Amnesty Hearings — Richards Bay — 1998-04-14

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Shortly, if I can put it this way, at that time I was desperate, desperately in need of a job, I had just completed my matric and I started applying to Colleges of Education for admission, because my intention was to become a teacher.  As I was  waiting for a response from one of the Colleges, then came Zakhile whom I explained as a member of the Central Committee.
	He then told me that there is a position, a vacant post.   As my cousin, I trusted him and I then asked for details relating to the position and he then explained to me that the position is in the KwaZulu Police.  I then asked as to whether I was going to be a Police and he said yes.
	This is a position where you would be a policeman.

MR WILLS: Thank you.  Mr Mkhize, I am sorry to interrupt you but it is important that you speak up as loud as you can.  You then accepted the position and you went to a camp near Ulundi, called Hlungwani Camp, and at that camp a screening process was conducted by certain persons.  Can you tell us about the screening process and also can you give the names of the persons who were instrumental in the screening process?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Let me just explain this to clarify it.  This doesn't mean I had not yet been admitted into the Police Force, but I would like to explain from my departing from Hammersdale, Mpumalanga where I finally left for Mhlahlane Camp in Ulundi where I was finally recruited as a person who would finally be trained in Caprivi.
	Beaufort Mkehle, Zakhile's brother took me and he was at the time Head of Youth Affairs in the then KwaZulu government.  He connected me with Numzani Ntwe Mafole.   Ntwe Mafole was at the time the National Organiser of Inkatha Youth Brigade. 
	Ntwe Mafole then took me to Mhlahlane Camp where the recruitment was taking place, where people were being recruited which people were said to later become members of the KwaZulu Police.

MR WILLS: You have indicated in your affidavit in paragraph 7, page 74 of the bundle, the screening process.  Can you just briefly tell the Committee what that entailed?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Here I am talking about the screening process which was aimed at establishing as to how much a person qualified to be admitted for the training.

MR WILLS: Yes, but what were those qualifications?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: They were not necessarily looking at what educational qualifications a person had, the important thing that they were looking for was to first of all establish whether a person was a member of Inkatha and how trustworthy the person was within the movement, and they also looked at the physical strength, medically speaking, and they would also establish as to whether a person would be able to endure the kind of training laying ahead.
	They also emphasised the importance of trustworthiness within the movement, and they wanted to establish as to whether a person knew the aims of the movement and the policies of the movement.
	Those are the things on which they concentrated.  These included among other things, things such as the Constitution and the kind of conduct that was expected of members.  Basically they wanted to know how much a person knew with reference to politics.
	But mainly trustworthiness was important.

MR WILLS: You are saying in other words, correct me if I am wrong, the inference of your evidence is to the effect that in order to be selected for this position, you indeed had to be a loyal Inkatha supporter, is that correct?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Yes, that is what I am saying.

SISI KHAMPEPE: And committed Mr Wills?  Loyal and committed member?  There is some interference in our headphones.

MR WILLS: I am indebted to you Ms Committee member.  Just to finalise the point, obviously the implication of your evidence is that if you were a member of another political party, you would not have been accepted into that recruitment process?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Mr Chairman, they would discover such a thing timeously.  Many people were sent back if I were to continue.  Many people arrived in droves but only 200 were admitted and the rest was sent back.
	Not necessarily because they were not physically fit, but because their trustworthiness was questionable within the organisation.

MR WILLS: Mr Mkhize, you then received physical training for a few weeks at this camp I believe, and I am moving on to paragraph 8 of your affidavit, and then you were taken to Durban airport and you were flown to what to your knowledge then, was an unknown destination, is that correct?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Yes, that is correct.

MR WILLS: I think it common cause amongst the legal representatives here, that the aircraft you were flown in was a military aircraft, and that you were taken from the camp in Zululand in an unmarked truck?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Yes, that is correct.

MR WILLS: Now, can you describe fairly briefly the type of training that you received at the camp?  Sorry to disturb you Mr Mkhize, I think we now all know that this was a camp indeed in the Caprivi area, in Namibia, so I am going to refer to it as the camp at Caprivi from now on.
	If you can describe the training you received in the Caprivi.

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Mr Chairman, I would like to go back a little bit because my lawyer has already spoken about two camps, the one camp in Mhlahlane.  There might be confusion there, and now he is talking about the Caprivi camp.
	I would like to explain that the Mhlahlane camp did not entail any training, that was a transit camp, we were waiting there.
	Where we were waiting for a certain number of recruits, after which we would proceed on.  We were only drilling and Themba Qosibe was the one in charge for that kind of training.  He came from the KwaZulu Police where he was a Sergeant.
	He accompanied us to Caprivi.  Others were also screened and they were checked by Doctors, white Doctors were also in Mhlahlane camp, checking their medical conditions and checking what other diseases they may have.
	The kind of training that I got there, was the kind of training that was physical, including drill among others.  There came a time where we were about 206, then we were taken to Caprivi.
	If I were to explain, I would also say we were taken in these huge trucks that are referred to as furniture removals.  Those trucks do not have windows.  Many people Ii think, know those trucks.  They were not necessarily meant for transporting people.  We were taken into the trucks, driven to the airport and we arrived there at round about nine o'clock from Mhlahlane camp.
	There were not 206 of us in the trucks, we were divided into two groups and we were taken to the Durban airport where we caught a flight to Caprivi.

MR WILLS: Thank you Mr Mkhize, if you can just explain to the Committee members and to the members of the public, what your training at the Caprivi camp consisted of.

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Mr Chair, there are things that I would like to refer to, even though I realise that my representative, my legal representative seem to leave certain things out.
	I would like to explain some of the things, and I want to believe that as time goes on, I might come across questions which I shall have answered if I were to explain.
	I would like to refer my legal representative back before answering his question.  If the Commission can permit?

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, proceed.