In the Venda bantustan a large number of students and workers were detained in August in the wake of class boycotts and work staways protesting against the death of a school teacher and other grievances.
A report compiled by church leaders and presented to the bantustan's police force in August revealed that police had placed paper bags and rubbish bins over the heads of detainees and assaulted them with heavy objects. In one incident, according to the report, a sick person was taken away from hospital and beaten by the police. Edward MALINDI, (22), told those compiling the report: 'They placed an office refuse bin over my head and began hitting me with their hands, sjamboks - everything. After that they hit the soles of my feet with something hard until my feet were swollen and I could not stand. Then I was forced to jump up and down on my swollen feet. The police later stood me on my head to ease the pain.'
Malindi's face was swollen and he was unable to open his mouth properly. His right lower leg was bruised and swollen according to the doctor who examined him; his findings were consistent with the allegations of assault.
Another detainee, Tshifhiwa MAVHUNGU, said that after he was beaten he was taken into a small dark room where police threatened to throw him 'into a bottomless pit'. Police later pushed him from behind and he fell into space until he was caught by what felt like a net stretched across the hole. Police responded to these allegations by stating that those with complaints should report them to the police. They made no undertaking to investigate the allegations made in the report.
These revelations from Venda came soon after a Ciskei bantustan court granted an application to two former detainees, Tando DYANTYI, a trade union official and Boyce SOCI, a fieldworker with the Border Council of Churches. The court order allowed a search of the police offices for evidence of their alleged torture. Soci was detained in August last year. In October he and four others were charged with 'terrorism'. At their first court appearance he and his co-accused showed a magistrate injuries sustained during their detention. In March he was cleared of all the charges against him.
The detainees, accompanied by their legal team, identified an ordinary security police office as a torture room and from one cabinet they found a blood-stained T-shirt and a rag used during torture sessions. Both said they were assaulted and subjected to electric shocks. They also confirmed that leading officers played a major role in the process. The two former detainees were suing the Ciskei bantustan official in charge of the police and members of the police force for torturing them.
