Human Rights Violation Hearings — Uitenhage — 1996-08-28

CHAIRPERSON: Upon starting this hearing, I explained that the hearing we had this morning dealt with the issues between the UDF and the Ama-Afrika conflict and that we did not have any statement covering the aspect on the side of the Ama-Afrika people so during the course of the hearing, we received a request that there was somebody who wished to give the perspective of the Afrika people.
 Normally we do not allow that because normally we receive our statements timeously and we are able to give the order of the day as Ms Maya indicated this morning by calling out the names of the witness, but because we feel that it is important for the sake of peace, the peace process, which has already started here in Uitenhage between these two sides, we feel that it is important for this peace process that we as a Commission encourage the peace process and affirm it and hope that is goes forward, so we felt that we should make a concession, even though, strictly speaking we are not supposed to allow this input, if it was not given to us before the time giving, in the form of a statement, but we felt that we should allow it because we would like the peace process that has begun here in Uitenhage to go forward and because of that reason, we are going to give Mandla Nelson Nkoki, who is the chairperson of the PAC branch here, and Fikiswaya Futi, who is the secretary, the opportunity to step forward.  They have promised that they will assist us by giving us a picture so that we are able to put it into perspective and to be as brief as possible so that we can proceed with the days business.
 I would request that we all keep quiet, like we did this morning, and we will hand over to Rev Xundu who will swear in Nelson Nkoki and there after very briefly lead his evidence in the form of questions from the Commission.

MANDLA NELSON NKOKI: (sworn states)

REV XUNDU: Sir, as the Chairperson has indicated, we would like to welcome you and we are very happy that you are in our midst to give us a perspective so that we can have a complete picture of the events that took place then.
Please tell us what your clan name is?

MANDLA NELSON NKOKI: No, unfortunately I am Xiya Laauw.  My clan name is Gwashu.

REV XUNDU: Let us now proceed and get down into business.  Very briefly, if there is anything that you would like to explain, I would ask you to do so very briefly, as briefly and as precisely as possible?

MANDLA NELSON NKOKI: Firstly I would like to say that our coming forward is not to awake sleeping dogs, not to say that we don't want to let sleeping dogs lie, but what has been said here, some of the allegations that have been made here, we would like to come and respond to.  What we have come to do is to ensure that the peace that we have established in Uitenhage, and that nobody should disrupt that.
 Reverend, the situation in Uitenhage, I have heard being described by comrade Sitoto, so much so that some of the things that he described in a political sense are true, when he said that from 1976 forward, we were all united in the struggle against apartheid, but where things changed and where there was division was after 1985.  The reason that caused all this is that some of the things that could of happened did not involve us as individuals, and also ideologically.  That caused some of us to stand aside as spectators.  While watching from the outside, we used to like standing on the corner of Gwamsa Road at the old Kwanobuhle area.  This group called the Afrikaners and we knew ourselves as Africans because we believed in Pan-Afrikanism and also because we had been exposed to the PAC manifesto of 1959.  This made us call ourselves Afrikanists.
 Things happened here in Uitenhage, including the incident on the 21 March.

REV XUNDU: Excuse me, up until that time, you did not have any name, you were merely Africanists?