Human Rights Violation Hearings — Tembisa — 1996-11-27

CHAIRPERSON: We thank you very much Sir. Our procedure is that once we have heard the statement we hand it over to the Investigating Committee which we'll forward to the Reparations Committee which will put forward recommendations to President Mandela so as to see how victims can be assisted, we thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Can you hear me Mr Getvese.

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: Yes I can hear you clearly.

CHAIRPERSON: I thank you very much Sir, we welcome you in front of this Commission and we see according to your statement that you are one of those who were victims between the factions of the ANC and the IFP in the hostels but before you can give your testimony I'd request you to stand up so that you can take the oath.

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: (sworn states)

CHAIRPERSON: As it is our tradition I will ask one of my TEMBISA  HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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Commissioners, Commissioner Sooka to assist you in giving your evidence.

YASMINE SOOKA: Tata are you able to hear me properly?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: Yes I can hear you.

YASMINE SOOKA: Tata, before you start, tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live now and whether you remarried and have any more children?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: I'm staying at Madelokufa. I am married, I have three children, two girls.

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you want to tell us about what happened, there have been two things which have happened to you.  The one when you were in the shebeen and the other time when your wife was killed. Do you want to tell us about that please?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: Yes I can tell you everything.  I was on my way from doing my part time jobs and I was staying at Vusumuzi.  I was back from this part time job.  It was late in the afternoon. I saw a lady was approaching our houses carrying clothes.  As she was approaching these houses there were people who asked her, " Where are you from?"  She said, "I come from Ciskei, I've come to visit my husband".  And she was carrying a three year old baby on her back, the name of the child is Lubuyo.  These people wanted to know if the child was a male or a female but they could see that it's a boy. They pulled this child by the foot and they hit the child against the wall and she cracked her skull, and when this woman tried to cry, they said rather they kill her. When I tried to come near, I saw many people coming down in a hurry and they were heavily armed, and I heard people saying that you should get away here because there is trouble.  I saw that this woman was stabbed to death
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already and thereafter we ran to the opposite area in front of the school in the open field.  Whilst we were standing there, this group was approaching, we stood there and we were looking at them and gunshots were fired by this group, but there were many gunshots and they had all sorts of arms.  We ran further up across the field.
 At the end of that day, we were in another house there in the field that's called Mamabalane, the house number is 409.  It was late, there they sell food and we were also drinking alcohol as well. That was just before 8 o'clock, we were confused because we didn't know where we were going to sleep that night.
 As we were sitting around and drinking, just before 8 o'clock  we heard some gunshots, we were sitting in the kitchen and there were shots fired in the kitchen and in the dining room. And after those gunshots, the owner of that house, Mabalana fell. I found out that they hit him on his head and that he was dead. And one was shot in the knee.  They were shooting from the dining room and the kitchen and I was shot also in my leg. The woman was in the room and I realised that this group was just shooting us because they heard us making noise. 
 We don't know who called the ambulance or where it came from, but the three of us were just taken away by this ambulance, and another one was shot dead on that day as well. But the other two survived but unfortunately went home to Port Elizabeth. So I was the third one of the three.  They were taken to hospital and when we got there I received some plaster of paris and the bullet just penetrated through the leg and that was the end.
 I tried to go to the police station.  When I got there TEMBISA  HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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to see if this woman is not there at the police station, the policeman told me that they want nobody there, I must go back and there were still gunshots, and we went in a big number because there were many people who were injured on that day, but because I was injured I couldn't follow the matter up, only to find out that was the last time I saw my wife, she disappeared, as well as the child.

YASMINE SOOKA: I know that it's a painful story but I do need to ask you some questions, just so that we can have a clear picture. Where did you yourself come from before you lived in the hostel?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: I come from the Transkei in Willowvale.

YASMINE SOOKA: An how long had you been living in the hostel?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: Five years but I used to go home frequently.

YASMINE SOOKA: Were you employed here in Tembisa or were you just working for yourself?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: I was doing part time jobs and I would work during weekends as well.

YASMINE SOOKA: And in your room were you staying just with
Xhosa speaking people or were you mixed in the room?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: We were a mixed group.

YASMINE SOOKA: How many of you slept in one room?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: Four sleep in a room.

YASMINE SOOKA: Was your wife able to visit you often or was this not happening?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: It was her first visit, she did not even know the place but unfortunately she came on this unfortunate day and I wasn't even expecting her.

YASMINE SOOKA: You say that you had been doing part time work that morning and you were on your way back to the hostel?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: Yes it is so but on that day I didn't find any TEMBISA  HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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piece job to do, therefore I gave up and went back to the hostel.

YASMINE SOOKA: And if I heard you properly, you say you saw your wife in the distance, is that correct? Or were you told about what had happened?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: I wasn't told, I saw everything myself. Because I was already there and those people didn't know me and didn't know that I was related to this woman, but when I tried to see if this is my wife, but before I could know there was a group of people approaching, heavily armed and there were gunshots.  That's when I realised that this is no time to stand around and I heard people warning me that I must get away. That's when I decided to run away but I realised that there were a lot of people running away as well an I did not know that there was such a fight around there.

YASMINE SOOKA: How far were you from this incident when it happened?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: As far as that door but as I tried to come
nearer to see what is happening, I could see that this is my wife carrying clothes but I saw that my child was lying on the floor. 
 As I tried to come nearer, these people started chasing other people as well, that's when I got the chanc to run away as well.

YASMINE SOOKA: And these people, did you know them at all?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: No they are unknown to me, but they were wearing red handkerchiefs on their foreheads.

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you think they lived in the hostel or did they come from somewhere else?

DAVID DAYI GETVESE: I think they were just passing by because I TEMBISA  HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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never saw any of the Zulus that stay in the residence amongst this crowd, so I think they were just passers by who killed my child and my wife.

YASMINE SOOKA: Why do you think they killed them. I mean your wife was just visiting? Why do you think they reacted so violently against her?