Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   Thank you.  Things that transpired started around 1986.  The youth of Xaluza already had started gathering together, making a group - grouping together as UDF, and there was a youth organisation called Edelo.  Things started when the Makosi boy was killed by the street.  He was hit by the bus.  That was the beginning of things changing.  The situation now got volatile since then.  As elderly people we were not part of these things that the youth were doing, but that day we started seeing that we should play a role in the community.  But the incident that I want to start with is the one that transpired in 1987.  It was on the 17th December.  This was a time when people who had visited us, who had already come to pay a visit, were attacked on that day in Xaluza.  When we were attacked we were attacked by police, and when the police attacked us that day, although they will remove their name tags usually, but then they still used to have their name tags, and the vans also had their registrations.  On that day when we were attacked a few houses were chosen and targeted to be attacked.  Anybody was just killed.  People were killed randomly.  It was during the day around 1.00-2.00 pm.  Many people were injured coming back from work.  A few I will mention is the Khumalo family that was attacked by the police, and they pushed the door and stormed in the house.  People were just relaxed in the house, and they also had a visitor from Mgoje, and one was stabbed more than 60 times.  That was not the end.  They also stabbed the father, and a nine-year-old was stabbed on the head.  And they met a drunk man on the street and he was shot.  He died on the spot.  And they also met civilians coming back from work and they stabbed them, and they also stabbed them with assegais as well.  They will have traditional weapons and guns, rifles.  And one other thing that was happening, it was like the police wore disguise.  To show that they were police we could tell because some of those were white men.  There were things that led to the Seven Day War, because the community now was separated from Umphumuza and as well Harewood.  What I want to emphasise about is that people from Umphumuza, Xaluza, there are people who come from those places being relatives, because as a result of this war those people now were separated as relatives as if they did not know one another.  No one would go to pay a visit to some relatives or whatever.  This went on up until the Seven Day War.  By this time already many people had died.  We were being attacked during the day when no one will think of anything evil.  All the time - each time we were attacked it was during the day, probably around two in the afternoon.  Especially the men will be away at work.  We will be left at home as women.  Youths used to be killed when they were coming back from work unarmed, and they will be attacked like that.  At times we would be forced to go and meet our loved ones in town.  Let me now get into the Seven Day War.  The Seven Day War approached and came unexpected.  this happened in the morning when children were going to school.  My house was facing the sheds(?).  I saw people, a crowd on the other side watching something.  Then I was wondering what were they watching and looking at.  I asked my neighbour, "What are they doing there, what are they looking at like that?  Is it probably some kind of an attack that is coming, or what?"  When we were walking, going upper - my house is down the street, and as we were walking upper, surprised as we were what were they looking at, we saw big lorries.  These lorries had many people - had people on board.  As we were listening we could hear them singing songs as though they were chanting Christian songs.  One would definitely show that those were Christians, and that led us to be confused as to what was happening, who were those people and what was happening.  Now, when they got - as these lorries were approaching it got us in a panic state.  Suddenly we saw children running, coming in our direction, and shouting, saying, "Inkatha, Inkatha."  We diverted now.  We went to the other road, which was Kwa Dr Mkhize Road(?), running, running trying to meet the children from school.  We actually met them on the way.  They told us that the principal released them because it was not safe, they should go back home.  When we got there we went back, because I suddenly thought that I should call the Natal Witness to come and combat the situation, because we knew the people were attacking us.  I asked the secretary of Natal Witness to report the matter to the police.  In my mind I had this thought that even though the police were supporting this violence maybe some don't.  And also the journalists as well came.  I asked the kids about this, and they also supported me that they had never seen something of this nature.  I went through the school nearby to Greenacre Road.  This road crosses Xaluza to Sweetwater.  When I got there I found the youth of Xaluza being pushed by the police.  The police was dismissing that crowd.  I met the journalist.  I don't even remember whether I asked his name, because I was so afraid I said to him, "It's me who called you.  I am the one who called you."  He was in such a state, he was panicking and tense.  There were police who were talking to him and telling him that as he was there they cannot protect him, he should simple leave Xaluza because they can't extend any protection to him.  At that time some police were ... (inaudible) ... the situation was volatile then, and I will transcend(?) to this point when I was talking to the police, and I asked the police, "Why would you dismiss these youths?  Why don't you talk to them, because they are the ones who were coming to us?"  And one police came towards me and said, "There is no one who prevents Inkatha by any means.  Just go back home."  At that time I had lost hope.  I knew that the police would not help in any way.  When I was talking to the police at that time the police then were - there were two police vans parked there.  When I was talking to them I was just simply talking to them as a civilian, not being aware of other things that were happening.  Lately there were two buckets in front of the van.  I thought probably those buckets had been filled with water for them to drink, but afterwards I found out that in those buckets there were bullets for Inkatha brought by the police so Inkatha can just sweep the whole community.  There was a hearsay rumour that they will sweep that Xaluza area, kill every civilian, and plough cane, sugar cane, and that will belong to the chief.  This led to the youths getting so angry about what was going on, and also there were those who were disguising.  There were those also who had painted themselves.  I was so much scared.  I had my baby at the back.  We went back.  One did not know as to what to do and what to put together.  One elderly woman saw the police when he was trying to gather his documents, by-passes.  She saw the police setting the house alight.  You know, some things that were happening, it was not only Inkatha, but they were being helped by the police colluding with them.  Most elderly people missed and lost so many things, documents and - pension documents, stuff like that.  They had to start afresh applying for new documents.  That was the beginning.  That was on Tuesday.  That was the beginning of us discovering and seeing the beginning and the outbreak of the Seven Day War.  As I have said that the warriors were more than three ... (incomplete - end of Side B, Tape 3) ... the area in the community, that when they get here they should just - everybody will be killed.  We were fighting against people who were fully armed.  At that time children, the youths, was being injured, more so they were killed because Inkatha had rifles, R1, R5, but they had in their possession major ammunition.   Most of the youth was injured and was taken to Eden Hospital.  What was said about this was that when you get into the hospital you would be told, "You are coming from Xaluza.  Obviously you are a UDF," and you will not get any help from that point.  And it was said Comrades don't have any hospital.  Maybe I should say that as the mothers of those children we did try to help our children, because the hospital could not come into the rest of the situation.  It was said around in the country that people in Eden were faced with such a sad situation.  I had never been trained as a nurse, or probably I don't have any preliminary medical knowledge, but I had to try my best to enlist help to the youths that was injured.  The first aid kit were given by Monica.  She forgot to put in the kit something that was so important, because we did not have the tweezers.  But one thing that was so sad and painful is that when we were being attacked, and not getting any help from the hospital, we would head towards Umsunduzi.  We will get there.  Many people we did not bury them in Xaluza, but they were taken by the river.  The big question was what kind of water were we drinking at the time if the river was flooded and packed and loaded with corpses.  This was tragedy, because one will not be free walking on the road or on the street because it was not safe any more.  We will cross this river even when it was over-flooding, but it was not even safe then to come near it.  One other thing that bothered us was that when people were injured, because they were being injured coming back from work, they will be fired from work and now stay at home and be such a burden, and UDF had to face with this situation as their members.  Now, the problem was not that alone, but it will so happen that during the day when we were relaxed, thinking that everything is over, or hoping that there won't be anything that will happen, you will see an ambulance, Eden ambulance.  Relaxed at home, in such a jubilant mood, so to speak, you will see the ambulance approaching and you will think there's an attack somewhere, maybe it's rushing there.  And yet the ambulance was the very one which was killing us.  You will hear gunshots from the ambulance, and the youth - the majority of the youth was killed as well.  We have people at Xaluza who have been killed by these bullets from the ambulance, and also we were no longer safe seeing ambulance nearby because we know there are killers in there, up until to the time when we decided we will not use the ambulance services any more, we will rather suffer our way.  I will never forget Thursday morning.  I am happy when I hear some others say they were relaxed or they are happy, but as for me Thursday morning was the day when I heard a gunshot around seven, half past seven in the morning.  We started asking one another in the house, "What's happening now?" and the sound - the way it sounded one would wonder what kind of a rifle was used.  On top of the roof in my house there were eight bullets.  We did not even know who was shooting.  We ran and we discovered that it was Kihla Mbuni, a policeman.  He was just shooting at random early in the morning, and that brought questions to us what was happening, and we always have this questions in our minds, that who will come to our rescue as Xaluza community, because the way we had been attacked I had never seen it before.  And we were not being only attacked by police.  There once was a helicopter which would fly around the bush.  Maybe you will escape from the location and run towards the bush, and the helicopter will find you there, and you will be assaulted and be told that you will be killed so they can plough sugar cane.  This went on in the community as it was.  People came who were called Comrades, coming from Umphumuza.  We welcomed them in Xaluza.  One question that makes us happy today is for the Truth Commission to ask on our behalf as to where do we belong and who are we?  The identity will - we have lost identity, we tend to be like Ruandans as a result of things that transpired at the time.  We were so scared of the police.  We were so scared and afraid of the hospital.  One day I do hope that we will search for an answer, that when a nurse is made to take an oath and join the hospital as a worker is she joining the hospital as part of helping the community or fighting the community?  One question that is inevitable for me is that the Water Board - who was in charge of the Water Board, and one thing that we are sorry about is the paying of the tax, because it's the very tax that killed us.