Human Rights Violation Hearings — East London — 1996-04-18

DR BORAINE: We invite to the witness stand Mr Mike Kota.  Good afternoon Mr Kota, you are Mr Kota?

MIKE KOTA: Yes.

MIKE KOTA: (sworn states)

DR BORAINE: Thank you very much.  Mr Kota you have come to tell us about the death of Jeanette Mahonga, is that right?

MIKE KOTA: Yes.

DR BORAINE: Who was killed very tragically with a petrol bomb.  Is she related to you?  Is she a member of your family?

MIKE KOTA: Yes we are members of the same organisation.

DR BORAINE: The same organisation.

MIKE KOTA: Yes.

DR BORAINE: So it's not a family member?

MIKE KOTA: No.

DR BORAINE: But you are a witness?

MIKE KOTA: Yes.

DR BORAINE: Thank you very much indeed.  The hardworking Mr Ntsiki Sandi will help you in the questions, and I want you to know that we are very, very pleased that you are here and take your time as you tell your story.  Thank you.

MR SANDI: Mr Kota you stay at Seymour?

MIKE KOTA: Yes.

MR SANDI: How long have you been staying there?
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MIKE KOTA: I was born at Seymour and I grew up at Seymour.

MR SANDI: What kind of job are you doing?

MIKE KOTA: I am a town clerk there.

MR SANDI: At Seymour?

MIKE KOTA: Yes I am the town clerk at Seymour.

MR SANDI: In other words you are the mayor?

MIKE KOTA: Yes I am the mayor.

MR SANDI: Oh, as we are now talking we are talking to the mayor.  Now are you telling me I should watch my steps as I talk to you?  Mr Mayor now let's come back to this issue.  Let us start exactly here.  The family of Mahonga were you related to that, or was there a kind of friendship?

MIKE KOTA: Yes.  I had a relationship with a family because Sister Mahonga, Jeanette Mahonga we were together in the organisation of the African National Congress.

MR SANDI: This sister Jeanette Mahonga and her daughter, is it her daughter that is with you here today?

MIKE KOTA: Yes, that's her daughter Nonkuthalo.

MR SANDI: Was she present on the day of the incident that you are going to describe today?

MIKE KOTA: Yes she was there.

MR SANDI: Can I first understand about Sister Mahonga, what kind of a person are we talking about here?  I don't think I know her, can you briefly tell us a picture of the person we are talking about here, Sister Mahonga.

MIKE KOTA: Sister Mahonga was a leader at the Seymour under the African National Congress, and she was really fighting against apartheid during that time, and she was also helping the government of Brigadier Gqozo.  She was a member, she was actually a chairperson and at the same time she was a member of the Women's League at Border, it was in the ANC
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organisation.  There are many committees actually that she served.  Some of those committees were really funded by the Netherlands.  Well if I have to describe her she was a heroine and she was a leader.

MR SANDI: Do I understand that she was the top at the school?  Where was she working?

MIKE KOTA: She was working at Seymour.

MR SANDI: Are you referring to Seymour Clinic?  Not let us refer to the day on the 21st of October 1992, you say on that day there was a meeting organised, can you please give us briefly what kind of a meeting was that?  Can you tell us what happened the day before?

MIKE KOTA: On this day there was a meeting of an organisation, there was a World Vision organisation.  It was really funding local schoolchildren who were from poor families.  The officials of those was from Bayi(?) which is in Port Elizabeth. There was a committee as well at Seymour that was organised.  Sister Mahonga was a member of that committee.  Because of the sickness that I had that day I couldn't go to the meeting.  Well the meeting went on.  As I have already mentioned, Sister Mahonga was a nurse.  She gave me some few medicines so that I can go to bed. And late I was supposed to go to her place so that she can report. Well I went home, I slept.  The meeting went on without me.   At about 7 o'clock I went to Sister Mahonga's place and she gave me a report about the meeting.  She told me that there was a Mr Betane who was a member  ...(intervention)

MR SANDI: Can I just disturb you, do you say that the meeting was at Sister Mahonga?

MIKE KOTA: Yes the meeting was at Sister Mahonga.

MR SANDI: It started at 7?
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MIKE KOTA: Yes it started at 7 in the evening.

MR SANDI: And when did it stop?

MIKE KOTA: No it wasn't a very long meeting.  At about 8, past 8 it ended.

MR SANDI: You can proceed.

MIKE KOTA: After meeting her she gave me a report.  She said one member did something that was not appreciated in the organisation.  He wrote a letter to Port Elizabeth that the committee has to be mandated.  And she further went on to give me a report that the committee will be extended so that we have a good management.  Well we went on to discuss this fact and then we came to the conclusion that it was a wrong thing that was done.  We decided to write a letter.

MR SANDI: You know that member was a teacher Mr Betane, where were you at the time?

MIKE KOTA: We were at the outside room, there was flat there, Nonkuthalo was staying in that flat.

MR SANDI: Other people didn't go to Seymour?  Can you tell us about Seymour for other people who might have been hearing this word for the first time, how big is Seymour and the development?

MIKE KOTA: Seymour is about 42 kilometres from Fort Beaufort to Queenstown, it's one of the small towns, it's on the road just before Whittlesea.  Many people at Seymour - you know it doesn't have so many people, there can be about 15,000 in that small town.  The conditions of development really dropped to a very low standard because people were now given sites in Transkei in 1984, now the development for that area was really very, very low.
 Together with Sister Mahonga we were trying by all means to carry the developments for what, we wanted to 
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invite the overseas countries, the governments from overseas to fund us. Now this World Vision was one of those organisations supporting funding such small towns.  Even in Britain we had support.  We were working with Vissieskop plan, this wasn't a very big organisation but it was just so small.  Now the developments really went on and we thought maybe with those small developments as time went on would grow big.

MR SANDI: How do many people survive in this town of Seymour?

MIKE KOTA: Many people depend on agriculture.  You know when they have worked thoroughly in their fields they can produce a lot of food and people can survive.  As I have already mentioned that agriculture was destroyed by the Ciskeian government because the Ministers were being awarded sites, very big sites, that is when this thing of small funding was destroyed.

MR SANDI: Mr Kota can we come back to Sister Mahonga. Sister Mahonga shortly told you what happened at the meeting and you went to sleep.  She went to sleep in the big house?

MIKE KOTA: Yes.  She explained to me everything what happened.  I think it was round about to 9, she went to sleep and she said I am now leaving you.  During that time the assaulting of leaders was on a very high rate and I was staying there and I had to stay awake sometimes during the night to take care of the house.  That day or that night I stayed till late because I had to take care.

MR SANDI: Now while sitting and waiting what happened?