THOMAS MANTHATA
I came hear to tell you about something which disturbed me very much.  It was said before and I was called by the police and I was asked about the letter which I didn't know about.  I did tell them that I did not know anything about that letter and I think the letter was telling about something which happened in Messina.   When I was writing the letter, I think I wrote my name there and my address so that anybody who wanted to see me could find me easily.  Mr Klopper told me that one old woman came to see him and he told me that I was the person that wrote the letter and I said, no, I did not know the letter.  They left me for a long time and in 1973, I was called again.  When I was called, the man who called me was called Strydom.  He was a senior man who had many epaulettes.  He came in with Mr Thelele and after he called my name.  He said, who's Manthata and I said, that's me.  He said you must know that here I arrest people and if I arrest you, I also send them to Mr Mandela in Robben Island and I said you can do that to me.  When we got inside the house and after that he told me.  He took out a letter in his hand.  He said, do you know this letter ?  And I said, Sir, I do not know that letter and I don't want to talk about something I don't know.  Then he therefore , took out that letter and he brought out that letter.  He said, do you know the law ?  When I spoke to him, I said, I don't know the law and then he stood up.  I'm going to call Klopper and then he went out to call Klopper and he came to me.  He says, this person says he doesn't know the law.  Klopper also could not tell me that, his story and after that they said to me, you say you don't know law and he said he was going to form an Agenda and another man came and brought the law book and I asked him if  he could borrow me this law so that I could understand my rights and he refused.  I then requested that book again and also the interpreter told him.  He was the interpreter for Klopper and they said, this man has spoken a lot and thereafter,  in another day when we formed the Advisory Board he brought this book again and I said to him, borrow me this book and he refused and I said, if this person is refusing to give you this book, would you take it by force.  That's how things were and now, and that gentleman or he is the one who asked Klopper and thereafter I said I bring the evidence.  I said I like Klopper.  I do not want to hide anything,  I'd like to speak the truth.  When I said, I like him, because he came to my house and he took, he told that guy and he agreed and he gave me a dove and  I again gave him a present, as a dove and he took it to his home.  He came back to my house again and I gave him a chicken as a present and he took it to his home again.  I asked him if he liked it.  He said yes and I really to asked him, if I was a bad person, would I really give him a present ?  Why would I do that?
 Then the, this guy who was sent from Pietersberg, who was known as Strydom in Pietersberg.  I'm not sure about the name.  This guy came to me and he told me that he understood my story and he told me that he'll try to go and tell his seniors.  What surprised me, was that this guy was not taking any statements down and I suspected that he was the person who was not delivering the messages properly.  He said to me, I could go home and he released me.