Amnesty Hearings — Aliwal North — 1998-04-28

MR MBANDAZAYO: May I proceed Mr Chairman?
	"We were four operatives for the Zastron Mayaphuti Sterkspruit Bridge incident.  It was myself, Rogers, Scorpion and then Kleintjie.  I was the Commander of the unit, I was carrying R4 rifle.  Kleintjie -" Mr Chairman, it's not B8 it's 3.8, Mr Chairman - "3.8 Special, Scorpion also 3.8 Special and Rogers 7.65 Special.  At the time of the incident we were staying at Jozannashoek in Transkei."
	Mr Dolo can you - I know that it has been asked many times - tell the Committee at whose place were you staying at Jozanneshoek in Transkei?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: I learned a name after all last week, the owner of the house was known by the name of - he was a Chief there of that area - well I think the name was Spitso which was mentioned last week.  So we were staying in his house of which we use it as our base.

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry, could you?

MR MBANDAZAYO: Speak again?

CHAIRPERSON: Spitso?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

MR MBANDAZAYO: Thank you Mr Chairman.
	I'll proceed to paragraph 8, Mr Chairman.  "I was the only person who knew what was going to happen and I briefed my unit when we arrived at the bridge on the Zastron side.  I deployed the unit on the side of the road.  I was laying in ambush and the people who we were to attack, the cars whose occupants who were white."  
	Now can you, before you lay this ambush, before you went to the target to the spot where you lay the ambush, can you tell the Committee, from Jozannashoek how did you manage to be at that particular spot where the incident took place?  Can you take the Committee through that?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: We were four of us as mentioned in my affidavit.  We went to Sterkspruit, the town of it, where we went to the house of Viyaphuti and arriving there, it was still dark, early in the morning.  We found that the house was - inside it was dark, there were no lights which were litten and we thought maybe we'll be waking them early in the morning so we decided to go to another house of another African person.
	We went to the house of Nopise, I know him as Nopise I don't know whether he has another name and arriving there the lights were on in his house and we knock and he opened for us and I told him that we wanted to go to Zastron and I asked him whether he would be willing to transport us to that place.  He thought maybe we wanted the car so why I told we also need him to transport us, to drive it for us and drop us at the other side of Zastron.  After some time he went inside his house and I thought maybe he approached his wife and after some times he come back and he agree that he was going to take us to the other side of Zastron and we went to Zastron, to the side of Zastron and ...[inaudible] to that side of Zastron.

MR MBANDAZAYO: Yes, now let's go to paragraph, now 8 which I was talking about that where you laid the ambush, are you saying to this Committee that all along when you went to Viyaphuti and you went to Nopise and you were dropped at that spot the other, the members of your unit, they didn't know what was going to happen?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: Normally due to our modus operandi, when we're going to embark in any operation, that the Commander will be the only person who knew what is going to happen.  As in this case, after arriving at the side of the bridge I briefed my unit of what is going to take place and I deployed them in that side of Zastron and we waited for the car.
ADV. SANDI: Sorry, Mr Mbandazayo, where did the members of your unit think they were going up to the point when you told them what the operation was going to be, where did they think they were going?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: During that period, we embark on these exercises I once mentioned, training exercises which were partly operations and partly exercise.  I don't know what was in their minds, maybe they thought it was part of the exercise.
ADV. SANDI: When you say you briefed them, what exactly did you say to them?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: I told them that we are going to wait for the cars whose occupants were settlers and we are going to ambush it, that's what I told them and I deployed them in the ambush formation.

CHAIRPERSON: Your evidence was you waited for "the" car, was it a particular car that you were waiting for?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: We, at that stage, we knew that there will be these cars which were coming towards Zastron and anyone that comes will be our target.

CHAIRPERSON: But where were these - you said you were being dropped at the side of Zastron?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: That isn't near this bridge is it?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: Zastron, I take it to be on the other side of the bridge.

CHAIRPERSON: Well isn't Zastron some distance away from the river?

MR MBANDAZAYO: Mr Chairman, just maybe he will answer that.  I take it that on the Zastron side of the bridge - the bridge which separates Transkei and the Free State.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, that's over the Orange River isn't it?

MR MBANDAZAYO: Yes Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: And Zastron is what, fifteen kilometres from there?

MR MBANDAZAYO: It's fifteen kilometres from that bridge but Zastron starts at the bridge, that area is called Zastron from the bridge up to the town.

CHAIRPERSON: So he doesn't mean the town of Zastron?

MR MBANDAZAYO: He doesn't mean the town, Mr Chairman, he means the bridge on the Zastron side of the bridge.

CHAIRPERSON: And you were there to attack any car that came along from the Zastron direction?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: Whose occupants were settlers.

CHAIRPERSON: Whose occupants were white.

MR MBANDAZAYO: Now paragraph 9 Mr Chairman.
	 "A bakkie came and I ordered that we must fire but I was the only one who fired and I realised that the bakkie was driven by an African and I stopped and the bakkie passed."  Can you explain that to the Committee?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: I deployed my unit in the ambush formation.  There was someone some distance - whom I deployed a distance away from us to give us early warning in case that there is any car approaching from that direction, he will inform us.  I am not sure whom I deployed to be in that position.
	As there was this car approaching, he informed us, give us a signal that there is a car approaching, the car will be approaching from the curve so we won't be in a position to see the car when it's approaching so that's why I deployed one of my commandants in that position and when this car approached. as I was armed with an R4 I ordered the unit that which was acting as an assault unit to attack as I was part of it and the car approached and I attacked it or I shot at it with an R4.  The car was speeding, it was moving at a high speed.  As I was shooting with it, it was passing me.  
	To correct something in this case whereby I mentioned that the car was driven by an African - I'm not sure about that but there was an African inside the car and after realising that it was an African inside the car and the settlers, I stopped shooting at the car and the car proceeded to Sterkspruit, to the side of Sterkspruit.

MR MBANDAZAYO: What signal was going to be given in terms of the plan or what signal was actually given to you?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: To be honest with the TRC I'm not sure which signal did we use there, normally it would be the raising of the hand.

MR MBANDAZAYO: You don't remember the exact signal?

PHILA MARTIN DOLO: Yes I don't remember.

MR MBANDAZAYO: Mr Chairman, I proceed with the same paragraph - "We retreated to our base and the unit handed the arms to me at the base.  I thereafter reported to my superiors."
	Can you explain how did you retreat to your base?