Human Rights Violation Hearings — Bisho — 1996-11-19

KEVILIN NOKHUMZI KHUNDULU: Three of them are still at school and one of them is attending a pre-school.
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6 K KHUNDULU

MR SANDI: What standards are they doing?

KEVILIN NOKHUMZI KHUNDULU: The old one is doing standard 8 and another
one is doing standard 5 and other one standard 3.

MR SANDI: Is that all that you would like to tell us Mrs Khundulu?

KEVILIN NOKHUMZI KHUNDULU: Yes.

MR SANDI: Thank you very much Mrs Khundulu.  I am going to hand over to the Chairperson.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you Advocate Sandi.  Mrs Khundulu I thank you in anticipation.  I will first proceed to the testimony of the rest of the people and then I will come back to the panel to hear what questions they have got.
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7 L MANGONA

MR POTGIETER: We will now proceed to Mr Mangona and when he is finished Miss Mangona if she wishes to add anything can then add to his testimony.  It's over then to Ms Maya.
LORANCE MANGONA

MS MAYA: Thank you Chairperson.  Mr Mangona and Nonexto(?) I just want to make sure so that it is clear that you are together and who exactly is going to give evidence, have you clarified that?

MR MANGONA: Yes we have.

MS MAYA: Who is it that is going to give evidence instead of Mrs Mangona?

MR MANGONA: I am going to give evidence.

MS MAYA: Is your name Lorance Mangona?

MR MANGONA: Yes it is.

MS MAYA: Are you going to talk about your son Mbulelo who was shot and killed in the Bisho massacre, is that so?

MR MANGONA: Yes it is so.

MS MAYA: How old was Mbulelo at the time?

MR MANGONA: When Mbulelo died he was about 21 years of age.

MS MAYA: What was he doing, was he still a student or was he working at the time?

MR MANGONA: The previous year he had been working and then in 1992 he wanted to carry on with his education.  He was at Mxenge when he was shot.

MS MAYA: Is it true that no other member of the family was with him at the stadium on the march, you just got a report that he had been shot, is that so?

MR MANGONA: Yes it is so.

MS MAYA: Who told you that he had been shot?

MR MANGONA: We struggled because he stayed with me and
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when we parted in the morning before the march and before I went to work he had said to me that dad there are a lot of people that are going to be, people that are going to die, therefore I am a bit worried because I don't think I will go to the march.  That is how we parted.  We bade each other goodbye.  He said he would just study.
 I went to work, when I came back in the afternoon I was a bit restless and worried so I went home to find out whether he had gone to the march or not and he wasn't there but his books were on the table.  I think he'd been studying.  
 After that I was not really concerned about his whereabouts because he'd said he's not going. I looked around from his friends' places until it was very late.  I could not find him.  The next morning I got up early, I went to hospitals, I went to Mdantsane, I did not find him.  I did not get any direction even at Cecilia Makiwane.  That day I gave up.  It was a Tuesday.  When I found my child it was on a Wednesday, that is after we had gone to police to hospitals and not found him.  
 What gave us some direction is that the other guys at Mxenge, that were at school with him came to tell us that he had gone to the march.  I had not even listened to the news on the Monday evening because apparently the others had seen him in the news injured.

MS MAYA: Where did you find him?

MR MANGONA: We found him at the police station in Mdantsane.  We had already given up.  We thought he might have died in the bushes next to Bisho.

MS MAYA: After you found him did you get some help from attorneys?
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MR MANGONA: We did not get any help.

MS MAYA: Did you go to ask for help?

MR MANGONA: We took a while going to the attorneys because we thought that his organisation would take care of everything.  When we went to the lawyers it was already late but our case is still with the lawyers.

MS MAYA: Which attorneys?

MR MANGONA: The mother went to Linde & Dorrington, there is Miss Black who is taking care of this case.

MS MAYA: Mrs Mangona told us that her health deteriorated after her son died, can you elaborate on that?

MR MANGONA: Yes it is so, her health did indeed deteriorate.  This child was very close to all of us, but especially the mother.  They had a special bond.  I think that when he was going to work he was going to help his mother therefore the mother's health really, really deteriorated.  She cannot even work.  To this day she requested a disability grant, this has not been granted to her.

MS MAYA: What is wrong specifically?

MR MANGONA: Her blood pressure is not stable.  She can't work well.  Her limbs are very weak.

MS MAYA: Does she get any treatment from the doctor?

MR MANGONA: Yes she gets treatment.

MS MAYA: I am sure that you have a request to the Commission today?

MR MANGONA: I think that even though a compensation cannot return our child when we look at the way people gave up their lives for the freedom of South Africa we thank the Lord that we too contributed to the freedom, the happiness that we are at in South Africa today.  It is an honour to a
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family that our children were a sacrifice for the freedom of this country.  That is my sole request.  That because the mother and the son had a special bond if the mother could perhaps be helped.  I think she stipulated in her statement her requests, especially about the disability grant.  It takes too long, it takes years after you have made an application to get this disability grant, I don't know what's going on.  Perhaps she could be helped maybe with her other requests that she has put on her statement.

MS MAYA: Thank you Sir.  Nonxede is there something that you would like to say in addition to your father?

MS MANGONA: No there is nothing more I would like to say.

MS MAYA: Thank you.  Mr Chairperson I give over to you.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you Mr and Miss Mangona.
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MR POTGIETER: I am going to hand over to June Crichton to assist Mrs Mtshamba with her testimony.
DILALA MTSHAMBA

JUNE CRICHTON: Thank you Mr Chairman.  I greet you today.  I noticed that you were not feeling too good just now, are you all right to continue?

DILALA MTSHAMBA: Yes I will try.

JUNE CRICHTON: Your son Mxoleli was a member of the Ciskean Defence Force.  I would like you to tell us what happened to him on the 28th of October 1992.

DILALA MTSHAMBA: He was on his way to work early in the morning.  He got injured in the bus.  They were shot at with a grenade.

JUNE CRICHTON: Was he the only person fatally wounded on the bus?

DILALA MTSHAMBA: No, he was with the other soldier whose name was Tavi, and the other one whose leg was amputated.

JUNE CRICHTON: Was your son killed immediately, did he die straightaway?