Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   I stayed up to the conclusion of the meeting, and I wanted to know whether I was not going to be released.  They said I should ask another policeman who was in Germiston at that time.  I stayed there waiting for that policeman.

MR LYSTER: When you say you stayed there, how many days or how long did you stay because this policeman was in Germiston?

WITNESS:   I stayed for - I think it was two days.  If I remember well he came on a Sunday evening.  That was the first time I saw him.

MR LYSTER: Do you still remember his name?

WITNESS:   I don't remember his name.  He wasn't even wearing uniform. Could you just tell us why he came to investigate you?  What was wrong with you?   ---   What he said to me, he said I had burnt down the house of the boy who killed my brother.

MR LYSTER: You appeared in front of a Magistrate in 1988.  Did you appear before the Magistrate?

WITNESS:   Yes, I did.

MR LYSTER: Was it arson?

WITNESS:   Yes, it was.

MR LYSTER: Now what happened?

WITNESS:   The case was heard from September up til October, when it was finalised.  Now, some of my brother's friends were also charged with arson.

MR LYSTER: What was the outcome?

WITNESS:   There wasn't sufficient evidence that I had burnt anybody's house down.  I was acquitted.

MR LYSTER: Have you got the case number?

WITNESS:   I could not get any details of the case because I was so traumatised and confused.

MR LYSTER: You said when you were arrested you were tortured.  How were you tortured?  Just give us a brief description.

WITNESS:   When this policeman wanted me to make a statement he first started by assaulting me, kicking me, and he was hitting me on the head.  He was wearing big boots.  I think it was his own boots because they were unique.  He started kicking me with those boots and he jumped on me.

MR LYSTER: In your statement you said you would like the Commission to investigate as to why you were tortured during your arrest and custody.  You said you were a member of the UDF.

WITNESS:   No, that was actually what was being said by the boer who was assaulting me.

MR LYSTER: Did you belong to any political organisation?

WITNESS:  At that time I didn't know anything about organisations and politics.  I didn't belong to any political organisation.

MR LYSTER: Is there anything else that you would like to say?

WITNESS:   You mean with regard to this matter?

MR LYSTER: Yes.

WITNESS:   I believe that's about all I can say, except I want to know that - I would like to know as to why my brother was killed, and whether the person who killed him was ultimately sentenced.

MR LYSTER: We will try to investigate this matter to see what was the outcome of your brother's case, but we do sympathise with you because you were also tortured and traumatised.  I thank you very much for having been able to render your testimony.  I'll hand over to the Chairman.

MR LYSTER: In this job that we are doing we discover that many people are killing each other for political reasons, some are being killed  by policemen, some are being killed by members of certain political groups because they differ in ideologies.  What I want to know now, was your brother involved in politics, as you know that at Trust Feed there were a lot of different political groups?  There were UDF, there was Inkatha, there was COSATU and quite a number.

WITNESS:   He was not a member of any political organisation.  Maybe he was a follower, but not a fully-fledged member.

MR LYSTER: What I mean is who did he align himself with?  You said Mfanafikile was staying at your place, and Mfanafikile is married to your sister, and Mfanafikile was a friend to your brother.

WITNESS:   I think they were not really in good terms.

MR LYSTER: Who is Fundakwezakhe?

WITNESS:   I don't know who Fundakwezakhe is.

MR LYSTER: Now, when you look at this it could happen that this was a well planned thing.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... for a period of four hours, is that right?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... you during that four hour period?

WITNESS:   There's nothing that happened thereafter when I had gone out of prison.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... for coming to tell us your story today.  It would seem that you were being investigated in a criminal matter, and that the police, instead of using normal investigative methods, which are acceptable to any community, resorted to completely irregular, violent methods of investigation, in other words torture.  This not only happened to you, but to many, many hundreds - thousands of people around this country, and it is a legacy that our police force still has to overcome.

MR LYSTER: As you probably have heard me say this morning, we are not able to give you any direct assistance, but once your case has been further investigated, and if you are found to have been a victim in this matter, we will make recommendations to the Government as to how people like you should be assisted.

MR LYSTER: But again thank you very much for coming in today and sharing your story with us, and we wish you well as you go.  Thank you very much.

MR LYSTER: ANNE NXUMALO

MR LYSTER: How many children do you have?

WITNESS:   I have three children.  They are all girls.  I do have a husband.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... how old was he?

WITNESS:   He was 21 years old.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... with you in Hammarsdale?

WITNESS:   Yes, he was staying with me.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... or was he working?

WITNESS:   He had matriculated.  He was working.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible)

WITNESS:   He was working at a certain factory called Spinroll(?).

MR LYSTER: And was he active in any political group in Hammarsdale at the time?

WITNESS:   Yes, he was active.

MR LYSTER: Which group was he with?

WITNESS:   He was in the UDF.

MR LYSTER: Now, in November 1988 we've heard a lot of evidence about what was happening in Hammarsdale in Mpumalanga at that time.  There was a lot of conflict, is that correct?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... that many people were killed, houses were burnt down, and that there were attacks by armed men from a neighbouring rural area outside Mpumalanga, is that right?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

MR LYSTER: So it was during this period then that your son was killed.

WITNESS:   That is correct.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... us whatever you know about your son's death, Mrs Nxumalo.

WITNESS:   It was Friday morning, and I was preparing myself to leave to go to town, and I met him that morning, he was coming back from work.  He gave me some money and he said that I can buy anything that I want.  I took the money and went away.  I left him behind and he had some rest.  When I came back it was about 3 o'clock.  I saw a crowd somewhere near the house.  I get into the house and I asked the crowd what was happening, and they told me that my son is injured.  I told them that I want to go and see him but they refused.  I went to see him, and when I arrived in the car I tried to sort of peruse and see.  There was nothing wrong with his head, but there were bullets spread all over his body up to his navel.  From then I just said the last words and said, "Rest with peace, my son, because they did what they wanted to do."  I went back into my house and sit down, and they started telling me exactly what happened.  There was Stuthu, Nomusa.  Those are the people who witnessed what happened, and also my grandmother was there.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... she witnessed what happened?

WITNESS:  That is correct.

MR LYSTER: She has not given a statement to the Commission, but would she like to speak and to tell us what she ... (intervention)

WITNESS:   They would like to say something.

MR LYSTER: What is your son's name please?

WITNESS:   It was Xebo Zama Ndwandwe.  Good enough.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible)

WITNESS:  That is correct.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... of his death, November 1988.