Human Rights Violation Hearings — Nelspruit — 1996-09-02

SKHUMGUZO MASHABA: (s.s.)

NONASWAZI BANDA: (s.s.)

MR LEWIN: I would just like to welcome you to this hearing this morning and also to thank you for coming and thank you especially for being the first to take the stand.  It is not very easy to do that and I would like to congratulate you but at the same time to say just relax, it is not quite as bad as it might seem.  What we are dealing with this morning, this is a particularly illustrative case.  We are dealing with the troubles that took place particularly in this area in the 1980's and today we are  dealing particularly with an incident in mid-1986 involving firstly Temba Ntimane and we have today his brother and his friend and then we have also Mrs Banda who will talk about an incident which followed the funeral which involved her son.  We would like to thank them for coming jointly to tell us this combined story and I think that as this is the first case we need just to remind ourselves very briefly of what was happening in 1986.  I will just read from some of the research notes which have been made available.  That it was particularly during 1986 that the tide of resistance which had swept across South Africa's urban townships began to
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spill over into what were then called the Transvaal Homelands with a conflict emerging in Lebowa, Boputhatswana, Kwandebele and in this area Kangwane, Garankuwa and Venda for instance also experience a rise in tension.  Enos Mabuza who was then Chief Minister of Kangwane said in February 1986:
"The Homelands are just as much potential powderkegs of the current wave of unrest as any other black residential area".
And we will hear a story today quite specifically arising out of the troubles in Matsula.  What I would like to ask now Obed Ntimane, if you could start by telling us the story of your brother and tell us in your own words his story and what happened afterwards.  Thank you very much.

MR NTIMANE: On the 2nd July 1986, it was five o'clock, I was at home.  I heard a loud sound of a gun.  Some few minutes thereafter, after five or ten minutes, I saw a boy coming forward by the name of Skhumbuzo.  He said to us that the sound you heard Temba Ntimane has been gunned down.  Because at home my father was not there, he is working very far, it was myself and my mother.  Then I went to the scene of place where they gunned down the child.  On my arrival there I found the child was dead already and then I asked where is he.  They said the police removed the corpse.  And then I came back home.  I tried and got a vehicle.  I went together with Skhunbuzo to the police station at Kanyamazan.  On my arrival at Kanyamazan I discovered the matter and then I reported that we have actually experienced this.   There I found Mr Mick Khatlo who is actually the police officer there.  Then he said to us no he doesn't know, maybe the people who shot your boy is the police from Matsulu.  Then NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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he took us along to Matsulu to the policeman.  Then he went together with him because he was following us as we were using our own vehicle.   On our arrival at the police station we went in.  He alighted from the vehicle, he went straight to the office and we were standing outside.  He went inside and he called one of the police officers.  I am not sure whether he was a captain or  what.  We were waiting outside.  After 30 minutes he came out.  When he came out he told us that if we want the corpse we should go straight to the mortuary at Nelspruit.  Now he didn't say anything further.  And then he took the car, he went away.  And then from there I started questioning the police officers who shot the boy, what actually happened, what was the reason.  And they said to us you should not ask many questions. If you want your corpse go to the mortuary in Nelspruit.  I also wanted to know further who actually shot my boy and what was the reason behind.  Then they started to be angry with me again as if I was fighting with them.  And then I went away.  I went home.  Just a few days thereafter while we were making arrangements for the funeral another man came, a man known as Nyatsi.  This man was working at the mortuary at Nelspruit.  When this man came to our home he said to us he has been sent by police officers.  He is coming here to inform us that the funeral should be on Monday not on Saturday and people who should attend the funeral should not be more than 30.  There must be strictly 30.  And the very same police will come and help us with the funeral arrangements in order to make it easier for us.  Then I discussed with the family members that pointing to the man that this man is from the mortuary, he is working there.  Then we discussed further with this man that he NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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should go back and inform the people that we are not
prepared to accept what they are saying, we will do this funeral on our own and we cannot be 30 in a funeral.  Even ourselves as family members it will be more than 30 and we cannot turn away people who are coming to the funeral.  So in other words we are going to conduct the funeral the way we want it.  And then he agreed.  He went back.  When he came to his superiors he said that we have agreed that the funeral will take place on Monday.  And then he said to them that we agreed that they should help us.  And just a few days thereafter another policeman came by the name of Nissen. When this policeman came at our home then he was asking us he said I am here for you, we are here to come and fetch you so that we can go and arrange as we have sent Nyati before, we are now going with you so that we can finalise the arrangements.  Then I said to them no we can't, Nyati yes did come to us and he did inform us but we did not agree to what Nyati said.  We refused totally what Nyati said.  And we said we are going to do this thing on our own.  Then Mr Nissen, he came here by vehicle, he had a radio phone.  Then he radio phoned, he was speaking with another white official, I don't know, maybe it is one of the police officers.  He said to him that these people are not agreeable to what we said.  In other words they don't agree to our request.  And the reply from the white police, he said to us that is rubbish.  The funeral must take place on Monday and people should not exceed 30.  There must be 30,  and what that man is saying is nonsense, it is rubbish.  Then I said to him, I said well you can go ahead because you have got powers and you are in authority but it is against our wish but we are going to conduct funeral on the day set NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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aside by us.  And this man went back, Mr Nissen.  Time and
again when we were at home, when people come to come and make condolences police were coming here with their big vehicle and then they were throwing teargas at us and people were running and we were all running away from the home.  Time and again when there are prayers in the evening people were coming and being dispersed by the police.  It took place time and again.  On a day prior to the funeral I went to town where a post mortem was to be conducted and I found a doctor there who helped us and the doctor said to us, he informed us he was shot at the back and the bullet actually has wounded everything inside the body.  Then he took out some cartridges inside the body and the body was almost finished.  Then we went ahead making arrangements for the funeral.  Everything was now in order or when we came back from the funeral and then we were preparing food and then police came again and when they came here they were armed and we all stood up.  They came, they ransacked the house and everything was broken and people ran away and that was the end of it.