Human Rights Violation Hearings — Lusikisiki — 1997-03-26

ADV SANDI: You are going to tell us a story about yourself Mrs Ndamase?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: Yes.  I will start when I was still young
because I was going out to look for work.
 I went to Durban to meet my friends, because we decided that we will meet in Durban or in Port Elizabeth.  We heard about the struggle.  When I arrived in Durban, I went there, I escaped from home, because I wanted to go and look for work.
 I had two agenda's, that of the struggle and that of looking for a job.  There was no need for me to leave home at that time.
 When I arrived there, we stayed in a shack together with my friends.  During the day we would go out and look for a job.  At night, we would go and attend the meetings.
 We used to go to other people to ask for food because we were not working.  We used to attend meetings and the police would come and take us from the meetings to jail, after a few days they would release us.
 I did not want to go back home.  We used to attend meetings all the time and to be involved in struggles.  We were staying next to Gama in a shack.  
 We used to have boyfriends at that time and we used to get wrong boyfriends who were older than ourselves.  I was curious at the time, because I wanted to know what was going on.
 In 1990 I was tortured by the police.  If I am not mistaken, in 1985, the police came and they picked up a bottle, they knew that I was an activist, they released me and they told me to go and pay for my bail in the police station.
 And in 1990 ...

ADV SANDI: On the 22nd of January 1991, you said that you were arrested?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: Yes, I was arrested that day.

ADV SANDI: Where were you arrested?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: I was selling liquor at home, my father went to Durban looking for me and he found me there in this shack and he took me home, he took me back home.  He built a house for me because I had two children and I opened a business, I was selling liquor.

ADV SANDI: At the time of your arrest, were you at home?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: Yes, I was at home.

ADV SANDI: On the 22nd of January 1991?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: Yes.

ADV SANDI: Why were you arrested?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: As I was selling liquor I also opened a business where I sold clothes.  It was in 1988, I had a small account at Metro.
 They sent a summons in the Magistrate's court.

ADV SANDI: Excuse me Mrs Ndamase, 1985 and 1988 incidents, did you mention this in your statement?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: I am summarising, I summarised because I didn't want to write a lot.

ADV SANDI: At the time you were making a statement, did you summarise because you did not mention your arrests in 1985 and 1988?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: In 1985 I was running a business, I want to clarify my reasons for my arrest in 1991.
 Metro sent a summons in the Magistrate's courts because I had an account from 1985, I said I do have this receipt, I am going to the Magistrate to answer for myself.
 He said that I am a dog, belonging to the ANC and he said that he ordered the police to beat me and to arrest me.  I had my receipts with me and I told the Magistrate that I
did not owe anything.  The Magistrate ordered the police to arrest me and they beat me.

ADV SANDI: How long were you arrested for?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: I had a believe that the police would poison me because I was causing problems, trouble for them.  I used to bail myself, or if I don't have money I would send out someone to bail me.
 This day I was bleeding, I went to Dr Essa, Dr Currin or Essa, I don't remember clearly.  It was on the 22nd, if I am not mistaken.  I went to this Doctor, I was bleeding in my ear.
 He gave me a letter to take to the Specialists in Durban.  I went to these Doctors, when I arrived there, the Indian Doctors spoke to themselves and they said that they are not going to get their money because I was laying a charge against the police.
 Someone advised me to go to the Human Rights Lawyers, because I didn't have money, I didn't go to these lawyers, I went back home.

ADV SANDI: Did you go to any lawyer to make a claim?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: No, because I did not have money, I couldn't afford a lawyer.  I couldn't even go to the Human Rights Lawyers in Umtata, because I went to Port St Johns on my way back from Durban, but because I did not have money and I was unmarried, I couldn't afford to go to Umtata.

ADV SANDI: Who is Mlundisi Ndamase?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: Mlundisi Ndamase is one of the family members who was there when I was arrested.  I don't know whether to continue with the case of Skipper, a case of a T-shirt?

ADV SANDI: Were you the one who was arrested for wearing a T-shirt, what was this T-shirt?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: It was a political T-shirt because it was - we were coming from Durban with these T-shirts.  We had an appointment with the Communist Party, we were going to launch this party in one of the villages.
 The police told me to - they arrested me and they took me with their van.  I stayed there for half an hour, I looked around because I thought that a maroon Communist Party car would come and they will rescue me.
 When the police were driving this van, they were driving it in so much that I was injured during that process.

ADV SANDI: At the time of this incident, the organisations were already unbanned?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: Yes, they were unbanned, it was in 1991.  We were trying to launch the Communist Party.

ADV SANDI: Excuse me Mrs Ndamase, let us now go to your requests.  I am not going to ask details which are here in your statement because they are here, they have been documented.
 Do you have requests other than the ones you mentioned in your statement?

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: My first one is that since I was an activist, the community in my village in 1985, they said that the ANC people were not doing anything.  They said that they did not want anyone to talk about the ANC.
 I would like clean water in our community and I would like Mr Mandela to be there because they are sending their people to be our leaders.  This disturbs me a lot because the police assaulted me and they tortured me.
 As a result of that I am not well.  My ear is not functioning well.  My children are uneducated, I abused them
for joining the struggle.
 But today I don't see anything happening to me, there was conflict in my family because of all of this.  The Government is not doing anything for me.
 Such things they disturb me and they destroy me.  Even if I won't get food but if there is water and electricity, I would like Mr Mandela to come and to honour the women who were in the struggle.
 My children are not educated.

ADV SANDI: Mrs Ndamase, I know that this is very painful to you.  There are other requests in your statement.  We will forward your requests to the President and his group so that they can see what to do.
 I don't want you to feel pain, thank you Mrs Ndamase.

LOUISA NONZWAKAZI NDAMASE: Lastly, I would like the police to be trained so that we can work together because there is still an attitude in the Police Force.  Thank you.

ADV SANDI: Thank you, Mrs Ndamase.  Let us now go to Mrs Khwezi.  Mrs Khwezi, you are here to tell us about your husband.  What is his name?

THENGIWE BESTER KHWEZI: His name was Mabila.

ADV SANDI: You said that he was a member of the ANC?

THENGIWE BESTER KHWEZI: Yes.

ADV SANDI: What happened to him as a member of the ANC?

THENGIWE BESTER KHWEZI: At home two guys used to come, a Black man and a White man and I used to ask him what these people wanted.
 He said they were, they needed information about certain people and after a certain day, on a certain day they came and they picked him up.  I didn't know where they took him.  Since 1971 until 1972 - he left home in 1971,
January, came back in 1972, October.

ADV SANDI: What was his state of health when he came back?