Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-08-29

WITNESS:   They were white soldiers who told me that they were police.

KHOZA MGOJO: Soldiers who removed things from your property?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

KHOZA MGOJO: (Inaudible) ... in the area that soldiers had removed windows and doors and other things?

WITNESS:   No, I was the last one.  I was the first one it happened to, and I was the last one to whom it happened.

COMMISSIONER: Mrs Luthuli, thank you very much for coming into today.  You have described to us some of the activities of the A-Team in Chesterville during the 1980s, and your story is very similar to stories which we have heard from people in the Free State, where we heard about similar gangs.  We heard about gangs called the Eagles and the Three Million gang, and all these gangs were set up in the same way and had the same aim, to intimidate, to harass, and to kill politically active members of the community.  And the police cynically used these gangs, these surrogate forces in many parts of the country for several years.  And in Chesterville, as we know, and as you have told us, many people were brutally assaulted, and more than 20 people were killed by the A-Team in Chesterville.  And this evidence is important because it provides us with a background about the A-Team and how it co-operated with the police, and when we write our report at the end of our period of office your evidence will be there to tell us about the history and the activities of the A-Team.  And you've also given us a very vivid description of what life was like for a politically active person in Umlazi in 1990, and this is also important for the purposes of our report.
So we thank you very much for coming in, and we wish you well as you go.  We will take your requests and we will be making recommendations to the Government, and we have heard what you have asked us and we will be making recommendations to the Government as to how people like you may be assisted.  Thank you very much.

COMMISSIONER: We welcome you here today, Mrs Ngobese.  Can you hear me and understand me through the earphones?

MRS NGOBESE: Yes.

COMMISSIONER: You have somebody with you on the stage.  Who is that?

MRS NGOBESE: It's my daughter.

COMMISSIONER: What is your daughter's name please?

MRS NGOBESE: Molly.

COMMISSIONER: Welcome Molly, and Mrs Ngobese.  You have come to tell us about the death of your son, Mxolisi, who died in 1990.  Before you tell us that story can you please stand to take the oath.

MRS NGOBESE: (Sworn, States)   (Through Interpreter)

COMMISSIONER: Now, just before you start, Mrs Ngobese, just tell us how many children do you have?  You have your daughter Molly with us today, and you son, Mxolisi, he died in 1990.  Do you have other children?

WITNESS:   Yes, I do have other children.  I have six children.

COMMISSIONER: Yes, just take your time.  I know it's very difficult for you to tell that story, and we understand how you are feeling.  And are you living in Durban North, as you have said in your statement?  Is that right?

WITNESS:  Yes, I am still staying there.

COMMISSIONER: Are you working, Mrs Ngobese?

WITNESS:   Yes, I am working.

COMMISSIONER: Are you a domestic worker?

WITNESS:   I am a domestic.

COMMISSIONER: Now, you've said in your statement that in 1990 Mxolisi was schooling at Ndwedwe, is that right?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

COMMISSIONER: How old was he then?

WITNESS:   I don't remember how old he was at that time because I got confused immediately after the incident.  I think he was about 21 years old, or 20.

COMMISSIONER: You said in your statement he was born in 1969, and this happened in 1990, so he was ... (intervention)

WITNESS:  That is correct.

COMMISSIONER: Now, you said that on the 9th of May he didn't come home from school.  You said that he used to go to school in Ndwedwe, and then come home for weekends.  Is that right?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

COMMISSIONER: But he didn't come back from school.

WITNESS:   That is correct.

COMMISSIONER: Tell us what happened.  Can you tell us how it happened in your own words.  You said in your statement you started to become worried about him.

WITNESS:   It was on a Wednesday, on the 9th.  I was supposed to go court in Ndwedwe, and I was supposed to pass at his school, but I was not able to go to him at school, then I went straight to court.  He was staying with my sister-in-law, and I was staying here in Durban, and each time I would go past his school, then on Fridays he would come back, and he had a temporary job that he did on Saturday as well as Sunday, and then he would come back home and leave on Monday for school.  So that was routine, that's what he used to do.  He used to come back on Friday.  I went to Ndwedwe on that particular day, and I came back home without going to him at school.  And then on Thursday I went back to work, and when I came back from work I was told that two males had come from Ndwedwe.  They were the Mthembu males, and they gave them cool drink as well as biscuits.  I went to pay them money because they had taken these things on credit.  On Friday I said they must go fetch his reference book.  They went to fetch his reference book at Ntuzuma.  When I came back on Friday I said they should show me his ID even before he came back, and each time I come back on Friday I  would get him at home.  Just as I opened his reference book I heard a voice that said, "The owner of this reference book is no longer alive."