Human Rights Violation Hearings — Mooiriver — 1997-05-28

WITNESS:   One is working, these other two they aren't working. Are they in school?   ---   No, they aren't in school.  They just matriculated.  My daughter is still looking to go to training, and she just finished her matric.  They have matriculated, both of them.

KHOZA MGOJO: Do you know ... (intervention)

WITNESS:   My son matriculated and my daughter also matriculated.

KHOZA MGOJO: Are they looking for a job?

WITNESS:   Yes, they are.  My other boy is working, the youngest.  He is working in a filling station.

KHOZA MGOJO: What about you, are you still working?

WITNESS:   No, I am no longer working.  I pensioned last year.

KHOZA MGOJO: Where were you working before?

WITNESS:   I was working at an Engen service station here in Mooi River.

KHOZA MGOJO: Are you receiving an old age pension?

WITNESS:   No, not yet.  I have applied for one.

KHOZA MGOJO: What about your wife, is she receiving a pension?

WITNESS:   No, she is not.  She is working in a textile company.

KHOZA MGOJO: How long have you been in Brandville, or staying in Brandville?

WITNESS:   A long time.  It was in 1962.

KHOZA MGOJO: Are you belonging to any political organisation, or were you belonging to any political organisation when this thing happened, whether Inkatha, ANC?  Were you affiliated with any organisation?

WITNESS:   Yes, I was ANC and I am still an ANC member.

KHOZA MGOJO: Now we've gained knowledge of your family background, now we want you to get into the gist of the story.  How old was he?

WITNESS:   22.  He was working at First National Bank - First National Bank.

KHOZA MGOJO: Was he married?

WITNESS:   Not yet.

KHOZA MGOJO: Now you can relate to us to the incident of his death.

WITNESS:   I was still working at that time.  I was from work.  I knocked off at 6 o'clock.  At that time there was violence in the area.  When I arrived home it was at about half past six.  I saw a group of people near the hostel.  They were standing there.  I didn't know what was going on.  I thought to myself maybe it was the usual violence.  And I got home.  I found my wife and my sister and my brother-in-law - my elder sister.  They told me they were leaving.  They said they were leaving because my sister was scared of the gunfire and she had diabetes.  She was scared, and she said she can tell that violence was going to erupt soon because there was a group of people near the hostel.  And my wife as well said she was leaving with my sister and my brother-in-law.  Then they left for 'Maritzburg.  I was left with my son.  As I was sitting there I heard gunfire.  For a long time I heard that loud noise of gunfire, and people were running up and down, and some of them were running away to Mshayazafe location.  And I saw people running up and down and I realised that it looked like people were fighting each other, and gunfire was all over the place, the noise.  And I went inside the house.  I told my son to come inside the house.  I told them not to run away, because I was scared that if they try to run away they'll meet other people or a group of people and shoot them, so I decided that we should stay inside the house.  As we were inside the house I heard a voice saying there were two boys being shot up the street.  I didn't know who those boys were, and then I started asking my other sons where's Nkosinathi, my other son.  And then they told me he is gone up the road to my brother's place.  I started getting scared.  I was real scared.  After a while it started raining, and then the gunshots stopped, people stopped firing.  And then as it was raining one guy came and knocked.  He knocked very hard and then I asked who was there, and then he said it was Bhekani Sikosano.  And then I asked Bhekani Sikosano why was he knocking here, what was he looking for, who is after him, and then he said, "No, no one was after me, but I need to tell you something."  And then he told me that my son had been killed, and he also told me that they have asked someone for a ride, or to transport him to hospital, and when he arrived in hospital he was already dead.  After that I asked him what happened.  He told me he was in hospital.  Late at night the rain stopped raining and the soldiers came, and they were looking for guns.  They were old men, old soldiers, and they were going in people's houses looking for guns, and they said they were looking for guns.  I don't know whether they found guns in other people's houses.  And it got quiet.  Early in the morning my children were crying.  I told them to go in another bedroom to sleep in there, and I didn't sleep in the same bedroom with them.  Late at night I went outside to look.  I saw a group of people again, and they had spears all of them, and I realised that it was impi.  And they were throwing stones in people's houses, windows were broken, and they were coming up to our area where we were staying.  And I told my sons not to talk, not to cry, they must keep quiet, I'll hide them.  And I tried to hid them.

KHOZA MGOJO: Were they hitting your own house windows?

WITNESS:   Yes, they were.  It was after my son's death.  The impi was coming for the second time now.  It was early hours of the morning at about four.  And they were throwing stones, breaking windows.  They damaged our houses.  I was inside with my children.  I told my children not to scream, not to cry, not to talk.  They broke windows.  After a while one guy screamed from outside, saying, "Come outside.  We want to kill you.  You are ANC people.  We want to stab you, to shoot you dogs."  After a while one of them, I don't know who it was, he said, "It's been a long time since you've been trying to destroy that house.  You must leave now."

KHOZA MGOJO: Did they go?

WITNESS:   Yes, they left.  And one of them also said, "No, let me go back and burn the house.  I want to burn them with their house."  And then the other one said, "We don't have any petrol any more.  How are you going to burn their houses?"  And my neighbour's house was burning.

KHOZA MGOJO: They left?

WITNESS:   Yes, they left.

KHOZA MGOJO: Did you report this matter to the police?

WITNESS:   We didn't.  We just let it go because the police called us to identify the corpses as to whether it's your son or your relative, but there was no relative.  There was no statements taken by the police.

KHOZA MGOJO: Why didn't you report this?  Why didn't you tell the police to take statements?

WITNESS:   No, we did, but they knew all about this.  They knew about the situation and they didn't do a thing.  There was no case at all.

KHOZA MGOJO: And what about investigation or inquiry?

WITNESS:   No, there wasn't.

KHOZA MGOJO: Why not?

WITNESS:   I don't know.  It was supposed to be a case or investigation of some kind, but there wasn't any inquest.

KHOZA MGOJO: Those people who attacked, you said soldiers came and they were looking for guns, and then - did this happen the same night when they came early hours of the morning?

WITNESS:   Yes.  When the soldiers came looking for guns in our houses it was at about 9 o'clock.  It was at about 9.00 pm, and then these people who attacked us came at 4.00 am. After the soldiers came looking for guns this group of attackers came at about 4.00 am, and I saw them coming.  I told my children to hid themselves under the beds.  What about the police?   ---   No, I didn't see any police.  I didn't see any police on that night.

KHOZA MGOJO: Do you have your son's death certificate?

WITNESS:   I do have a death certificate from the police station.  They gave me.

KHOZA MGOJO: What was written there?

WITNESS:   It's written murder, that's all.  I am not quite sure, but I do have it with me now.

KHOZA MGOJO: It's okay.  If you have it now we can see it - look at it later.  Your wife, how is she coping with this?