Aaron Nicodemus
Another Mpumalanga farm worker is planning to sue members of the Wakkerstroom Commando after he was kidnapped in a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) helicopter.
Alfred Hlatshwayo (34) said in 1998 he was forced into an army helicopter by police dogs, then beaten and kicked, and later forced to pay a fine for possessing illegal drugs that he said were planted by the police.
Hlatshwayo is planning to sue Barend and Willem Greyling for kidnapping, invasion of privacy, unlawful arrest, and injuries sustained in the helicopter attack. He was also handcuffed and tear-gassed in a 1996 attack, but cannot sue because the statute of limitations has run out.
The family of Jabulani Simelane, a farm worker allegedly killed by the commando, is considering an wrongful death suit against the Greylings, while another farm worker shot in the leg is also weighing up whether to file suit.
The string of lawsuits follows two already submitted to the Pretoria High Court.
Moses Mayisela has filed a suit against the Greylings requesting R1,4-million in compensation. Mayisela says the Greylings blinded him in a tear-gas attack. Another farm worker, Alfred’s brother Richard Hlatshwayo, is suing the Greylings for R300 000 for injuries sustained in a separate attack.
The SANDF is funding the Greylings’ defence, as the Greylings are part of the Wakkerstroom Commando in the area. The Pretoria state attorney in charge of the case, Kobus Meier, said he has filed a notice to defend the case, and again this week confirmed that the SANDF is funding the Greyling’s defence. He said his office would file a plea in each case next week.
A national land rights NGO has accused police, the magistrate and prosecutors in Wakkerstroom of colluding with the Greylings to block all criminal prosecution of the attacks.
“The Greylings have almost become God in that area,” said Andile Mngxitama, land rights co-ordinator for the National Land Committee. At least 14 charges of assault were laid against the Greylings in the Wakkerstroom court, but all were dismissed. Farm workers said they were never even given the chance to testify.
“We are very disappointed and disturbed by the actions of the SANDF to make money available for the defence of the Greylings,” Mngxitama said. He called for a disbanding of the commando system, a full investigation into the activities of commandos nationwide and a reopening of the assault cases withdrawn in the Wakkerstroom court. “No one is above the law. Those responsible for these attacks must pay the full price,” Mngxitama said. “If we ignore these attacks, we perpetuate torture, assault and the semi- slavery conditions that have come to characterise that part of the country.”
The commandos, originally made up entirely of former soldiers and local farmers, were supplied with arms, ammunition, and regular training by the South African Defence Force. At the time their goal was to quell violence and protect the property of white farmers.
In 1995 white farmers, fearful of land claims from people who had lived on their farms for decades, evicted scores of black families, impounding their cattle and burning their homesteads. In the case of the Wakkerstroom Commando, some black labourers were recruited into the commando to aid in the reign of terror. The commandos have never been stripped of their munitions, and have been allowed to act with near-impunity in rural areas.