Amnesty Hearings — Palm Ridge — 1998-11-24

DUMA MOSES NKOSI: The hostels with be Mshayazafe, Madala and Kutuza.  We would have them referred to as hostel number one, number two, number three, Thokoza, they way it appeared.  There was a hostel number four and number five as you go downwards.  It was referred to as Kalenyoni.  That is number four and number five.
	I was trying to show then on the other hand, as you take a turn you will be almost close to Khatlehong at that point because at the end of the triangle of Thokoza, the other hand towards your right would be Khatlehong.  It's just divided by a road.  The two boxes that I have drawn there are another two hostels.  It's Boiafuti hostel and Kweseni hostel.  
	This picture I have drawn there, I'm trying to explain and show that the belief we had was that there was a plan of attacking the community and the hostels were being used.  It may so happen that you have not heard all the evidence with regard to this matter, but the whole belief is that as you look at these hostels, the way they are located or situated, it almost portrays the horseshoe.  One would look at them and they would be portraying a horseshoe.  
	According to our belief, they were	 going to be used in such a way that the whole area would have been invaded and taken over and would be used as a base.  The most important thing that I would like to bring to your attention is that I do not believe that it was a plan of IFP, I don't at all believe that.  It was not an IFP plan but there was a third force here that was so active, maybe from the government of apartheid and were the ones who were mobilising this.
	I was trying to put a red star there that unfortunately the place behind Kalenyoni hostel, we had a Polla Park that was established there, an informal settlement.  Just behind the number four and number five hostel was that informal settlement established.

CHAIRPERSON: As we're looking at the picture, is it on the left or is it inside the triangle?

DUMA MOSES NKOSI: Behind the hostels, outside the locations.  Outside the triangle in other words, behind the hostels, the other two hostels.

MS GCABASHE: And how far up did it stretch, how close did Polla Park get to one, two and three, or was it confined just to the four, five area?

DUMA MOSES NKOSI: No, it was just confined to that particular area, behind four and five.  It started as a very small settlement.  Very few people occupied those shacks.
	I will try to show that at the time when all this was going on, I would say the beginning of 1990.  Just before the ANC established a branch in October, we already had tax violence in our area at the beginning of February 1990.  So there was already violence and there was no stability at all in the area.  
	The taxi violence also was so active in mobilising this whole violence.  We did not get to understand exactly as to what part they played as the taxis in this whole violence.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Nkosi, at about what time was Polla Park established?

DUMA MOSES NKOSI: Polla Park was established in 1990, because before 1990 people who built their places there were evicted by the council of Alberton.  So in 1989/1990 Polla Park began to come into existence.

CHAIRPERSON: So it was really an informal settlement that was established mainly by people who got evicted from their homes by the local authority?

DUMA MOSES NKOSI: Historically what I'll try to add to what I've just said, responding to your question, it so happened that this place grew so fast because there were reasons that were put forth racially that the ANC were Xhosas, IFP were Zulus.
	I would say that when we started this organisation people were being harassed because of their race and it so happened that the people who were leaving their places because of harassment, would end up there because they were Xhosa speaking people.
	Now Polla Park grew faster because people were being harassed in their original places and would go to occupy Polla Park.  They ended up in that place.  We still have difficulties to take some of them to bring them back to their places that they originally occupied.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  The harassment that you refer to, was that part of this conflict that was developing in the area?

DUMA MOSES NKOSI: I would say so, yes, because people were divided according to their race because it was so believed that ANC was a Xhosa organisation and the IFP was a Zulu organisation.  As to where that emerged we don't know but we take it as a plan of harassing the community.  It was not started by the community or the civilians but that was used to an extent that the community started fighting itself.
	If I may go on.  The bigger part of this plan that I would like to bring to your attention is that as a community we were instigated and we had to fight each other and this was so brilliantly planned.
	Another thing that I would like to bring to your attention is that spies were brought into the community.  There is a report which we have submitted which is Annexure 8.  To show a background of how the spies were infiltrated in the area was that on the 8th of September in 1991, the IFP branch in Thokoza planned a march that was headed to Thokoza stadium.  That march or those people who were in the march were attacked by the SDU of Polla Park and about 22 people were left there and about 23 were injured.  In other words the 22 were murdered.
	Michael Pama who was a civilian in Polla Park is in prison and is serving life sentence but the evidence that was brought to us was that any person or the person who assisted that or helped or put a hand so that this attack would could be brought to fruition, his name was Mr Zebu.  In Annexure 8 I have all this lined up.
	He was a person who was working as an informer with the police.  We will be so happy that such information will come to the surface so that we may know what is happening to him because Pama is in prison.  People got killed and we do believe that he was working with the police as an informer, Zebu that is.

CHAIRPERSON: Now at the time of this incident and this march, just before this happened, what was the situation like in the area?