Thabo Samuel Stanley RAMADITSE (32) was a student at Mapetla Junior Secondary School when he joined the protest. He saw Hector Petersen shot dead and described the township at the time as 'hell'. When he returned to school in October police fired teargas and live bullets, killing a pregnant woman. He crossed the border into Botswana, initially planning to further his education but then choosing to undergo military training. Ramaditse made these admissions when he pleaded guilty to all the charges against him.
Ramaditse was detained at Baragwanath on 3 October 1987 shortly after returning to South Africa for at least the second time. He brought no weapons into the country with him and at the time of his detention had not been informed about the nature of his mission.
Ramaditse appeared in court on crutches. He said that security police had shot him in the leg while he was in detention. Charges of attempted escape were laid against him but later dropped. Ramaditse had sustained an earlier bullet wound to the same leg during his exile.
Ramaditse’s own evidence in mitigation was supported by Professor Lawrence Schlemmer who spoke about the Soweto uprising. On 22 August Ramaditse was sentenced by magistrate P du Plessis who said it was clear that he ‘was not disillusioned with the ANC’.
