Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pretoria — 1996-08-12

CAROLINA SINKEPENG MOKOENA: My son Mooketsi Mokoena was a scholar at Mafikeng at Botswana Training College.  In 1976 at about October month a policeman arrived at home and he told me that my son is no more there.  He has left.  We were surprised where my son has gone to and we also showed that this policeman that my son has written us a letter asking his father to look for a temporary job for him because they were about to close schools.  On the following day a black and white policemen arrived and the said my son had gone into exile in Botswana.  On the following weekend we got to Botswana to look for him.  When we got there we were told that they had flown to Zambia.  We were surprised by this news because I was not aware that my son took part in politics and I did not know who to ask from about the
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whereabouts of my son and then I went to Bophuthatswana to ask for help.
 The people there did not even know what to do and we were waiting up until 1979 when we received a letter which said that, it was written by my son, and in it he said he was already married.  He was staying in Zambia in Lusaka.  When the other letter arrived it had the same news in it and in the other letter he asked me to help him.  As a parent I thought maybe my son is going through difficult times because he told me that he has got a son.  I then went to the Bophuthatswana Embassy where I explained that I want to get to Zambia to get my child.  I told my daughters, the other one is here with me, Maureen, and I told them that I want to go to Zambia to look for my son.  The got money together and in 1980 I went to Zambia in Lusaka and I passed through Botswana.
 When applying for the passport to Zambia I told one of the members at the Bophuthatswana Embassy that, could you please state in my passport that I have a child of about two to three years and my aim was to go and kidnap the child from Zambia.  Mr Maheri did that for me and he stated in that passport that I have a child of about three years.  When I got to Zambia I was taken to the offices where I could not find my child.  He was in school at Mokhusi that is in Zambia.  On the following day very early he came around and he found me there.  They had a room that was given to them in which they were living and we went to that room.  We stayed there until my son came in the morning and I asked him what was his problem.  He said he had problems with the child.  Sometimes I have to stay home and not go to school because the child's mother is working.  The child's 
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mother was working in a company, an ANC company, that is in a clinic.  I told them that I am going to leave with this child, I am going home with this child and I said to the woman because you say you are going to Botswana in December to see your parents, you must bring this child along.  I am not going to take him home and that is what we talked about.
 I then came back to South Africa after that.  We were still being harassed by the police from time to time.  In December 1980 we went to Botswana again and I went to fetch the child and brought him to South Africa.  I took care of this child until I sent the child to school in Glen High.  In 1986 a State of Emergency was declared here in Pretoria.  My husband was taken away and he shared a name with his son and he was detained in Villieria.  I cannot remember what the name of the prison was and he was arrested for about three months.  In the interim I was being held by the Bophuthatswana Embassy who refused me entry to go and see my husband.  The people from Bophuthatswana helped me so that I could go and see my husband from time to time until he was released.  He was never brought to court, he was only released.  
 When we approached December I received a telephone call in the evening and it was from one of the lawyers here in Pretoria.  This lawyer said to me you must send the child to Rhodesia because there is no school for the child here in South Africa.  Then I said, no, I will come to your offices tomorrow and the following day in the morning I went to the offices and I asked him what was his problem.  He did not waste time.  All he did was to phone and he did not phone Rhodesia that time, he phoned Zambia and when phoning Zambia he phoned the child's mother.  The child's mother said to 
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me, please send the child over because there is no more school in South Africa and I asked her how do you know about South Africa whilst you are in Zambia.  I said to her I will send this child to a white school because I could see in the township there were no children attending school.  That is why I sent the child to the white schools.  I am not refusing you the child because the child belongs to you.  Please send me two tickets.  Let the one be a return ticket and the other one be a single ticket because I could not go there with a single ticket not knowing who will pay for my fees back or my fare back.  I said to this lady, I said where is my child because you are looking for your child.  Where is Oupa and she said to me Oupa is here and I told her to tell Oupa to phone me the very same night.  I asked her where she got my telephone number she gave to the lawyers and she said that is the telephone numbers you gave to me once.  I said please ask Oupa to phone me and she said she will do that.
 I waited for those tickets until we received freedom when Mr Mandela was released from jail.  People were so happy to be afforded freedom after Mr Mandela was released and that is where we asked everyone from Zambia whether he knew about my child and they would all say no.  You would see a persons face that they really could recognise my son because I could tell from the way they frowned when they saw his picture that they really knew him.  Then my sons wife came back in 1992, but he never came to my place, she never came to my place.  In early 1993 she came to my place to fetch the child.  The child was by then in standard eight and I said to her I have already paid for the child's school fees.  You cannot take the child away now, you better come 
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around in December and when you come around please I want to be sure then that you are going to send this child to a white school.  She said alright I will do that Mama and then I asked her again where is Mooketsi and she said to me we are divorced, I am now more staying with Mooketsi.  Then I said to her two years will go by before I get to Zambia to look for my son.  
 Then she came around in December 1993 to fetch the child.  We then phoned Shell House regarding my son and we could not find anything.  On the 21st in the evening, that is in February, last year I said to my daughter tomorrow we have to get to Shell House very early and I will not come back until they tell me where my son is.  Then we went to Shell House the following morning with my daughter and Percy, he was my grandson.  When we got there they did not want to allow us in, but Percy said to them we know we have killed the guy that is why you do not want us to go in.  Then they allowed us to get in.  Then we got in and went upstairs where we found a young man who said to us we are not allowed to tell anything to anyone.  That was people from the Welfare Department, Mrs Masingmanga and Mr Marude.  We said we will wait for those people and what he said was so long you are waiting I will phone to Pretoria and I can find out from the computer people where Mooketsi is.  He gave us a telephone to listen to what the people from Pretoria said.  In the telephone we heard that Mooketsi Joseph Mokoena, Balile Mpila, has died in 1983 in Quatro Camp number 32 and he was accidentally shot.  I could not believe what they told me.  I said we are going to wait for Mrs Masingmanga and I want to see in black and white where they had written about what happened.  We waited there with 
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my daughter, waiting for Mrs Masingmanga until they came, but they did not, when they came round they called us to the office.  I said to Mrs Masingmanga please tell me where my child, where my son is.  She took out a big computer printout and took out a page and read to us Joseph Mooketsi Mokoena, Balile Mpila, was shot accidentally.  I asked her who shot him and she said he was accidentally shot.  I asked what was he going to do at Quatro camp.  Mrs Masingmanga could not answer me to tell me what my son was going to do at Quatro camp.  I said to her the last time I saw my son in 1980 he was in school and he even promised me that he wanted to apply for a bursary to further his studies by then.  I asked Mrs Masingmanga who shot my son and she said they would investigate who shot him and what was happening when he got shot.  I asked her what was he going to do at Quatro Camp and she said to me, Mrs Mokoena, I do not know what he was doing there.  Then she said we must go home.
 After two weeks I phoned back and Mrs Masingmanga told me that they are still investigating and she said to me my child or my son died in May and that the computer was not telling the truth when we were her the first time.  He did not die in 1983, he died in 1984.  Then I thought there was something fishy going around here and then we decided to write to the President because he said his doors were always open.  We wrote to the President regarding this matter about my son.  The President answered me by saying, before I wrote to the President I phoned.  I phoned his office and the guy who use to answer telephones said you cannot put a statement through to the telephone, please write it down in black and white.  That is when I told my daughter to write a statement and she wrote the whole statement and we sent it to the 
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President.  The President's office answered me by saying we have sent your letter to Safety and Security Department.  
 In two days time the people from Safety and Security Department said they had received my letter and they had further sent the letter to the National Commissioner of South African Police Services.  Then I said, alright, I will wait for you.  As time passed by I did not receive any answer and then I wrote again to Mr Mufamadi telling him that you have told me that you sent my letter to the Commissioner of Police and he said, yes, I did so and the Police Commissioner is the one who has to answer that letter.  Then I started losing the turn of events and then I did not know what to do.  Up until I heard about the Truth Commission.  Then I phoned them.  That is Mrs Masingmanga and I said to them I have heard that there is a Truth Commission, can you not please send me to the Truth Commission so that I could hear how the people could help me maybe regarding the whereabouts of my son.  She said to me the Truth Commission is also here at Shell House.  We can also get to the Truth Commission when you come to Shell House and listen to what they say.  Then I phoned her back again and said to her I am taking my statement to the Truth Commission because I see you are wasting time.  No one is from the ANC is coming to my house to tell me where my son is.  I did not know my son is someone who took part in politics and I do not know anything about politics.  
 My son had maybe been robbed by some people who led him into politics because he never received any political education before.  She said to me if you think the Truth Commission is going to help you, then please go to the Truth Commission and that is how I brought my statement here in 
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front of the Truth Commission.  That is my story.