Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-05-10

DR BORAINE: Chairperson, I call now Eugenia Thandiwe Piye.  I ask her to please come to the witness stand.  Sometimes the Chairperson says that he sounds like a cracked record when he has to say some words, although they are deeply meant.  I am sure some of you must think I'm doubly cracked when I keep having to say, "Please put on the earphones", but it is impossible for us to continue without that, so I say again, please put on the earphones.  Mrs Piye, can you hear me all right?

MRS PIYE: Yes.

DR BORAINE: I hope you are feeling comfortable, even though it's a very difficult thing coming and sharing your own experiences and your own pain with a lot of people, and I want you to know that one of the purposes of the Commission is to make it possible for people like you and others to tell their stories, which have never been heard, and that you will be heard not only in this audience but through the media and particularly right now through the radio you will be heard by many, many people throughout the country, and it is right that the nation should hear you.  I'm going to ask my colleague, Dr Magwaza, to lead you in a moment.  You have come to talk about your own son, who was sentenced to death, and the threats and the attacks that you have experienced.  Before you start, would you please stand for the oath.
/EUGENIA THANDIWE
19B/8 EUGENIA THANDIWE PIYE  (Sworn states) (Through Interpreter)

DR BORAINE: Thank you.  Please be seated, and I hand over now to Dr Magwaza.

DR MAGWAZA: I greet you, Mrs Piye.  Thank you that you could be with us today.  We didn't come to know the Piye family.  Today it's your chance to tell us so that we can know who Lucky was.  Can you briefly give us a picture of the Piye family and Lucky's picture, so that we don't forget?

WITNESS:   Yes, I have seven daughters, who got married.  This was my last-born that I got in 1963.  This child disappeared in 1981.  I went to church and when I came back I would be at home and he didn't want to go to church.  He said he is going to play soccer.  When I came back from church he wasn't at home.  I told myself, "Maybe he went to play soccer".  It was 6 o'clock.  It was then dark and I went to bed, because I was alone.  We were staying, the two of us, in a house.  I knew that he would never sleep at somebody's house.  The following day, on a Monday, I didn't go to work.  I went to the police station to report that my son has disappeared, because I never felt that he would do such a thing not to sleep at home.  The police said I should go and search for him.  They said, "Go and search for him.  You will get him".  I went on my own, searching for him all over.  I even asked his friends.  Every time I would speak to his friends, they would just ignore me.  I didn't know what were they hiding.  I went to mortuaries, but I couldn't find him.  Well, I just left everything and I continued working.  It was so difficult to ask permission at work, you know, to be in and out every time.  I would go to his friends.  I

DR MAGWAZA: /would go to

DR MAGWAZA: 19B/11 would go to the families, but everybody told me that they have never seen him.  I was nearly mad.  I went to an inyanga so that they could do divination and tell me where would he be.  I went to the sangomas.  I thought maybe they would tell me where he was, because he was still very young.  He was 17 years old.  I didn't find him.  I went to the Zionist people.  They said he was under the water.  It was very difficult.  I continued going to different people.  I didn't find him from 1981 up until 1984 and it was very painful for me, and it was a very difficult time.  It was during the UDF time.

DR MAGWAZA: Take your time.  I know you are feeling the pains.

WITNESS:   In 1984, when I was at work, the people came and they said I've been called at the office.  We were so scared, because every time you get the message to appear in the police office you would be scared.  When I got there, two gentlemen were waiting.  Because one of them knew me he called me in very quickly.  I sat there and he said to me, "We are being sent to you to tell you that your son is at Maritzburg.  He's been arrested there".  We went to Maritzburg and he was detained there.  Well, on our arrival, they asked us many questions.  They said to me, "You can go.  We will come and tell you when to come and visit him".  This affected me a lot and I had to leave working.  I was so lonely in life.  In two weeks I received a letter and the letter said I would be given a ticket to go and see him at Pietermaritzburg.  They said I should take one person to accompany me.  It was so difficult to see him.  They said we should stay at the verandah.  Two hours went by without seeing him.  Well, when he arrived I didn't ask him anything.  I told him

DR MAGWAZA: /about the

DR MAGWAZA: 19B/15 about the family matters - about how terrible the situation was without him.  We were sitting there, discussing the family matters and I was told to go back.  This continued.  They said, "You can come to visit him".  I went to visit him in December and I was told the case would be in January.  They said, "You should come again on the day of the hearing".  It was now the 28th February.  Every day I would be at the offices.  I wouldn't even afford to be in court every time.  I was running out of money.  They said to me he would be transferred to Pretoria.  There were two of them.  He wasn't alone in this case.  They said we should come and see them.  We went to see him the next morning at 7 o'clock, but they only arrived at 1 o'clock to see us.  We went back to KwaMashu.  We had to go to St Andrew to get permission to visit him in Pretoria.  They did give us the permission, but they said I should be accompanied by another person.  Every time they'd give us the tickets to get into the bus.  He was at maximum prison.  Until 1986, that they were going to hang him in 1987.  That was the last time I saw him - I saw Lucky.  I'm staying very painful.  We used to run away.  I used to take my property to hide somewhere and eventually I had to leave this house and I went to stay with the relatives, because I was staying alone in this house when Lucky left me.  We didn't go to the graveyard where he was buried.  As Mama has already said they wouldn't let us go.  Those people who were with told us that we will not see him - that we will never see them. The police said they were going to bury them.  We asked them even if we couldn't see him in his coffin.  We stayed at the hospital at Mamelodi.  We used to go to Mamelodi

DR MAGWAZA: /and stay

DR MAGWAZA: 19B/18 and stay there.  We stayed there the whole day and we eventually realised that they had buried them and we had to go back.  We never saw their graveyard where they had been buried.  We were never even given their death certificate.  That was the only last time I talked about this issue.  I couldn't talk about this at KwaMashu.  They used to say we are bad people, we are UDF women.  We couldn't talk about this, but I really didn't know anything about UDF.  I don't know anything UDF, but for us black people it's always been difficult.  Even if you were ignorant of what was happening, life was still difficult, and we couldn't deny our children and we had to go back and live with our enemies, who didn't like us.  That's where I got a lot of harassment.  My property is still on the farm but there is no way I can go and fetch my property.  I have been sleeping at different people's homes.  I don't even have clothes to wear, because my clothes were all over - scattered all over.  Even the places I don't have to stay at the moment.  That's what worries me, that if there's anything I can go to and pray for him, I don't have a place to pray.