GENEALOGIESE GENOOTSKAP VAN SUID-AFRIKA

GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA

WES-GAUTENGTAK

WEST GAUTENG BRANCH

WES-GAUTENG-NUUS -- WEST GAUTENG NEWS

JUNIE 2012 NUUSBRIEF/NEWSLETTER
NEXT MONTHLY MEETING: SATURDAY 21 JULIE 2012 @ 14:00 WEBSITE Members are reminded of the branchs new blog site [website] at http://westgssa.blogspot.com
OUR REGULAR BRANCH MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE ON 21 JULY 2011 @ 14:00 PLACE: NG KERK PHILIPS AVENUE DISCOVERY ROODEPOORT John Slyer recently participated in a recent Legacy Genealogy Cruise. He will tell us about the cruise and the Legacy classes which formed part of the programme. In addition, our Chairman, Bob Saunders will screen a promotional video which he is developing for the Society followed by a discussion. +++++++++++++++++ There is only one story in this Newsletter. It is a family story that is unlikely to be published in a Newsletter such as this. I am, however of the view that it is valid to publish it. There are various reasons why I as the editor have decided to do so some of the more salient reasons are that our members of the West Gauteng Branch of the GSSA is on the face of it only busy with family histories relating to white people.

We have on occasion mentioned that we should be exposed to other peoples histories for instance Jewish and Indian stories. Well, here is a story of a survivor of the massacre in Rwanda during 1994. I recall very vividly how a friend and I sat in an ambassadors office in Pretoria during the latter half of April 1994 and him showing us telex reports and colour photographs of killings in Roman Catholic Churches in Rwanda. And now our next story. Mr. M granted his permission for me to publish his story and you will appreciate that it is very short and abbreviated. He requested me to protect him. He requested anonymity for security reasons he is apprehensive for reprisals that could earmark his family [those fortunate few that escaped the massacre], friends [those fortunate few that escaped the massacre] and himself. He made it to South Africa I suggest to you that he is real survivor. Here follows his story: Dear Mr. Neels, Please find below my story. Feel free to publish it. For safety reasons, could you please keep it anonymous? I left Rwanda in 1994 during the genocide and went to the DRC. My parents worked in the Habyarimana government. We were attacked because we were seen as moderate. My mother was Tutsi and my father Hutu. That is how I went to DRC. I was five months short of my 10th birthday. I was adopted by a Congolese family who gave me the name M. I lived with them for 10 years in Bukavu. In 2004 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front [RPF] was in Bukavu they heard about me or my background - I do not know how. They attacked me. Hundreds of them came to my house and broke in at 6:00am. The neighbours were quiet. They took me to jail. The cells were very small. We were tortured. I had received a letter from my aunt living in the US who said she was proud of me and what I was doing. My family was political. Six of my mothers siblings were in politics. An aunt had been attached to the Rwandan Embassy in the US and died before the genocide started. I was arrested in June or July 2004. I dont remember the month. They took me out in shorts with no clothes. The RPF believed that I had plans to attack the country and I was arrested about what my plans were. They controlled Bukavu at the time. The plan was to bring me back to Rwanda for interrogation. The high school I was studying at put up a resistance on my behalf. They put pressure on the soldiers who arrested me. Every day for a week, they would come to the prison and protest outside. The school would send like over 1,000 students. I went to College Alfajiri. In addition, some Italian nuns and priests I was friends with engaged the help of lawyers from Amnesty International. Also my adopted family lobbied on my behalf. I was in jail for a week but it seemed like a whole year. They were planning to take me to Rwanda but for the pressure of lawyers and priests, I would have been taken back.
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I was released after a week. My colleagues then advised me to flee the country. I suggested Uganda because I was Congolese and when I arrived, I only revealed my true identity to Amnesty International in Kampala. Uganda seemed easier to make contact for other countries for asylum. I thought I would get asylum in Europe. I also went to Uganda because a friend from Bukavu was studying there. I paid truck drivers to bring me from Bukavu to Kampala. Sometimes when it seemed unsafe, I hid. I had some money with me that I had saved from working as an interpreter for foreigners looking to buy minerals from the local miners. I got a house in Natete and stayed there for 3 months. Amnesty told me that resettlement takes a long time. I decided to come down to South Africa. I contacted my aunt. I got a Ugandan passport. I decided to come to South Africa. I have my aunt here. I contacted her. At the Malawi-Tanzania border the Malawi Immigration took my passport. At Malawi I knew no English. I slept at border. I sneaked through Malawi to Mozambique. I stayed in Malawi for a short time. There are many Rwandans in Malawi. I introduced myself and they welcomed me. Money was running short. I helped them sell in their shops. They wanted me to do business with them. But I wanted to come down to South Africa to study. I hoped to become a doctor. I was arrested twice in Mozambique. It was the hardest time in my life. I was arrested at border crossing. I told them I could not go home. I stayed in jail overnight. They released me and I took a bus to Maputo. On arriving in Tete, I was arrested again because I had no papers. I had also run out of money too. It was far from the city. I spent the night in jail. I went to the market the next day and sold my trousers and shoes. I hang the jeans on one arm and then shoes in the other. All I wanted was money for the bus. I went to the same place where I had been arrested to get the bus. It was like 6 hours away. I walked with no food and water for one and a half days. They put me on the bus to Maputo. I found Rwandans at the bus stop. They had shops near there and they helped me. I heard them speaking Kinyarwanda. It was my luckiest day. I told them my stories and about news of home. At that time I hoped to go to a Refugee Camp. I stayed with them for a month - till end of December 2004. I got to South Africa in January 2005. I went to the border and got a paper for 14 days. I got a ride from a driver who brought me from Maputo. He was coming to Park Station, Johannesburg. He dropped me there. I had malaria at the time. I slept on the street. I spent one night in a park in town. My uncle came looking for me the next day. I knew his face. I went to hospital. Because I had malaria, I was featured in a newspaper. I started learning English at a branch of Wits Language School. I got 98%. I was on a bursary. When you are begging you are looking for food. People told me about Mercy House in Bezuidenhoutsvalley.
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I got into film school and did a three year degree and a 1 year internship at a studio. When I came to Mercy House, most of the residents were from Rwanda. It was started after the genocide in Rwanda. I met Diane Beamish. I spent time with them. I went to work in Durban in 2011. I went to DHA, got the asylum papers in 2005, they wrote a rejection letter in 2007 which I got in 2008. Said I did not show them that the government in Rwanda failed to protect me. Officials said, South Africa is not an orphanage. They have their own children. I appealed and was granted and heard during 2010. I believed it went well. I should be granted permanent residence. I have done documentary film work, for example, in 2006, Kwazulu Natal I did a documentary in Nkandla, the home of President Jacob Zuma. People there did not have IDs and the documentary highlighted this problems. People used my footage to put pressure on South Africa to give its own people IDs. It was done under the virginity testing project. In 2008, my documentary on traditional dancers got the troupe an overseas attendance to a cultural festival. They were to perform in Spain for two months. I failed to get travel documents from the government so I could not accompany them. I had put in so much work into this project, working at night, but they kicked me out in the end and brought in their own people. I was to be paid R80 000.00. The ticket, insurance etc. had all been paid for. In 2012, I went to DHA to renew my papers. They wrote in my papers no permit (no letter = I must sign a letter for condemnation) which was wrong. They refused to extend my permit and wanted me to write a letter for late appeal, yet my case was pending before court. I went to the constitutional court and the judge there told me that I need a real expensive lawyer. It is not good to be a refugee. M +++++++++++++++++ Saterdag 1 September 2012 Familie & Genealogie Fees Lynnwoodrif NG Kerk Pretoria Isabel Groesbeek wat dit rel ++++++++++++++++++

JAARPROGRAM VAN WES-GAUTENGTAK VAN DIE GGSA VIR 2012 Datums vir Takbyeenkomste in 2012:
21 Julie: John Slyer praat oor die onlangse Legacy Cruise. 17 - 19 Augustus: Moet nog beplan word. 29 September: Genealogiedag by die Roodepoort Museum se Erfenisdagviering, om 11.00 16.00. 6 Oktober: Beginnerskursus in Genealogie / Gevorderde kursus in Genealogie. 20 Oktober: Werkswinkel oor eie navorsingsprobleme: Ned. Geref. Kerk Ontdekkerskruin, 14.00. 17 November: Afsluiting: Ned. Geref. Kerk Ontdekkerskruin, om 14.00.

Ons vra dat u nou al u dagboek se inskrywings sal maak.

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Ek vra dat u asseblief bydraes vir my sal stuur by my e-adres wat hieronder genoem word. Baie dankie vir julle wat dit reeds doen.
NEELS COERTSE REDAKTEUR SANDTON 30 JUNIE 2012

WEST GAUTENG BRANCH COMMITTEE, 2012

Designation Chairman/Membership Matters Vice-Chairman Secretary Treasurer Events Secretary Assistant Events Secretary Librarian Assistant Librarian Membership Secretary Blog Journalist Editor Newsletter Cemetery Coordinator Product Sales Name Bob Saunders Colin Steyn Petro Meyer Lucas Rinken Lynette Swanepoel Margaret Humphries Graham Southey Louise Dick Gerard Marloth Penny Evans Neels Coertse Giel Nel Kriek Fourie Telephone 011-475-4579 011-954-1715 011-764-4790 011-760-3009 011-791-3138 011-955-2819 011-787-4842 011-679-4321 011-782-6599 011-763-2465 011-463-4049 011-762-3702 011-955-3533 Email bobcad@iafrica.com colnadrie@telkomsa.net petro.meyer@telkomsa.net gen@rinken.co.za lynetteswanepoel@telkomsa.net nerine@yebo.co.za None None gerard.marloth@yahoo.com penny.evans55@gmail.com neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za gielnel100@gmail.com leander.fourie@transnet.net