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

CHAIRPERSON: That was the last witness we have today.  There were three or four more witnesses who were going to come today, but for one reason or another they didn't arrive.  Some of them, we think, were afraid to come.  Some of them maybe found difficulties with transport because of the damp weather.  Many people in the audience today asked whether we were going to hear evidence about the Alusaf bus massacre, and we were going to hear evidence.  We have the statement of one person here today who was going to talk about the death of her husband in the Alusaf bus massacre.  It was a very, very important event in the history of this area, but that person didn't arrive.  We don't know why she didn't arrive.  Perhaps she was afraid, because the people who took part in that massacre are still walking the streets, but, just for the benefit of the record, I will read - I won't read her name, because she may have not come here because she was afraid of giving her name, but I will read her statement.  It's a very short statement and she says she's come here to tell the story of her common-law husband - I won't give his name - who was 38 years old at the time of his death.
"My husband was employed by Alusaf.  On 22nd July 1993 he was on his way to work and as the bus was passing Nseleni it was stopped by unknown men wearing a balaclavas.  They entered the bus and they chose ten people from amongst the passengers.  They took them off the bus.  They made them lie face down in the road and they were shot in the back of the head."
 /Then she
Then she says that Nseleni where this thing happened was an IFP stronghold and KwaMthethwa, from where the bus was coming, was an ANC area.  It was further said that the employees of Alusaf and Richards Bay Minerals were ANC members.  
"In fact, my husband was an IFP member, but he died nevertheless.  I want to get the benefits that were due to my husband as an employee of Alusaf, but I could not because I was not married to him at the time of his death.  I would appreciate assistance from the Truth Commission."
 So we are sorry we didn't hear that evidence today from that woman.  There were ten other people who died on that day and their families also didn't come forward and tell their story and maybe they too are afraid, but we hope that this incident is kept alive in the memory of people and we are investigating that incident.  So the fact that she didn't come here and give her statement does not mean that we are not investigating it.  
 We've heard many other terrible stories in the last three days.  We think of the first witness we had today, Mrs Mabaso, who was attacked in her house, and she saw her children being shot and her four-year old daughter being hacked with a panga.  We also heard the tragic story told by Mrs Shandu from Umgababa, who heard her five children being systematically murdered and she still - she said that she still hears the screams of those children in her head.  We also heard from another Mrs Shandu, the second but last witness, who told us the terrible story of the
 /Gobandhlovu massacre.
Gobandhlovu massacre and these stories - I think my colleagues will agree with me - are among the worst stories that we've heard from all our time in the Truth Commission and we who have not suffered in this way can only imagine the horror and the terror that these people experienced and the pain that they are still experiencing.
 As I said yesterday, it is only about 10 or 12 years ago that the people of this area lived in almost complete peace and it was largely as a result of the cynical manipulation of politicians, senior policemen from the SAP and particularly the KwaZulu Police that people in this area were set against each other, in an effort to destabilise this region.  Those of you who come from Esikhaweni Township and around there will have heard evidence today or I think it was yesterday about the famous Esikhaweni hit squad and those of you from Esikhaweni will know about that hit squad.  The people who carried out those terrible killings, Romeo Mbambo, Gcina Mkhize, Israel Hlongwane, those people are now locked up.  They were sentenced to, in fact, hundreds of years in prison for the crimes that they committed and they killed over a hundred people between them.  That hit squad did not just arise out of nowhere.  That hit squad was set up by senior politicians, who supplied the money and the guns and who supplied the names of the people to be assassinated.  We must fight against this sort of thing and we must never let it happen in our province again and we hope that the Truth Commission can play some small part in ensuring that this does not happen.  We hope the fact that we have all sat here under one roof together, listened to these horrible stories will make everyone here all the more determined that these sorts of things should never ever happen here again and will bring us to a realisation that violence only brings misery to us all.  I will now ask Dr Mgojo also to say a few words in Zulu.