Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1998-04-17

MR WILLS: Okay I want to concentrate on the firearms.  It seems to me that from the evidence in any event that you had a central role in storing the firearms.  For a long time the trunk that contained the firearms for example and the firearms obviously I'm referring to the firearms that your hit squad used.  The trunk was stored at your house.

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.

MR WILLS: Why was this trunk stored at your house?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Firstly the trunk did not originally stay with me, it was staying at a certain house that we called Snake Park because the IFP youth would open this trunk and remove weapons and use them in an inappropriate manner.  Mrs Umbiasi said we should remove the trunk and take it to my house because where I stayed I was not alone I stayed with other policemen and my house was very near to Mrs Umbiasi's.
	Firstly I would prevent these boys from removing weapons, secondly policemen wouldn't come and search for weapons from my house because I was also a policeman.  But those were the two reasons that I can mention here.

MR WILLS: Yes but in fact on one occasion, I don't know if it's included in your affidavit, I can't remember but I remember that the evidence that you gave at the Supreme Court  before Judge van der Reyden that on one occasion even the South African Police searched your house, is that correct?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes it is so.

MR WILLS: Can you just briefly explain what happened as result of that search to the public and the Members of the Committee?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: It was on a Sunday morning, I was alone in the house.  The Internal Stability Unit from the SAP arrived at my house.  They kicked the door open, got inside the house and pointed with guns at me and then they started searching the other rooms.  When I asked them what they wanted they said they were looking or searching for weapons and that they had information that I had AK47's in my house.  Because I was alone in the house and because I had been attacked several times in the house I had two AK47's under my bed and the rest were in the trunk locked away.  They found these two guns under the bed.  After this the white sergeant came in and he turned on the light because they had not turned on the light before but they had their torches on.  On turning on the light he was shocked and he asked if I was not a KwaZulu policeman	and I said yes and he said "are you stationed at eSikhawini?" and I said that is so and he requested the other policemen to leave the house, he wanted to speak to me alone.  They left and he said to me "how do you work, how do you operate at the eSikhawini Police Station?" and I said I didn't understand what he was saying and he replied that they had received information from Crime Stop that my house J2 4091, that certain MK members resided at this house and they were armed, that he was there having been accompanied by a KwaZulu police member who had identified the house and who had initially phoned Crime Stop and given them that information.
	I asked who that policeman was and he said we should go outside because this policeman was outside.  Because I did not quite trust him, I took my gun and went out with him.  On arriving outside I saw two Inyalas outside and behind these two Inyalas were two vans, one of them AZP777 from eSikhawini, it was stationery.  On nearing the van I saw that the driver was Sergeant Dlamini who was in the hit list that had been supplied by the IFP leadership.  There was also a boy called Mbuso in the passenger seat who resided at H2 but his home was at Langezwa.  This boy was not a policeman but he was an ANC member.  He was dressed in camouflage uniform from the KwaZulu Police.  I was shocked to see this.  There was also Constable Kadela from the eSikhawini Police Station.  
	When I approached the car I said "these people are drunk" and this white Sergeant said Dlamini should get out of the car because he wanted to test his liquor level.  Dlamini pretended to be getting out but he did not he just pressed on the car and sped off.  We went across the road trying to block his way and he just came straight for us and we just had to get off the road.  
	This white policeman then apologised and said because they had broken the door they would arrive at eSikhawini Police Station and go to Brigadier Msemela and they would make a full statement on the incident so that the state could refund me so that I could fix my door.  
	I went to Mrs Umbiasi's house and reported the matter to her.

MR WILLS: Yes obviously you weren't arrested at that stage?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes, I wasn't arrested.

MR WILLS: And you weren't arrested despite the fact that weapons such as four AK47 rifles, a stainless steel shotgun, a shotgun with a modified handle, a number of F1 and RGD5 hand grenades, a number of home made explosives, a number of rounds of ammunition and detonators were found in your possession?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.

MR WILLS: Why weren't you arrested?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: This white sergeant said that he did not see anything wrong if police protect themselves with AK47's because the ANC was busy killing policemen with the same AK47's.  That was what he told the other policemen and they also accepted this and they also apologised that they had gotten wrong information, they didn't know that I was also a policeman.

MR WILLS: Yes.  Now you indicate on paragraphs 36 and 37 where you got these weapons from.  I think Mkhize has told us what came from Thomas Buthelezi at Port Danford.  Then you indicate in this affidavit that you were present when a AK47 was handed to Mrs Umbiasi which that same AK later came into your possession.  Can you just explain the circumstances around that?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: I had been called by Mr M.R. Mkhize who worked in the IFP office in Empangeni.  Some weapons were supposed to be delivered there.  These guns would be distributed to various areas to protect IFP members because IFP members had been complaining that they were being attacked by Bonga Insomi but they couldn't defend themselves.  Bongani Insomi was an ANC member.  I arrived at the office.  After a short while Mr  arrived and he informed us that there was a box that we were supposed to pick up from his car - he was with his bodyguard and a driver.
	We fetched the box from the car and we brought it to the office.  We opened it - there were 20 AK47s in the box.  We separated these according to the regions that they were supposed to go to and then he took one from these and he said this was going to go to Mokabai.

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Mrs Umbiasi?

MR WILLS: Yes Mrs Umbiasi.  After that we remained at the office and discussed other political issues and then he left going to eSikhawini taking this AK47 that he had said was to be given to Mokabai and in the office I did not accompany him until in the evening when I went to my place I received a message that Mrs Umbiasi wanted to see me.  I went to her place where she said to me take this rifle, keep it with the rest and she indicated that Nyambosi, that is Mr Mtetwa is the one who brought the rifle to her.

MR WILLS: Yes this person was at one stage the KwaZulu Natal Minister of Safety and Security, is that correct?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct, he is also a pastor.

MR WILLS: You say in your paragraph 37 that you overheard a conversation between M.R. Mkhize and C.J. Mtetwa as regards where they got the firearms from.  Do you remember that?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes.  He said these rifles came from Mozambique, they got it from the border that separates South Africa and Mozambique near Umgwavma.

MR WILLS: You also indicate in paragraph 36 that Mayor B.B. Biela handed you certain explosives, is that correct?