Human Rights Violation Hearings — Empangeni — 1996-11-06

WITNESS:   Okay.  (Witness continues in Zulu, through Interpreter)   When they tried to attack me.  When they tried to attack me, they came to me and arrested me.  It was at about 8 o'clock.  They found us in my car.  It was a lot of them.  They wanted to stop the car at the crossroad.  Then I realised.  I tried to rush or speed up and they stopped us at the corner near my house.  They started beating us, hit us and they arrested all of us and took us to the police station and my car was being used the whole night, because the next morning, when I was released, I found other people who have been beaten by the police because they said they were taking my car and I told them that I was arrested at that time.  At 125, where I was staying, on the 26th my house was attacked.  I think it was for the fourth time.  But most of the time they used to come to my neighbour and attack my neighbour.  It was Mthethwa's house.  It was at 124.  They used to throw a hand grenade there and then the next day we will discover that they were trying to attack and they were angry at each other why they attacked the house 124 instead of 125.  Now, because I'm a Zulu guy and again I'm also a Zionist, I used to go to, "iSangomas" to try and protect myself, because I knew there were people who were trying to kill me.  Maybe that's why - it's because of "Muthi" that their hand grenade will go to a neighbour, not my house, but what I didn't like is that also my neighbour was like me and this, "Muthi" wasn't good because on the 26th they came back at about 9 o'clock.  Let me just clarify one thing before I talk about what's written on this statement.  What's written on page 3, No 20, it reads like this, "I heard a loud bang that something exploded outside the kitchen".  I saw afterwards that the attackers had attempted to throw a hand grenade into the kitchen, but it had rolled back outside.  It exploded about 1 metre from the kitchen door.  I would like to put this on record that this stanza which is on No 20, it's not true.  I wrote it like this.  I gave them this information like this because they were Zulu Police or KZP, so I was protecting myself, because they were trying to arrest me at that time and they asked me how I protected myself, so I had to lie to them and tell them that they were the ones who threw a hand grenade to my house.  One policeman who came from Pretoria, who arrived at the SB from Empangeni, he said he was here to see me, just me.  He wanted to talk with me.  He wanted me to take a drive with him, so I realised that something was wrong and the Zulu Police will come out from my statement that they came, because they were the ones who were behind this.  On the 26th at about 9 o'clock I came back from my house.  I was from a meeting and as soon as I arrived in my house something in my blood told me something wasn't right.  I went to Fred's house to park my car there and I told him that I was scared and I told him that these people are coming to attack me and they'll burn my car.  I told him I'm going to park my car at his place and he must come the next morning and fetch me so that we go to work.  I was tired when I got back home.  In my house it was me, Rich, my brother's son, Lucky, my brother's son as well, and there was Msizi Mchunu, who was my friend and also my security, because the COSATU had made a decision that I must have a security because my life was in danger.  Msizi was a member and also a commander of MK.  He had gone to exile and came back and he was someone who was staying here.  I don't know where Msizi got a hand grenade, but he is the one who came with a hand grenade to my house.  Another person who was also there was Enoch Nzuza.  I can't remember very well whether at that time he was a shop steward or he was a manager.  Enoch Nzuza had survived an attack which was directed to him and we decided that he must come over to my place, because at that time he was scared.  He stayed in my house and then he drank liquor.  We allowed him to sleep in my house because he wanted to go and sleep at his friend's place, because he was scared also to sleep in my house, because my house was also a target for the police.  He went to bed earlier or before me.  Msizi, Lucky and myself were watching television.  At about 10 o'clock, after I left, Lucky and Msizi were watching television.  I heard gunfire and I woke up and after that I heard that eight people were killed at Esikhaweni.  Msizi escaped.  He went to another house - he and Richard - and Lucky came and told me that we are being attacked.  I rushed to my 9mm and this 9mm I have a licence for it.  I just fire without knowing who I was firing at, because all over  there were gunshots.  After that I could smell something and I realised that it was teargas and they threw it through my kitchen window and my dining room window and then that's when we decided that we should run outside.  I crawled from my bedroom, me and Lucky.  We grabbed Enoch, because we knew that he was drunk.  We opened the shower and then I told Lucky that we must go to the kitchen so that we can tell where the gunshots were coming from.  They kicked the door open.  The door was half opened.  We waited for them to shoot again, so that we can tell where the shots were coming from, and we realised after a while that they were all over, surrounding the house and we realised as well that some of them were at the door.  I started shooting.  I was shooting through the open window, because I knew at that time if there was someone outside that door then that person will be scared and give us way, and then I told Lucky that, "If I shoot you go out".  I shot twice and Lucky ran out and he ran to our neighbour.  I was left inside the house with Enoch.  At that time Enoch couldn't breathe.  I realised myself that I was also having problems breathing.  I went back to the shower.  When I arrived there I think my mind wasn't serving me very well and I dropped the gun in the tap and then I went back to the kitchen.  When I went to the kitchen and I didn't have a gun at that time then I realised that it was now quiet.  I checked outside the door, because it was slightly open and I saw my neighbour's house, which was about 5 metres away from my house and he was working at Indian Ocean.  I saw four people lying down in front of that house.  I couldn't understand whether the three people were the three people who left my house, but then I was asking, "Who is this fourth person?  Because only three people left my house.  Now four people are lying there", and then I screamed.  I called Rich and Msizi.  I wanted to see if they were going to respond, and when I was calling Rich then gunfire came there right from those people who were lying down there and then I ran back to the bathroom and then they shot the window, the bathroom window, and then I realised it wasn't the people who ran away from this house and then I shouted again.  They realised that the voice was coming from the kitchen this time, so they shot through the kitchen door.  The way I was standing, I made sure that they would miss me if they will try to shoot me.  I was lying down.  I realised that those people were not the people that I was looking for.  A white van, a ZP van, and this van came and parked between my neighbour's house and my house, and that house belonged to Mazwe, because Mazwe wasn't a danger at all to me and after that all these people who were attacking me went to that van and I realised that these were the people that I'm not used to seeing and I don't know them and I thought they also didn't know me and they went up until to that van.  On the statement it's not that clear.  I think it's because it was written by the Zulu Police.  These guys went and talked to the people who were in that van and then they went to Mrs Ndlovu's house and she was also a target.  She was also their victim and I saw them through my kitchen window and I was trying to peep.  I was staying there because the door was slightly open and I was avoiding to suffocate myself from the teargas.  When they arrived at the window they said, "Please give us the gun that you are shooting at us with".  I wanted to ask them who they were and then I thought that if they were clever they would know where the voice is coming from and that's where they will shoot, so I decided to keep quiet.  I remembered that Msizi once showed me something.  Then I crawled towards the place where he showed me he had put that thing and that was a hand grenade.  At that time I didn't have a gun and I decided that I should do something, even if it means for me to die or to live, and I prayed that the Lord should just help me and find that thing there.  I crawled and I found that hand grenade.  I crawled again and they said to me I must please give them the gun and I told them that I can't give them the gun, because can't walk, I'm hurt, and they said - they realised that I was still alive and they said, "Give us the gun", and they told me that they were going to throw another teargas.  I think they did, because I could smell something very strong that time and then I asked them why would they kill me.  They must just come and take the gun and they said to me if they can find that gun they will leave.  But I also knew that whatever they were promising it wasn't true, and after they heard that I couldn't walk all of them came to the door.  I saw they were rushing for my head.  At that time I was ready to give them the hand grenade and when they rushed to the door that's when I threw the hand grenade to them and it blew them.  They ran.  They left their guns.  When I looked outside I realised that it looked like it was okay, and then I ran away, even though I was worried about Enoch, whom I left inside the house.  I called the Esikhaweni Police Station and when I made that call the police who took the call only said, "Is that Bheki Ntuli "from 125?", and I explained to him what had happened and they said they can't come to me because a lot of people have died at Esikhaweni - they've been killed - and when I asked the police who was I talking to he said there was no need ... (end of tape No 4A)