"The cage was too low for a fully grown person lo stand and was too small for them all to lie down and sleeps" the mother of two of the youths, Thandiwe Msomi, says in an affidavit. Part of the cage was occupied by a small house for a dog to sleep in." The floor of the 1,5m sq dogs' cage was earth and was muddy because of the heavy rains.
A Durban lawyer is preparing to sue for damages on behalf of four of the youths, who are from kwaNdengezi. It is not clear under what law they were hold. Two other youths are being held under Emergency regulations. Police are investigating the allegations contained in the boys' affidavits submitted to the police.
Naomi says police came to her home on the evening of October 9, asking for one of her sons, 15-year-old Vusi Msomi. She later heard that her sons and his friends had been taken from her mother’s house by the police. Msomi recognised one of the policemen as being from a police camp at Pinetown, and the next day (Monday) she sent two girls to the camp to see whether they could find out what had happened to the boys. Naomi says, “The girls returned to say that the boys were locked in the dogs' cage at the camp. The girls spoke to the boys through the fence and the boys had for food and cigarettes.”
Msomi then took food and went to the camp herself, where she claims she saw the boys in the cage. She says one of her sons, Enoch, 16, had wounds on his cheek. ln the cage with Enoch was Vusi, Alfred Ngcobo, 15, Emmanuel Msomi 16, and Henry Mngadi, 20. She was told another youth, Siphiwe Mngadi, who is an Emergency detainee, was held "in the caravan" for the entire period. Msomi says it is not the first time, she has seen people kept in the dog's cage. "
In his affidavit Vusi Msomi said the police told him to get into the cage along with the other youths. He said the cage was high enough to stand in "if we kept our heads bent forward or bent down". The door to the cage was kept locked and that they were questioned one by one during the night, being taken to the caravan for questioning.
Yesterday two policemen, including a Lieutenant Kruger, took the youths to Pinetown police station where they made statements. They were also taken to the district surgeon. The police PRO had not commented by the time of going to press.
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail.
