23 10 '92 14:36 ©333 1924 GROUP II ®001/007

RECOLLECTION and i m p r es sio ns of inspection--AT

BOIPATONG ON 1 4 APGPST 1 9 9 2

We moved into the township at approximately 22hl0.

The bus travelled along Lekoa Street and turned right into Bapedi Street where we stopped near the house of Jonas Mthombeni (Point X2 on Exhibit 3) .

+ 75 m away a group of people assembled between Moloto and Qua-Qua streets. We stood at the exact point where Mthombeni made his observations.

The Casspir T2 turned around and approached us with his lights off from the point where Mthombeni first saw the group of people. It is impossible to observe the clothing of the group of people or the colour of

the Casspir.

The Casspir proceeded past the house of Mthombeni. At about 20 metres we were able to observe the letter and number T2 on the side of the vehicle.

Only three of the Apollo lights1 globes were in working order. All three shone in the direction of Slovo Park.

310 '92 14:37 ©333 1924 GROUP II ©002-00

Mthombeni was specifically asked if the lights were the same on 17/6/92 as it is now and he said "same as it is right at the moment".

The Casspir then slowly approached us. it wasimpossible to see the colour of the Casspir. m thewords of the Chairman: "I can hardly see what it (the vehicle) is".

While we were at 113 Bapedi Street the Apollo light was switched off and on again. According to j.j. du Toit it was done to show that the lights can be switched off individually.

He moved from Mthombeni's house to the corner of Bapedi and Lengue Streets, it is point x on Exhibit

It is from this point that Edison Koti allegedly observed a casspir off-loading a group of no more than 20 persons with white headbands.

Koti indicated that the casspir should come to a Standstill at a certain point. This is inconsistent

3 10 92 14:38 ©333 1924 GROUP II @003-'00

With his evidence as this point is 60 paces from the church referred to in his evidence.

From where we were standing to the point where Koti observed the Casspir is a distance of 277 paces.

At this distance one couid not observe clothing anddefinitely not white headbands. The only observationthat could be made was that of silhouettes of persons alighting from a vehicle.

The two members of the SAP that measured the distance between the Casspir and us were requested by Mr Hattingh to stop While they were returning to the vehicle. They stopped ± 20 paces from us.

Our observations were that at the most you could see that they were wearing some kind of uniform.

The two members then walked further away and when « e y were in shatJows ±(; ^ ^ascertain „hat kind of c l o t M n g (Qr ^

thereof) they were wearing.

The group then proceeded on our way to „ siovo Park the shack where Miss A. resides.

3-10 92 14:38 ©333 1924 GROUP II ©004'00

On our way there the bus had to stop on the corner of Bapedi and Mokoena Streets as the road was barricaded.

At our arrival at Slovo Park we went to the so-called storage box.

The area was well-lit and observations could easily be made.

The box is about 1,3 - 1,4 m in height, 2 m deep and1,5 m wide. It consists of corrugated iron sides and roof and a wire fence at the back. This fence is attached to the corrugated iron plates.

The witness indicated at the nearest door of the house, which is L-shaped, where her brother and his

wife cane out. She also indicated a outside toilet whereto the wife of her brother had run.

We then proceeded to 641 Majola Street, the house of Mr Xaba.

23 10 '92 14:39 ©333 1924 GROUP II @005'00

The Casspir moved away and stopped, while approaching us, on the corner of Lekoa and Majola Streets.

Two persons with R5 rifles was then positioned + 4 metres in front of the two headlights of the Casspir.

A tree was pointed out by Mr Xaba where he first saw the Casspir. This tree is on the left as you look down Majola Street in the direction of Lekoa Street.

The Casspir then came nearer with the two persons in front of the headlights. It was impossible to observe if they had rifles.

The Casspir then passed the tree where Xaba first saw it and only after it was about 5 - 7 m closer did he indicate that he saw the Casspir there for the first time.

From our viewpoint next to the gate it was possible to observe the figure of the person on the left behind the Casspir but not the clothing of these persons.

23 10 92 14:39 ©333 1924 GROl'P II ©006/007

It was then ascertained that both persons in front of the vehicle had R5 rifles with them. Xaba then agreed that he could not see any magazines.

The Casspir then proceeded to approach us. When it was in front of house 647 it was still impossible to see if the people in front of the Casspir were wearing red headbands.

The Casspir still came nearer and with the persons + 2 0 paces behind the Casspir one now could see two persons behind the Casspir as it was opposite house 645 but it was not possible to distinguish their skin colour.

The inspection at Xaba's house also included theobservations of a group of people (12) towards the east.

The colour of their clothing could not be observed.

The colour of the Casspir could not be observed at the point where Xaba indicated that he saw the Casspir for the last time.

- 6 -

3 10 92 14:40 ©333 1924 GROUP II ©OOT.'OO

/

we then proceeded to 761 Lekoa Street where it was evident that a portion of the fence had been repaired in the recent past.

Marks, said to be caused by the tyres of a Casspir, were pointed out. Except for indentions in the grass and ground there were no indications that these marks were caused by a vehicle.

1992-10-27 10:49I

P .01/10

AN ASSESSMENT OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE GIVEN BEFORE THE GOLDSTONE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO THE BOlFATONG M ASSA^R^Z)

ON 17/06/1992

. 1 INTRODUCTION.

At the first sitting of j the Goldstone Commission of Inquiry into the Boipatong Incident on 17/06/1992, certain eye witnesses claimed to have seen certain things occur. Doubts and reservations have been expressed as to whether It was possible to see such detail under the Illumination conditions ̂ prevailing at the time.

At the request of Major Christo Davidson of the VanderblJI Unrest Unit, this Investigation wasinitiated. The purpose was to assess as objectively as possible, the validity of the evidence given.

i

This assessment was carried out both experimentally and by theoretical calculation. Owing to time constraints, K was not possible to simulate all the Incidents Involved. Experiments were therefore only carried out on the more critical incidents. Calculations were, however done for most of the alleged Incidents.

This report contains ten chapters. The second describes the Incidents that were allegedly witnessed. Chapter 3 Is concerned with vision at night. It is intended as background information describing the human Visual system and the various factors which influence vision. This chapter closes with a discussion on the resolution requirements needed in order to detect, recognize or Identify an object.

The fourth chapter b concerned with the Illumination conditions that were prevailing at the time of the incident This includes both artificial lighting from the ’Apollo' lights as well as the illumination due to the moon.

The fifth chapter describes the experiments carried out to simulate the more critical incidents reported. These experiments were carried out on the night of 12/10/1992.

Chapter 6 describes the measurements of luminance and contrasts at the places where the alleged incidents took place. These measurements were made on the night of 14/10/1992.

Calculations of both Illumination levels and probabilities of seeing the alleged Incidents are handled in Chapter 7.

Chapter 8 summarizes and compares the results of both the experiments and calculations, and draws conclusions concerning the possibilities of seeing the details as described by the witnesses,

The references consulted for this study are listed in Chapter 9, while Chapter 10 contains appendices. These contain a map of the northern Boipatong township. Appendix B contains the technical specifications of the 'Apollo* lights and the distribution of horizontal illuminance up to a distance of 480 metres away.

The third appendix is concerned primarily with the theoretical derivation of the formulae for estimating the illuminance on a vertical surface, and the fourth appendix contains a summary of the luminance and contrast measurements carried out on the night of 14/10/1992.

2 ALLEGED INCIDENTS.

A general map of the northern Boipatong township is included in this report as Appendix A. The

1

1952-10-27 10:51 P .04/10

LEKOA STREET

UKHUNE

2.3 Incident # 3 - Amatolo Street # 99.

A resident of 99 Amatolo Street was standing at his gate and saw a Casspir and foot so!d;ers move down Amatolo Street, past his house, turn left into Lekoa Street and thon right in the main street going past the industries, and finally turn right into Bakoena Street.

A map of the incident with approximate distances illustrating the movement is given below.

1992-10-27 10:52 P .05/10

2.4 Incident # 4 • Hlubl Street.; ; - %.

A woman resident at 96 Hlubi Street, claimed to have seen a Camouflage Casspir, with lights on, turn from Lekoa Street, left into Hlubi, and then again left Into Ngwena St root. This is illustrated in tho map below.

5

1992-10-2? 10:52 P .06/10

2.5 Incident # 5 * Bapodl Street.

Two witnesses, one standing at the cornor of Bapedi Street and Senqu Avenuo, and the other at 113 Bapedi Street, claimed to have seen the following :

A Casspir, with lights on. drove out of Thaba Bosiu Avenuo, turned right into Bapedi Street and proceeded towards the shops. About 60 paces below the shops, approximately midway between Maloti and Qua Qua Avenues, the Casspir stopped, and less than 20 people got out with weapons and wearing white head bands.

This is illustrated in the diagram below.

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1992-10-27 10=53 P .07/10

2.6 IncWent # 6 « Majola Street.

Three separate incidents were reported here by the same witness, This witness, a reskJcnt of 641 Majola Street claimed to have soen a Casspir, with headlights on, moving towards him. The Casspir was approximately at the small tree in Majola Street (approximately at 651/653 Majola Street). In front of the Casspir were two people with whits overalls and automatic weapons (recognized by the magazine). These peoplo were wearing red twad bands.

He further cfairps to have seen two people, in camouflage clothing, about 20 paces behind the Casspir, also with weapons. He became afraid and went into his house.

He emerged later, and this time, claimed to see a group of about 50 peop.’e, in white overalls, with red head bands, and carrying weapons, standing about two houses below Thaoa Bosiu Avenue.

The third incident he claimed was three Camouflage Casspirs driving along Lekoa Street In tne direction of the bus terminus. These incidents are illustrated on the map below.

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1992- 10-27 10 = 57 P .01/10

3.2 Factors Affecting Vision.

Vision, whether by day or night, is possible when three major criteria are satisfied, namely :

(a) The illumination, both quality and quantity is sufficient.

(b) There is sufficient contrast between the object and its background.

(c) The angular subtense of the object or relevant detail is sufficient for the eye to resolve. Angular subtense Is of course dictated by the object size and Its range.

At low light levels, these three factors are very strongly inter-related. This inter-relationship te discussed In more detail in section 3.3.

There are many other factors which also influence vision at night, and the table below summarizes the most important of these.

VISION AT NIGHT

Target & Background Illumination Atmosphere & Une of Sight

Observer

Angular Subtense- Size- Range

Contrast- Target luminance• Background luminance

Illumination Level

Spectral Content- Colour rendition

Illumination Geometry- Direction- Distance of source

Transmittance

Scatter - Pollution

Obstructions

Visual Acuity

Dark Adaptation

Glare

3.2.1 Object and Background.

As mentioned earlier, the angular subtense of the object is a function of its size and its range from the observer. Genarally speaking, at a fixed illumination level, the larger the subtense, the lower is the contrast needed to see the object.

Contrast between an object and its background is merely a function of the object luminance and the background luminance. In this context, it is defined

as the ratio ^ " L where H is the higher, and L the lower of these H + L

luminances. Once again, at a fixed illumination level, the higher the contrast, the smaller is the angular subtense that can be resolved.

Background clutter can significantly degrade the ability to detect an object in the field of view. The closer the background luminance and detail angular subtense matches that of the object being viewed, the more difficult it becomes to detect the object being sought. Background clutter is conveniently classified as low, moderate or high depending on how well the background detail

11

1992-10-27 10 :5B P .02/10

matches that of the object being viewed. The Boipatong township background can be classified as moderate clutter.

Movement of an object relative to its background assists the process of detection, but does not help In recognizing or identifying the object.

3.2.2 Illumination.

The illumination level is perhaps the strongest determinant of vision at night. At a fixed contrast, as the Hlumination level decreases, so the minimum angular subtense that can be resolved, Increases.

The spectral content erf the light is important for colour rendition, The Apollo lights, although they a'e predominantly yellow / orange in colour do radiate over most of the visible spectrum. A white object, because it reflects all wavelengths will appea- yellow / orange under these lights. A red object will appear red because It selectively reflects red light and absorbs other colours, and the radiation from the Apollo lights contains a significant amount of red light.

The Illumination from artificial lights, on a vertical surface is a function of both the direction of the light source and its distance. The illumination drops off rapidly with distance as well as angle away from normal incidence. The indirect illumination, due to scattered light is dependent on the luminance of the ground In the vicinity of the object. This in turn depends on the horizontal illuminance and the reflectance of the ground itself.

3.2.3 Atmosphere and Une of Sight,

The luminance of the object and its background as perceived by an observer Is dependent on the transmittance of the atmosphere over the path length concerned. When the atmosphere is polluted two effects result:

(a) The transmittance of the atmosphere is reduced, resulting in a lower apparent luminance of the field of view.

(b) Because of the polluting particles in the air, some light destined for the eye is scattered out of the line of sight, and some unwanted tight is scattered into the path of vision. The nett result is a reduction in the apparent contrast perceived between the object and its background.

Both of these effects contribute towards a degradation of vision.

It goes without saying that any obstruction in the line of sight will impair one's vision of any object.

3.2.4 The Observer.

The observer, as the last link in the visual process, plays a major r6le. His or her visual acuity, especially under low light conditions is of paramount importance. There is a wide range of visual acuity from individual to individual. In some very exceptional cases, acuities of up to three times the average have been recorded.

12

Detection, Recognition and Identification.

An object is «aid to be detected when the observer se^s the object but cannot say what rt is Recognition has taken place when the observer recognizes the object as a vohicle tor example, but is unable to say what type of vehicle it is. The object is identified when the observer can say for example that the vehicle is a Casspir.

In order to quantify the ranges at which the various discrimination tasks can take place, It ,s necessary to establish what resolution requirements are necessary in order to accomplish these tasks.

Johnson introduced the concept of equivalent bar resolution which is defined as the number of line pairs that can be resolved across the target's minimum dimension. Johnson carded out extensive experiments using men and military vehicles as targets. The results of these expe'lments are shown graphically on the next page.

15

1992-10-27 11:00 P .06/12

These curves show the probability of correctly achieving the discrimination task as a function of the number of cycles resolved across the target minimum dimension. Note that as the resolution of the system Inc. sases, so the probability of task discrimination also increases. Johnson's experiments were done under conditions which can be classified as moderate clutter.

The table below summarizes the equivalent bar resolutions required for a 10 %, 50 % and 90 % probability of detection, recognition and identification.

Probability Detection Recognition Identification

10 % 0,45 1,80 3,61

50% 1,00 4,00 8,00

90 % 1,74 6,96 13,92

4 ILLUMINATION CONDITIONS.

4.1 General Illumination In the Township.

The Boipatong township is situated about 2 kilometres to the east of the main ISCOR Vanderbijl steel works. The township Itself consists of two sections, a larger northern, and smaller southern half separated by a swampy area. The incident in question took place in the northern half of the township.

At the time of the Incident, at about 22:00 on 17/06/1992, it was two days after full moon, and the moon was approximately 30 degrees above the horizon. The illumination at the time was therefore a combination of artificial lighting provided by the so-caJied Apollo lights, and natural illumination from the moon.

4.1.1 Artificial Illumination.

The township is illuminated by means of a number of high pressure sodium lamps, mounted on top of 30 metre high masts. Each mast carries six lamps, separated by 60 degrees in azimuth, thereby giving a full 360 degree coverage.

The masts are strategically placed throughout the township such that the nearest neighbour of any one mast is about 250 to 300 metres away. With all six lamps burning on each mast, the ground illumination within the township will generally not fail below about 0,05 lux - a value equivalent to about half­moon conditions at maximum elevation). The average Illumination level in the township is about 0,56 lux which is significantly higher than full moon conditions at maximum elevation. The areas of brightest illumination occurs about 30 metres from the lamp masts where the ground illumination can be as high as 5,5 lux.

The darkest areas of the northern township occur at the extreme east and west corners (where the nearest lamp is approximately 425 and 350 metres away respectively). The ground Illumination at these points are 0,007 and 0,016 lux respectively. These are equivalent to approximately quarter moon conditions at maximum elevation.

17

1992-10-27 11:02 P .0S /10

The co.'our coordinates of the lamp are X * 0,526 and Y = 0,418. The colour temperature of the lamp is nproximatefy 2 10D°K. The lamps are therefore predominantly yellow/urange In colour. A . 'hit© ooject illuminated by such a lamp will appear yellow/orange,

4.2.3 Physical Location of Apollo Ught*.

There are seven Apollo Lights distributed around the northern township. For the purposes of this Investigation, these are numbered 1 to 7 and their locations are given in the table below.

Apollo # Location

1 486 / 488 Tugela Street

2 790 Batsoana Street

3 Bus Terminal Cnr. Umzimvubu and Lekoa Street

4 Cnr. Bapedi Street and Mohokare Avenue (208 Mohokve)

5 Opposite 1128 / 1130 Moshoeshoe Street at Mhlapo School

6 1201 Moshoeshoe Street

7 Beer Hall - Corner Moshoeshoe And Bakoena Streets

4.3 Characteristics of Moonlight.

Moonlight is simply sunlight reflected off the moon's surface, and can therefore be regarded as “white* light, having the same spectral distribution as sunlight.

The illuminance on a horizontal surface due to the moon depends on

(a) The position of the moon relative to the sun (elongation), and

(b) Elevation of the moon about the horizon (also known as attitude).

The variation of illuminance with both elongation and altitude are given in the graph and tabie below.

19

Collection Number: AK2672 Goldstone Commission BOIPATONG ENQUIRY Records 1990-1999 PUBLISHER: Publisher:- Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand Location:- Johannesburg ©2012

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