Human Rights Violation Hearings — Soweto — 1996-07-24

CHAIRPERSON: I would like to go straight on and call the next witness, Mamsese Mhlongo.
 Good morning, Mrs Mhlongo. We are very pleased that you are here to join us.   We are sorry it is so cold and you had to wait a long time.  Are you okay with the ear-phones?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: Yes, I am okay.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  Will you be speaking in English or in Sotho?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: I will try to speak in English.

CHAIRPERSON: It is up to you entirely. Feel free.

MAMSESE MHLONGO: Where I fail, I think I will switch on.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  Before you begin, could I ask you, are you prepared to take the oath?  If so, could you stand.

MAMSESE MHLONGO: (Duly sworn, states).

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  Could I ask also, if you could just identify who is with you?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: That is the - I am Mamsese Mhlongo, I am the deceased's sister, that is Dick Radebe.  On my right-hand is my sister, Dick's younger sister.

CHAIRPERSON: Fine.

MAMSESE MHLONGO: I am Dick's elder sister. She is Ruth Radebe.

CHAIRPERSON: Ruth Radebe, fine. We woud like to welcome you as well and thank you for coming.  Will you also be
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participating?  If you would like to, then could you also take the oath?

RUTH RADEBE: (Duly sworn, states).

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  I, myself will lead you in the evidence.  If I could explain, Mamsese, you live in Straightview.

MAMSESE MHLONGO: Yes, I live in Straightview.

CHAIRPERSON: Are you actually employed at Anchor School?  Do you teach there or are you employed at the school?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: At the high school.

CHAIRPERSON: You are a teacher?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Well, thanks very much.  That's in Umzinhlopi.  We are talking about events of 1987, as I understand it, involving Dick Radebe.  If you would like to tell us your story in your own time and in your own words.  Thank you very much.

MAMSESE MHLONGO: It was on the 16th of July 1987, it was a week before Dick's wedding.  He had to take the wife home, to make the last preparations before the wedding.  Unfortunately Dick did not return alive. We were made aware that Dick met an accident. We do not believe it was an accident, because there are conflicting statements.  Dick's friend does not say anything about the accident. It is a policeman who tell us about the incident.  So we were told on the Wednesday, at 12 midnight when he was at his fiancee's home in Ladysmith and then the following morning Dick was supposed to go to Welkom for a - to go and investigat a case, which up to this day we are not sure what the case was about.
 He served articles under Priscilla Jana and on two 
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occasions he flew to PE to go and make some investigations.  We are not sure what the cases were about.
 So that morning Dick did not come back home.  We phoned Ladysmith, that was Dick's fiancee, to find out where Dick is because he was supposed to go to Welkom.  
 We also phoned Priscille Jana, to find out if it is possible that Dick left for Welkom without coming home.  So Priscilla also, she was also surprised.
 My sister phoned, I think the whole morning she did not work, she kept on phoning Ladysmith, that was Dick's fiancee.  She asked her to find out what is happening.  So she said she phoned the Red Cross, she phoned the hospitals, to find out if there was an accident and Red Cross there was no accident, they know of no accident. 
 Later we forced her to go to the police station, to go out and look for Dick.  So at about six pm on Thursday, she phoned to say Dick is dead, Dick is at the police station in Ladysmith.  The following morning at seven o'clock we left for Ladysmith to go and find out if it is really true that Dick is dead.  We found him in the police station, at the mortuary.  We were with Dick's friends and they went in and they asked us not to go in and see Dick.  They wanted us to picture him the way he looked before.  So we did not go in.
 We asked about the friends and they said the friend is at the hospital.  We left for the hospital.  We found him. He only had a scratch on the forehead, a minor scratch, but he pretended as if he was, he could not recognise us.  So we came back home.
 In fact, before coming back home, we had to find out when should we collect Dick's corpse.  Then we spoke to Sgt Bekker.  Sgt Bekker is the man who was in charge of Dick's 
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corpse.  He said before we leave we must phone to find out if he is there.  When we phoned on Saturday morning, ready to go and collect Dick's corpse, Sgt Bekker was on duty, we must phone on Monday morning to collect the corpse.  Monday morning we phoned.  My uncle went and collected the corpse.  When they arrived there, Dick's head was gashed, as if he was hit with a sharp weapon on the head.  But the policeman said to us that the accident was caused by a truck which knocked or it collided with a cow, and then that cow was wandering on the main road.  Then the truck did not stop.

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry, can I just - that was a cow?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: The truck did not stop after knocking the cow.  From the police we learn apparently, I am quoting the police, that is Mr Pretorius.  Because when we went there the second time to find out what actually happened, Van der Berg was transferred to a certain station, and the case was handled by Sgt Pretorius.  He said to us apparently, I am quoting him, Dick's car was the tenth and unfortunately for Dick he fell out of the car and he died.  So when we questioned where were the other ten, he told us that the ten were standing on the side.  They actually saw him come and Dick was driving at a high speed and they could not stop him.
 But when we spoke to Wisile Mafalan, I am sorry to mention names, the friend, the friend with whom he was, and he was supposed to be Dick's best man. He said to us when they left Dick's fiancee's home, there were people outside in cars and there is only one entrance from Ladysmith. So somewhere where they took a turn, they actually recognised a car coming from behind.  Dick tried to drive fast. 
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Unfortunately just before him there was a car which stopped.  Then what happened when we asked Mfalane he says I slept. He doesn't tell us what happened.  So he tells us nothing about the car.
 We tried to ask lawyers to talk to him, friends to talk to him. All he says to us when we left Ladysmith there were cars and that one car followed us, one car stopped from the front and then what happened, I slept.
 So nobody was able to force him to talk. Up to this day he is still quiet, he is silent.  Dick's fiancee up to this day, she is silent.  So we don't know what happened to him.  But he is dead.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  I mean, it raises all sorts of questions.  How do you feel, I mean do you think there is a reason for his silence?  What do you think, why the silence?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: Initially I thought he was scared of talking, because I have a suspicion that Dick was killed by the police.  So he was threatened. In fact, they were both threatened, because not one of them has ever opened their mouths, up to today.  So ...

CHAIRPERSON: You mean the fiancee as well?

MAMSESE MHLONGO: Well, and the friend.

CHAIRPERSON: You mention in your initial statement, you said that when Sgt Pretorius spoke to you and described what had happened, that he was laughing. Is this why you feel that they might be involved?