Special Hearings — Mandela United Football Club Hearings — UNKNOWN

MS CHILI: I didn't know why but before Todo came to tell us there were two youths which Ikaneng Lerothodi pointed out to Sibusiso at Beki's place that these are the two young men who helped Richardson when they cut my throat.  At that point Sibusiso seeing Lerothodi getting cross he said no let's not fight them, let's rather take them to Mama so that Mama can speak to them.  They came with these two boys to my place.  It was late in the evening, it was after eight and it was late, I told them look there is nothing that I can do now because whatever I did I had to inform the leadership then.  I did talk to them, why are you participating in horrible things like this you know and they were so humble you know, they explained that it is not intentionally but because if they don't participate in these things they are seen as being against the Football Club members who are doing these things.
 Then I went, we went to bed together with them, they slept at my place, willingly, and in the morning I waited a response from the leadership that I contacted but Mr Samdo(?) he was a little bit busy he was going to come very late the following day, Masesula couldn't have come because he was a bank person, Stewart Ngwenya, one of the Civic members and the UDF members came, he sat down and spoke with these two young men.  They promised that they are going to stop all these things that they were doing, harassing people, beating people, doing all those funny things and they were going to go back to school.  We discovered later that one of the boys was called to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's house, then that's where we realised that there was going to be a problem.

MR UNTERHALTER: I see.  Now you had received a report of this planned attack upon your son and Lerothodi Ikaneng, what did you do, what steps did you take to warn your son?

MS CHILI: I asked them in fact, all of them, I said look this is going to be dangerous, if the house is going to be -if they want to kill Sibusiso, neither of the other boys were safe, you had better hide yourselves and that's exactly what they started doing.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.

MS CHILI: The following morning we noticed when we went outside that there are people with long stuff disguised, some with long coats with bags you know standing strategically that in such a way that when they come from the - Lerothodi comes maybe from his place they are in a position to see him and then they are in a position to see Sibusiso whether he comes in or out of the house.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.  Now can you tell us what happened on the 13th of February?

MS CHILI: On the 13th of February a young woman came to my place, I think it was Phumzile who came screaming, Mama Spontch, Mama Spontch the Football Club members have caught up with Sibusiso, they are going to kill him.  I said Mpompo please get his twin brother, he is at the Uncle Tom's hall with the other youth and then Pompo left.  And then later there was this noise outside, you could feel that they were fighting outside and they were actually trying to pull, because I understand the other two men ran away and then they were left with one.

MR UNTERHALTER: Is that Madondo?

MS CHILI: Yes.  They were trying to pull him, trying to bring him to my place but he was fighting and then later, I don't know what happened, but later Madondo was lying on the floor.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes, and he was killed?

MS CHILI: Yes.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.  Now what happened after the killing of Maxwell Madondo?

MS CHILI: After the killing of Maxwell Madondo I went to London, I had attended an anti-apartheid movement representing the Civics, it was a conference.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.  And what happened on your return?

MS CHILI: On my return I was informed by one well-known person to me, that is Mzwaki Mbuli that Dudu be careful, there was this car, he gave me the registration numbers, that this car was standing in front of your house, you could see these people were sort of talking about your house and he became suspicious.  He gave me those registration numbers and said this is the car, it was a Volkswagen, greyish if I am not mistaken, and then he said to me I followed that car, that car went back to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's house in Diepkloof.

MR UNTERHALTER: Now on your return from the United Kingdom were you arrested?

MS CHILI: Yes we, I slept because I came late and then we slept, I was with Barbara at home.  In the early hours of the morning the police came, it was about five o'clock or even earlier.  Then they said they are taking me for questioning.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.

MS CHILI: They assured Barbara, Barbara she will be back it's just for questioning.  When I went, when we arrived in Protea it was Van Zyl and Dempsey who came for me.  The first question they asked me who did I see of the ANC in London.  Then I said I didn't see anybody of the ANC in London, I had attended an anti-apartheid movement conference and which I had represented the Civics, Soweto Civics.  They left me in Protea and disappeared.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.

MS CHILI: Later I understood that they went to my house to search my house.  I don't know what they took from my house, and then when they came back they told me I was implicated in the Madondo killing, I took part in the Madondo killing.

MR UNTERHALTER: Now while you were in custody was there an attack on your house?

MS CHILI: It was the same night when I was picked up by the police because in the morning they came to the cell in Kliptown where I was kept.  From Protea I was taken to Kliptown.  They said let's go home.  I jumped because I was happy to be released from that stinking jail you know.  As we were driving innocently I could see the placards along the road, a 13 year old girl died in a bomb, a house bomb, things like that, it never dawned on me that it had happened at my house.  I got a shock when we approached the house, the house was in a terrible state, and then I really panicked because I didn't know how many people were in the house, how many were killed.  But as we came, we approached, my sister-in-laws were there, they told me that only one child died in the house and it was Finky Msomi.

MR UNTERHALTER: And who is she?

MS CHILI: She was my niece.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.  Were the charges withdrawn against you in respect of the Madondo killing?

MS CHILI: Yes it was.

MR UNTERHALTER: Did you report to anybody the attack that had been made on your house?

MS CHILI: Yes I, no, I was not at home, I was detained, so the message spread, the people knew, heard about it around, even Goma Sisulu were informed but I don't know by whom.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.  Did you have a discussion with Reverend Chikane about this matter?

MS CHILI: Yes, Reverend Chikane was aware about the burning of my house.  I remember one day we were in a meeting somewhere in Wits, we the Civic members, he did ask Stewart Ngwenya and Annette Ramagopa, comrades when are you building the comrades house?   They said we are busy working on it because there were no funds yet.  They were still negotiating the funds.

MR UNTERHALTER: Do you know anything of the trial of Charles Zwane and evidence at that trial concerning the burning of your house?

MS CHILI: Yes Charles Zwane was one of the people because I understood that Sonwabo, who was also an MK person who operated from Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's house that he was also the person who attacked my house.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.  Did you speak to the Attorney General about this issue?

MS CHILI: The burning of my house?

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.

MS CHILI: The Attorney General called me afterwards, after I had testified in Finky's case.

MR UNTERHALTER: Yes.