Fellow South Africans, despite the fact that we, as the ANC-led government embraced a negotiated settlement and have therefore set out to build a democratic, non racial, non sexist and prosperous society for all South Africans to enjoy, we could not ignore where we come from. Accordingly, we adopted the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as our route in laying to rest the conflicts of the past. What we could not do, was to say let the by-gones be by-gones, without having sufficiently addressed these heinous crimes of our past.
The TRC process unravelled some of the detailed gross human rights abuses that our people suffered, because our fellow human beings dared embrace the tyrannical philosophy of racial supremacy. Accordingly, those considered of a lesser race, were treated worse than animals, brutalised, tortured and killed in the most of cruel ways, simply because they dared to claim that they too deserve to be treated like human beings and as equal compatriots amongst the various races that constitute our country.
We gather here today, saddened by the relived memory of the atrocities and acts of savagery committed by human beings on fellow human beings. But we also gather here to observe a pen-ultimate chapter in the protracted journey that uncovered (some) truth about what actually happened in the brutal killing of the PEBCO 3 and the COSAS 2. In addition, we observe with a deep sense of reverence, how those who have fallen, contributed towards the emancipation of our country by paying the supreme price that of losing their lives. Their struggles and subsequent death was not in vain as we today live in a democratic dispensation. Let us then be reminded to constantly be on guard, to defend this democracy, for it did not come cheap. Those whose remains we today hand over, bear testimony to the price our people paid.
I would like to pay homage to the work of the TRC, in helping reveal facts about the fate of the PEBCO 3 and the COSAS 2. I would also like to take this opportunity, to thank the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in its relentless and dedicated efforts at further shedding light on this matter through their sterling forensic investigation. They investigated the site where the remains of the PEBCO 3 were burnt in the attempt to destroy the evidence of the crime committed against them. This involved emptying an underground sceptic tank that was found to contain quantities of human bone, fire residue and artefacts. Of the 260 kg of assorted material recovered from the Post Chalmers site, 12.6 kg consisted of burnt human bone fragments which were recovered from the two fire sites and the two septic tanks. I would also like to thank the TRC unit, represented here today by its head, Dr Seekoe for working tirelessly on these cases until their conclusion.
We left nothing to chance and employed all available and possible scientific methods of investigations. Experts in the fields of forensic anthropology and ondontology were invited to examine the bones and the teeth recovered. The experts, who worked in the case of Che Guevara, are the very experts who worked on these cases. But because of the extent of the burnt human material, it was considered impossible with current technology to determine the DNA and therefore as to whom exactly did the bones and teeth belong to. However, general inferences indicated that on one site, the human material recovered were consistent with the gender and ages of the PEBCO 3, while again the remains recovered on yet another site indicated that the remains were consistent with the ages and gender of the COSAS 2.
The NPA has kept minimal sample of the remains, for possible exploratory work, in the event of advancement in the fields of science and technology, to investigate the actual identities of the people involved. I must say that this was a difficult and traumatic experience, particularly since much of the investigation was informed by the lead information confessed during the TRC hearings. The reliability of the information was questioned on various grounds, but generally pointed to the fact that overall, these were the remains of the PEBCO 3 as well as the COSAS 2.
Again, I want to thank those who helped establish the truth behind the fate of the PEBCO 3 as well as the COSAS 2. I would also exceedingly want to thank the families, for having travelled together with us in this long and traumatic journey in finding this painful truth.
I sincerely hope that as we hand over the remains to the families the remains of their loved ones, the words of wisdom proclaimed by Nelson Mandela during his Inauguration in 1994 that, “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world,” will echo in the hearts and minds of all our people. Indeed, never again, must anyone who lay the claim to be a human being inflict such unimaginable pain and suffering on fellow human beings.
As we set out to build a culture of respect for human rights and the dignity of the person, we would be doing it in the memory of fallen heroes and heroines such as the PEBCO 3 and COSAS 2. As our icon, former President Nelson Mandela would put it in inaugural speech, “Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.” Indeed their blood was not shed in vain.
To the families of Sipho Hashe, Qaqawuli Godolozi and Champion Galela who disappeared on 8 May 1985, otherwise known as the PEBCO 3 and to the families of Siphiwo Mthimnkhulu and Topsy Madaka who disappeared on 14 April 1982, otherwise known as the COSAS 2, on behalf of our democratic government, allow me to humbly present to you the human remains of your loved ones. In doing so, I hope this will help towards the healing of your wounds, opened by the disappearance and subsequent cruel murders that for so long were deliberately concealed in the dungeons of Post Chalmers farm.
Amandla!
Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
12 September 2009
Source: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (http://www.doj.gov.za/)
