Human Rights Violation Hearings — Bloemfontein — 1996-07-04

WITNESS: My name is Adelaide Motsaneng from Bloemfontein,Rocklands. My child, Matzifiso Motsaneng, was born in 1962. He was schoolingat Ikalelo in 1980. In the morning we discovered that he was not there. We askedourselves what happened to him. We went to work. After work he was still notthere. We asked his brothers. They have been looking all around, asking thefriends. They didn't know him. Before work in the morning the father reportedto the police that Matzifiso is not there. His boss - his father's boss saidthat he must first go to the police and report. His father went to the policeand report the matter. The police told him to look for his son, and they'llalso help him to do so. Until the other day the police came and told his fatherto go to Lesotho, his son will be there. They made arrangements, passport forhis father to go to Lesotho. Matzifiso was not - the following week we wentthere. Both of us had passports to go and look for him. We went to Lesotho andwe find him there. We talked to him and said he must go back home. Matzifisosaid, "Mum, I am not prepared to go home because I know that the police aregoing to kill me there." He told me to bring him a bag. There's nothing elsehe would like to say. I went to buy a bag. It was on December. I took the bagto Lesotho. He told me that, "Mum, I am going to school." I said, "Matzifiso,you are going to school. You know that your father doesn't like all this situation."He was doing standard eight then. Matzifiso left in December 1980. He didn'teven tell us where he was going. After that we heard nothing from him. We neverreceived any letter. All what was happening was we were always having regularvisits from the police. They were looking for Matzifiso, and they were alsotelling us that they were going to help us to look for him. In 1982 his fatherpassed away. I was left alone. I was expecting anything from Matzifiso. UnfortunatelyI didn't get anything from him. In 1990 some young boys from Angolathey brought me some message from Matzifiso. They told me that they were withMatzifiso in Angola. After that letter in 1990 some boy came to my place. Heactually sent his sister to tell me that Matzifiso said I must phone him. Iasked myself, "How am I going to phone Matzifiso because I don't even have hisnumbers?" She assured me that she's got these numbers, she is going to helpme. She said I must also phone him 11 o'clock, but before 11 o'clock he wasn'tin that particular place. One day, it was on a Saturday, this girl came. Shesaid he is going to help me to give me the numbers that I can be able to contactMatzifiso with. He came and he gave me those numbers. I managed to talk to Matzifiso,and he asked me where his father was. I said, "Matzifiso, your father is notaround," and then he asked me if his father is in town, and I said, "No, heis not available." He asked me another question again, if his father is no longercoming around. I told that his father passed away in 1982. He kept quiet, andthen he said that he is sorry and he'll be coming home soon, but he told methat he's got a car and a house there. Then he told me that when he has soldthe cars and the house he'll be coming back home. After that I never heard anythingfrom him. In 1993, when I was off from work, children told me that - it wason June. They told me that the ANC people were at home. They never came thatday, and even the following day they were never there. On a Friday they came.They find out I was not yet home. They told the children that they must tellme that they were there to tell me that Matzifiso has passed away, and theywere in a hurry, they couldn't wait for me because they were going to Brandfort. The children were leftcrying until I got home. They told me that Mr Malebu was there to tellme that Matzifiso has passed away. I thought that Mr Malebu will come back againto tell me how did this happened. He didn't come the following day. Insteadhe was there on a Monday. He told me that he left a message with the children,but he was in a hurry, he was going to Brandfort to tell the other parents abouttheir children. I said, "Mr Malebu, that was not right. You were supposed towait for me. You were not supposed to leave that kind of a message with thechildren. You were supposed to wait for me and tell me." He told me that Matzifisohad passed away, and they are still making some arrangements for him to comehome. On that particular day when Matzifiso passed away it was the day whenhe was supposed to come to Bloemfontein. I was so surprised. On a Monday hecame. They were still preparing in Angola for the body to come home. On a Tuesdayother ANC people came again to tell me that they are preparing, together withLuanda, for a child to come home. Every day these people were always comingto my place with different stories, and I told them not to come to my placeagain because every day they are telling me all the painful things. Every daythey are coming with different stories. They must only come when the body ishere, because the body was in Gauteng. The other day they'll tell me that thebody's in Namibia. All the stories about Winnie Mandela in Namibia and Luanda.They will tell me that there's a fight in Angola, they won't be able to bringhim home. That happened from the 23rd of June until the 23rd of July. It wasalways all those different stories. That's why I decided to tell them not to come to my place any more. As thedays goes by I asked for those days - I asked for a lift at work. I told myson to go to ANC office in Gauteng to ask what was happening about this body,because I was getting tired of getting their different stories. So one of mysons and my cousin went to Gauteng in ANC offices to ask about this body. Whenthey were in the ANC offices they were told that the body is only coming fromLuanda. They went back home again. They told me all. They told me that the flightis still coming, the body is in Gauteng with the - they didn't know when thebody will becoming to Bloemfontein. On the 17th of July Mr Zandi, who is workingat the mortuary, he came home asking for the photo of my son. He wanted to makesome arrangements for funeral. It was already becoming late. I asked Mr Zandi,"Where is the body of my son?" and then he said, "They are still preparing.If the body has arrived I am going to call the family to go and identify." Onthe 19th or on the 20th Mr Zandi brought a kombi and he told me that he is preparedto take us to the airport to see the body. The aeroplane was coming at 2 o'clockin Rockland. We went to the airport. When we were at the graveyard in Heidedalthe kombi was stopped. The kombi was turned back. The hearse was from the HeidedalCemetery. And then we followed it, and then we all arrived at Zandi's place.The box was taken out of the hearse and it was my son's body. They asked uswhether to open the box or not. We said, "Yes, you have to open it so that wecan see." They tried to open. We were together with the two ANC people. Theother one was called Macdonald. Macdonald was together with the other one, andhe said, "We are not going to wait here. We have to go to the hospital because wehave to see one of our Comrades who had been shot." We were puzzled. How canthese people leave us here? As the family we were left behind. The people atthe mortuary opened the coffin, and they asked me all the signs that I knowon his body and I told them everything, even the marks on his teeth. He wasbadly damaged. They closed the coffin and they took us back home. I asked thepeople, "If a person is your soldier what happens to his belongings?" They saidto me, "Don't worry. The people who are behind are busy taking all his belongingsand they will be brought back home. Don't worry." I was not worried, knowingthat his trousers, his jackets, will be brought back home. Even today they werenever brought to my house. I am now requesting the Commission, I want to know- they arrived in Johannesburg and there was a boy who told me that accordingto the ANC my boy was not supposed to come alone at home. There was supposedto be at least two or three. I want the Commission to investigate how did myson die, because this one who was in Gauteng was called in to come and tellabout Ernest's death. Now, this gentleman in Johannesburg said they were ina house and it was in the evening. Now, this one from Gauteng went out and hediscovered that there was an exchange of words. And when he went back to thehouse he found my son lying on a pool of blood. Now, I want the Commission tofind out happened, how did my son die? This should be investigated. The informationwill be received from the other person in Johannesburg. He told me that theytook him to a clinic and he even paid $1 000,00. They were together with anothergirl.  Have you finished what you want to tell us? --- Yes, I am finished.