Amnesty Hearings — East London — 1998-10-09

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Yes, I'm prepared to do so.  When I came from Mdantsane on stand-by we went to Bisho 165 Battalion.  When we arrived there at 1 Ciskei Battalion we were given our salaries and we were given one day off.  That meant that we were supposed to come back the following day.
	In the morning the following day I was still sleeping with my girlfriend.  I woke up and I prepared myself because I knew very well that on that particular  day I was supposed to wake up and go back to work.  I think it was, the time was between 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock but I woke up before lighting my lamp in the house.  
	When I was still relaxing there on my bed I realised that something was happening, something that sounded like a big stone hitting the window.  I took my girlfriend, we took cover with my girlfriend.  We sat down next to the bed.  She cried and asked me what was happening.  I tried to close her mouth with my hand because I wanted her to keep quiet.  And I whispered in her ear and I told her that people are coming to attack us.  
	When I looked through the window I realised that the lace curtain was actually moving because of the wind.  I saw someone who was lighting a match outside the window.  When I took a closer look, the first matchstick did not light and the petrol bomb did not explode inside the house, the one that the person was throwing.  And then the person decided to use the match to light the fire and I realised the person who was doing this was my own neighbour.  And my girlfriend, the one that was with me cried and she ran away, or not my girlfriend but my neighbour ran away.  
	I went to the door and I opened the door quietly and I went out and I took my girlfriend to my sister, to my sister's child who was with my sister and told them to stay with her.  I left quickly to the house, to my family house to ask for a telephone.  When I picked up the phone I realised that the phone was also out of order but I knew that a day before the phone was working.  
	I asked my sister to borrow me a torch and I checked the telephone line outside and I discovered that it was disconnected.  After that I left, I went to one of my colleagues who was also there in the area and I asked for assistance.  The assistance that I asked for was a pistol.  He did not want to give me this pistol. I left him and I went to my home.  
	When I arrived there I told my mother that I was going to Bisho to fetch my firearm.  I did that, I went to Bisho.  I went straight to my bungalow and I opened my locker.  I took out my firearm.  I went to King William's Town.  From King William's Town I went to Peddie in town and I left.  
	From there I went to the village where I was staying.  Unfortunately I saw the deceased staying with h is grandfather and I told him that I wanted to ask something from him.  He enquired about what I was prepared to tell him about.  And I told him that it was a long story, therefore we had to take a walk and get out of the yard.  We did so.  I asked the deceased why did he want to destroy me and my home, what was the reason and he said to me he did not do that, he denied.
	After that I told him that: "You can't talk like that because last night you were there at my place.  You were there to attack me and now this is my turn and it's my turn to attack you."  I did so, I attacked him.  He died.

MS COLLETT: What did you do to him?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I shot him.

MS COLLETT: How many times did you shoot him?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Will you please repeat your question Ma'am?

MS COLLETT: Sorry, how many times did you shoot him?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I shot him more than once, more than ten times.

MS COLLETT: Now can you tell the Committee what ...[intervention]

CHAIRPERSON: Did you know the deceased well?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Yes, I do.

CHAIRPERSON: Why do you say you know him well?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I knew him very well because we used to go hunting together and we used to go to fetch pineapples together while we were still at school.

CHAIRPERSON: You knew him intimately?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Yes, we grew up together.

ADV SANDI: And his father, did you know him well also?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I don't know him much because he used to be a working person.  The only person that I know it's his mother because she was home with him.

CHAIRPERSON: Carry on.

MS COLLETT: Thank you.
	Now how did you feel when you discovered that the person who wanted to burn your house down was in fact your neighbour?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I was very disappointed to see my neighbour who wanted to do this thing to me, knowing very well that we grew up together and we used to do most of the things together.

MS COLLETT: How did that affect your trust towards people?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I couldn't trust anyone after discovering that my own neighbour, the one that I know, can attack me.  Therefore that situation led me to distrust anyone except my family.

MS COLLETT: Now you mentioned to the Committee that you actually tried to phone the police, is that correct?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Yes.

ADV SANDI: Which police did you phone?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Peddie Police Station.

ADV SANDI: When you went to the taxi rank to catch a taxi, was that police station on your way?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I could not go there because the phone was out of order, therefore I thought I was going to use the phone.  I did not go there.  But later I discovered that the phone was not working, it was out of order therefore I could not contact the police.

CHAIRPERSON: That's not an answer to the question.  The question is:  On your way to get a taxi in order to go to Bisho, did you pass the Peddie Police Station?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Yes, I went past the police station.

CHAIRPERSON: Then why didn't you go there and report the matter, ask for assistance?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: The reason for me not to get inside and to ask for assistance, first of all the police themselves were very busy in what was happening in Bisho.

CHAIRPERSON: What did you expect them to do if that phone was working then, if they were so busy and hardly like to come to ...[intervention]

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I would just tell them that here the people are attacking me therefore I'm expecting their help but I later realised that even the police themselves, their lives were in danger.

ADV SANDI: On your way back from Bisho with your firearm, did you go past the police station?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: No.

MS COLLETT: Now what was the relationship like between the members of the CDF and the police at that time?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I do want to lie, they were not in good terms, the police and soldiers.  The police used to regard us as people who were illiterate.  There was that type of an attitude between the police force and the soldiers.

MS COLLETT: Did you think that the police would be able to afford you any protection?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: I did not think that they would give me some assistance but I did not want to conclude about that, though I did not think that they were going to help me.

MS COLLETT: Now why was it that you killed the deceased?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: The reason for me to kill him it's because I was very frightened because I saw horrible things that happened to my colleagues.  The one from Mdantsane and the other one from Dimbaza.  I thought that the same thing would happen to me.

MS COLLETT: At the time did you regard the killing of the deceased as the only way to help yourself?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: At the time it is because I was scared, that is why I decided to kill him because I thought that as he did not get a chance to kill me, if he comes for the second time he would be able to kill me.

ADV DE JAGER: So you killed him in order to protect your own life, is that correct?

THEMBA DAVID MARAMBANA: Besides that, besides trying to protect myself I was also afraid.