a call to attend a public hearing on 7 May 1997 in Rustenburg.
The small group of about 12 people which would testify, were asked to come early to be briefed and prepared by the TRC support staff. At about 10 a.m. the four Commissioners took their seats and proceedings began. I was the fourth person to be called.
After taking the oath, I was asked by the Commissioner, Dr Piet Meiring, to give an account of the two incidents. The first concerned a protest march by the Bafokeng people against a deportation order which had been served on the wife of their chief (in exile at that time) Mrs Semane Molotlegi, by the Bophuthatswana Government. The people and their civic and political structures, had requested the pastors to support them and to lead the march which began on our property of St.Joseph's Mission, Phokeng. I gave a detailed account of how the march was blocked by heavily armed Bop security forces, and how we negotiated a compromise, which would allow a small group of pastors to hand over a memorandum to the political authorities, and then lead the people to the home of Mrs.Molotlegi to bid farewell to her. Her deportation was to take place that very day.
I explained how everything went wrong. The security force commander changed the agreement after the handing over of the memorandum, and now refused to allow the people to go to Mrs.Molotlegi. In spite of all we could do in order to avoid bloodshed and injury, the people decided to go to her home. I was right at the roadblock of armoured vehicles, when without warning, the Bop security forces opened up with water canon, and fired teargas right at the people. I heard someone shout an order: "Shoot the baruti (priests)". One policeman jumped down and aimed a teargas gun at me and fired. I managed to duck several shots. Then I heard rifle fire and a young man, Johannnes Mafatshe was killed. Another person took a bullet in the shoulder. The police then went berserk, firing teargas and beating up people with sjamboks.
I gave many other details about this awful day, and how finally late that night, Mrs.Molotlegi came to ask me to drive her away into exile in order to avoid further bloodshed. Later, I was summoned by the police, together with three other pastors, to go to Mmabatho to appear before a security force committee. I was accused of allowing St. Joseph's Mission to be used for meetings by political and civic organisations. At the end of my second meeting with this committee, I received a thinly-veiled threat, repeated four times.
The second incident, the bombing of St.Joseph's Church, Phokeng, was perhaps the result of the stance I had previously taken. Permission had been given for a large political meeting to be held on 23 November 1991, as a welcome for one of the political leaders, and to highlight the fact that there are over 100 political prisoners still languishing in Bophuthatswana jails.
A week before the meeting, I was visited by a delegation of the Bop government, including a cabinet minister and security police officials. They protested strongly about this meeting, and tried to persuade me to call it off. I refused and explained the reasons, and they left. The day before the meeting, at 2 in the morning, 22 November, a powerful bomb exploded and severely damaged the church on the mission, where I, a parish priest and a religious community were living at that time."
After the Bishop had given his testimony, the Commissioners took the opportunity of having a Church leader before them, to ask some probing questions on difficult issues, such as whether the different Christian Churches, and especially the pastors and church leaders, were united in the stand for justice and the defense of human rights in Bophuthatswana. The Commission discussed in depth some difficult policy decisions they themselves were grappling with. For example, the difficult question about those who had refused to apply for amnesty before the cut-off date on 10 May 1997, just three days before the Bishop's hearing.
At the end of one hour and ten minutes, each of the four Commissioners thanked the Bishop for his testimony and the stand the Church takes on justice and human rights.
END