Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

After four long years, a court date has finally been set for a R1,9-million law suit brought by two farm workers against defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

The Mpumalanga labourers will get to challenge the minister in the Pretoria High Court in November after they were beaten and tortured at the hands of part time army commando members seven years ago.

Farm workers Moses Mayisela, 36, and Mgezeni Hlatshwayo, 41, claim that 10 Wakkerstroom Commando members tortured them in October 1996. Mayisela was blinded in the assault.

The labourers sought legal action in 1999.

Their lawyer Marvin Joseph of Marvin Joseph Incorporate in Johannesburg said the trial was set for between November 17 and November 25.

"We're still preparing the case and some details [like the amount of the suit] may change," Joseph said.

The suit was initially instituted against the individual soldiers including prominent farmers and brothers, Barend and Willem Greyling.

The labourers' lawyer decided to sue the minister because the commandos were on official duty for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) when Mayisela and Hlatshwayo were assaulted.

The case was last postponed in May last year after Lekota's legal team wanted more medical tests to be done on Mayisela.

Mayisela of Rooikop farm near Wakkerstroom is suing for R1, 6 million, while Hlatshwayo of Driefontein is suing for R341 300.

Mayisela alleges that on October 9, 1996 the commando members detained and assaulted him for two days at Langfontein farm near Wakkerstroom. He claims that he was handcuffed, slapped, kicked and punched. The assailants gave him electric shocks, sprayed his face with teargas and covered his head with a balaclava.

Mayisela adds that the commandos allegedly prevented him from seeking medical help for two weeks after the torture.

Hlatshwayo claims that on the same day the commandos also allegedly handcuffed, slapped, kicked and punched him before he was given electric shocks. He alleges that they shaved his beard and poured water over him.

The soldiers allegedly placed him in a small room, sprayed teargas into his face and closed the door leaving him to suffocate.

Lekota's spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi could not be reached for comment on either his office line or cellphone on Wednesdsay.

Complaints by farm labourers prompted Lekota and senior cabinet ministers to visit SANDF's regional head office in Ermelo in 2000.

It was said that farm workers possibly confused soldiers with security guards who wore camouflage uniforms and Lekota got a High Court interdict prohibiting security companies from issuing camouflage outfits.

International watchdog, Human Rights Watch, also conducted investigations in the area in 2002 and expressed shock at stories told by the rural community.

Human Rights Watch researcher Bronwen Manby recommended in her report titled, Unequal Protection: The State Response to Violent Crime on South African Farms, that commandos should be banned from fighting crime and the job should be left solely in police's hands.

A special police unit, Gijima Tsotsi, was assigned to re-open more than 30 cases that were thrown out over six years, but the National Prosecution Authority of South Africa (NPASA) has since decided that many of them were too old to pursue.