SANDILE BOTHA
In July 1985, there was a violence in our community.  I was accused of burning the Hippo with a petrol bomb.  They came to fetch me in my house while I was sleeping.  The police came into the house and tear gassed everyone inside the house.  They tear gassed and the main house and in the back house.  They came inside the house and they dragged out my grandparents and the children and they kicked the door and I was together with my grandfather.
They were together with a guy who was known as an informer here in Colesberg.  And this guy said  -  this is the person who burned the Hippo.  The police dragged me in the house and they beat me with batons.  They took me to the Hippo and there were others in the Hippo and they took us the police station.  They beat us on the way and even when we got the police station, they kept on beating us.
There was a policeman called Maleti from Middleburg and he was the one who was beating me severely.  The other one is Chris who is in Aliwal North.  The other is Parks who looked like a coloured.  We didn't know that he was a coloured, we thought he was white.  
They took us with their Hippo to the police station.  They were beating us severally all this time.  Here in Colesberg, they took my private parts, the put my private parts in the drawer and closed it while others were beating me.  I didn't know that to do.  They were beating me all the time.  I couldn't even defend myself.  When we came back, when they took us to the court case, there was a lawyer from Grahamstown and we managed to get bail of R20.00 each.  
I came back here in Colesberg, but they arrested me the following week.  It was around eleven o'clock in the morning.  They took me to prison.  They detained me.  There were other from Colesberg who were there in the cells.  
At about three o'clock in the morning, they were chasing us with their vans and if you come to the township the van will go back and chase the other one.  That is all I want to say.