INLSA

Gillian Schermbrucker, a victim of the St. James Church attack in 1993, with a flag made of children's handprints. She said the attack made her love her country even more. Photo: Matthew Jordaan

Melanie Gosling

WHEN Gcinikhaya Makoma attacked the St James Church in 1993, one of the grenades he and the four other attackers hurled into the congregation exploded next to 18-year-old Gillian Schermbrucker.

The five Azanian People’s Liberation Army members had taped nails to the grenades. The blast tore the flesh from Schermbrucker’s legs, shot shrapnel into her heart and embedded one of the nails into her lung.

After 50 hours of surgery over five months, Schermbrucker recovered. She is now head of the paediatric unit at Victoria Hospital in Wynberg. She carries the scars of the attack, but no anger or bitterness.

“The St James attack has made me love my country more. We know how much attention the media gives to the hurt and violence, but not to the love. After the attack I was bowled over by the love from all people from all backgrounds. I once went to pick up my brother from a restaurant where he worked and about 25 staff came out ululating, crying and hugging me, guys from the townships who didn’t know me. It was one of the most overwhelming experiences. I have had love and support from most of the population.

“We have problems, they’re obvious, but most people do want to invest and build this country,” Schermbrucker said yesterday.

Four years after the St James Church attack Schermbrucker met Makoma in Pollsmoor Prison. He was serving his 23-year jail sentence after being convicted of murder for the attack in which 11 people were killed.

Schermbrucker said at the time she had told Makoma what he had done was wrong, but commented after the meeting: “In a way he was a nice guy, and I imagine he would be a good citizen from now on, not a murderer.”

But Makoma’s life did not turn out that way. After being granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after serving five years of his sentence, he was arrested in 2002 with six others for a cash-in-transit heist in Constantia. They were acquitted because police apparently bungled the case.

In 2007 he was arrested with 10 others for a cash-in-transit heist in Parow. The cased ended this week with Makoma convicted of murder, two counts of robbery and four counts of attempted murder.

What did Schermbrucker think of her “good citizen” comment of 1997?

“I have more mature thoughts now. I say to our students who all fall in love with the five-year-olds in hospital, many of whom come from horrendous social circumstances, I say: ‘Add 15 years to this five-year-old and what is the difference between the child and the tattooed gangster stealing for tik?’”

“Makoma went undercover when he was 14 or 15 with the PAC, his identity was with the group, those were his people and he was trained to fight. It can’t exonerate him, but it does give an explanation. It should make us more aware of the influence we have on our young people.

“Children need to know they are valued, but kids are often just ‘add-ons’ and don’t get love or teaching from adults. The St James attack has made me more motivated to invest in our children.”