Human Rights Violation Hearings — Cradock — 1996-02-10

MR MAKHAWULA: The main threats, since it was said that I worked together with the Boers, it was said that I was an informer and I was accused of misleading people because I
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said that people must not pay rent.
 And people were following me, they were following my command.  And it was said I do this because I was rich and they said that I owned a Supermarket in the Transkei and I owned a double house, double storey house in Transkei.  
 People were toyi-toying concerning these allegations that I am a rich man in Transkei and I am misleading people here in Cradock.

MR SANDI: These butcheries, supermarkets and double storey house, did you really own these properties?

MR MAKHAWULA: Sir, when these things were rumoured in the township, I was surprised because I am just a dog, I can't own a supermarket.
 But this became clear because later on it was found out that in the work of these Boers, as they were trying to destroy the organisations and the townships, there was an Indian man in the community, he owned a shop and he was running, he was the owner of the shop.
 But I am not sure about this, but I think he was not the owner of that shop, but he was just being used.  That shop belonged to SANLAM.  One day we had a mass meeting in the hall and in that shop the youth used to go there all the time, and in that mass meeting in the hall that Indian man came to the meeting ...

BONGANI FINCA: Excuse me Mr Makhawula, I know that in the Xhoza words the name of the Indian man is used differently.  I would like you to refer to this guy as an Indian man, not as a Kula, because it is like a kaffir.

MR MAKHAWULA: In that mass meeting on that day, this Indian man came together with the youth.  He was to be a speaker in that meeting.
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 We were surprised by this because I did not know this Indian man really and I was surprised to see him because it is difficult to give such an opportunity to someone you do not know.
 And then we said that we will meet with him the following day.  We refused to give him permission to be a speaker in that meeting.

MR SANDI: Mr Makhawula, let us now continue.  At home you were arrested with the children.  There was a young boy, he was 14 years old.  When was this?

MR MAKHAWULA: That was in 1986.

MR SANDI: Were you being arrested under the State of Emergency?

MR MAKHAWULA: In 1986 on the day the second State of Emergency was declared.

MR SANDI: How long did you stay in prison together with your son who was 14 years old?

MR MAKHAWULA: I stayed there for 14 days.

MR SANDI: What happened to you while you were there, when you were inside there?

MR MAKHAWULA: Nothing happened to me there.  My son stayed there for five months, my 14 year old son stayed there for five months.

MR SANDI: As you were a leader and the police were trying to cause conflict between you and the community, can you say that the police were successful in trying to do this?

MR MAKHAWULA: No, they were not successful because people around here, people here in Cradock - we thought previously about these things, they were aware of such situations.

MR SANDI: In your organisation were there people who were believing what the police were saying?
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MR MAKHAWULA: In the organisation there were people who used to believe what the police was saying about me.

MR SANDI: Is that all you wanted to say in front of this Commission Mr Makhawula about what happened to you?

MR MAKHAWULA: I wanted to talk about this Indian man.

MR SANDI: I would ask you to drop this issue of the Indian man because you said that you were suspecting him.
 But you may contact our investigators to talk about this Indian man.  Because what is important when you come in front of this Commission, we have to focus on what happened to you, that's why I asked you if there is anything you wanted to say about the events that happened to you while you were a member of this organisation.

MR MAKHAWULA: There are a lot of things that happened to me sir.  Because one day I was at home and I heard a toyi-toyi coming towards me house and I heard that I was going to be killed.
 I stayed there waiting.  When the toyi-toyi arrived in front of my house others passed and others went back.  But after a while I finally stopped them because they were fighting.  Initially they came to kill me, but I ended up trying to stop them because they were fighting amongst children.
 That is one of the issues.  But before this one there were rumours that I was going to be killed.  I heard that while I was in Gauteng and when I heard this, I came back.  Fortunately there was a kombi where Mrs Goniwe, Mrs Xalata were in the kombi and I came back with them.
 When I arrived here, those rumours were true and after that there was this toyi-toyi.  There was another attempt, two toyi-toyi's, but they were unsuccessful.
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MR SANDI: What was the reason for these attempts to be unsuccessful, if you can just clarify that shortly?

MR MAKHAWULA: Shortly the reason why these were not successful is that the truth came out and secondly as I have already said here before, people here in Cradock were oppressed for a long time and they knew that the police were misleading them all the time, so it was not easy for them to accept something they were not sure about.
 Thirdly what helped is that I was working with people, I was involved in the community activities and for that reason the people didn't believe these allegations.

MR SANDI: ; At the time the councillors' houses were burnt down, were you ever arrested?

MR MAKHAWULA: When my house was being burnt down and the following night, they did not burn down the councillors' houses, but they were stoned and the windows were broken, they broke the windows.
 They said that those were attempts to burn down the councillors' houses, I was then arrested for those incidents.

MR SANDI: Were you sentenced in court?

MR MAKHAWULA: I did not go to any court of law but they released me because they said that the witnesses were not available and I don't know even today who those witnesses were.

MR SANDI: Is that all you want to say Mr Makhawula before I hand over to the Chairperson?

MR MAKHAWULA: I have an amputated left leg and in 1984 I requested a pension and the District Surgeon at that time helped me and the papers went to Pretoria.  They came through, I managed to get the pension but at that time he
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 was not aware that I was involved in political organisations and I received the pension money for the first time.
 When it came for the second time, I was in prison and they charged me with fraud because they said that my wife was working and I was not supposed to get a pension.

MR SANDI: What happened to that fraud case?

MR MAKHAWULA: The fraud case went to court.

MR SANDI: Were you sentenced in court, were you found guilty?

MR MAKHAWULA: No, I was not found guilty in court.

MR SANDI: ; In other words you want to say the police who were after you had an effect in the case against you?  Were they involved in this case?

MR MAKHAWULA: Yes, the police were involved in this case against me.

MR SANDI: In conclusion Mr Makhawula, were there any people who came to you to apologise?  Maybe people who said that that attempt by the police, that you were an informer was successful, did they come to you to apologise?

MR MAKHAWULA: Yes, there are a lot of people who came to me to apologise.

MR SANDI: Are there any people you expect now to come to you to apologise as others have already come?

MRS MAKHAWULA: ; Yes, I am still waiting for others to come and apologise and I would welcome them.  They can come even today.

MR SANDI: Is that all Mr Makhawula?

MR MAKHAWULA: Yes, that is all for now sir, thank you.