Special Hearings — Caprivi Hearings — 1997-08-07

CHAIRPERSON: We will start this morning with further evidence from Mr Gcina Mkhize, and evidence will be led from him relating to activities in - around Esikhaweni Township, and thereafter counsel will be given an opportunity to cross-examine him.  I'm not going to go through the same issues that I went through yesterday and on Monday, save to emphasise the following, that we will not permit extensive, long-winded cross-examination and we will not permit hectoring or harassment of witnesses.  We would expect counsel to place their clients' versions on record in so far as these versions differ from the witnesses' version and also to raise what they consider to be factual inaccuracies in the witnesses' evidence, and I would ask counsel to please bear those remarks in mind.

MR MARITZ: Mr Chairman, will you grant me a few moments, please?  There is a matter which is of some concern to us.  Overnight I have received instructions that Mr Varney, who testified yesterday, is a paid consultant of the TRC and we request clarification, please, as to whether Mr Varney is or has at any time been employed by the TRC, the capacity in which he was so employed, if he was, and the remuneration that he received, as well as his status as an employee of the TRC, if that is so.  Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  We will respond to that at a later stage.  We won't interrupt the proceedings at this stage.  Mr Wills, I will swear your client in again, because this evidence relates to different issues.  Are you Brian Gcina Mkhize?

BRIAN GCINA MKHIZE: Yebo.
/BRIAN GCINA MKHIZE
1A

BRIAN GCINA MKHIZE: (Sworn states) (Through Interpreter)

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Macadam.

MR MACADAM: Mr Mkhize, when you concluded your evidence on Monday, you informed us that you had been through the normal police training at the KwaZulu Police College in Ulundi and had been attested as a fully-fledged member of the KwaZulu Police.

WITNESS:   That's correct.

MR MACADAM: And you were given the rank of constable once that training had been completed?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

MR MACADAM: Now, is it correct that you were posted to the Esikhaweni district headquarters to perform your duties as a member of the KwaZulu Police?

WITNESS:   Yes, that's correct.

MR MACADAM: Now, in what capacity were you employed?  What type of duties did you perform at that stage?

WITNESS:   I was employed and I worked in many units and I ended up at the reaction unit.

MR MACADAM: What were the reaction unit's duties, primarily?

WITNESS:   The reaction unit is the unit which is considered as the powerful unit to prevent crime.  It doesn't stop there.  It also was in charge of raiding, road-blocks.  However, it is the unit which normally reacts to reports.  For example, if there has been some shooting or fighting, it is the first unit to be called and it must be the first to arrive at the scene of crime.  However, as a member of the police, you can be given any task without any orders from the unit in which you are based.

MR MACADAM: And you told us earlier in your evidence that you were a staunch IFP supporter.  That is before you were taken to the training in the Caprivi in 1986.

WITNESS:   That's correct.

MR MACADAM: /And now at

MR MACADAM: 1A And now at the stage when you were posted in Esikhaweni, had your political affiliations changed at all?

WITNESS:   No, it didn't change.

MR MACADAM: Did you have any contact with local politicals and leaders in the Esikhaweni area while you were posted as a policeman there?

WITNESS:   Yes, I had contact.

MR MACADAM: With whom did you have contact?

WITNESS:   Are you referring to people in Esikhaweni only?

MR MACADAM: Yes, in the Esikhaweni area, where you were employed.

WITNESS:   I had contact with the councillors, which were councillors for the KwaZulu Government, and there were also other leaders of the Inkatha with whom I had contact.  Those which I used to contact them so often amongst the Inkatha leaders it was Mr B B Biyela, who is presently a Mayor at Richards Bay.  At the time he was the Mayor at Esikhaweni only.  I also had contact with Mrs Lindiwe Mbuyazi, who was one of the councillors at Esikhaweni, and who was occupying a high position within the Inkatha.  I also had contact with councillors like Zunsa, councillors like Mr G M Mkhize and councillors like Mrs Mtshali and others, but those which I had serious contacts are the two which is Ms Lindiwe Mbuyazi and Mr B B Biyela, who was the Mayor.

MR MACADAM: And in 1991 was there any political violence in the Esikhaweni area?

WITNESS:   Yes, it was intensifying, the violence.

MR MACADAM: Could you briefly and in broad terms sketch the nature of that violence?

WITNESS:   It was very frightful violence, because houses were burnt and you would discover a corpse lying on the road, not knowing what was the cause of the death, and people were running away from their

MR MACADAM: /respective places,

MR MACADAM: 1A respective places, and some were injured, getting shot, and others died because they had been attacked and others were attacked on the streets, in their houses and even in meetings.  It was a kind of a violence which had intensified, especially between the two organizations, the IFP and the ANC.

MR MACADAM: Sorry, Mr Mkhize, what year was this?  1991 - okay, so it was the ANC and not UDF, thank you.  Now, from that last answer you said that the ANC and the IFP were involved.  Were there any other parties involved in this violence?

WITNESS:   Amongst the political organizations, I don't know of any other political organization which existed at Esikhaweni, except the two that I mentioned.  Even if they were there, they were not known.

MR MACADAM: I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I take it this was political violence between the two organizations?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

MR MACADAM: And, from your own perception, did you hold any of these organizations responsible?

INTERPRETER: Please may you repeat that question.

MR MACADAM: From your own perception, did you believe that one or either of these organizations was actually to blame for this violence?

WITNESS:   I wouldn't like to try to be a political analyst to say which organization was right and which organization was wrong.  However, violence erupted between the two organizations.  I personally, as a person who took part and aligned myself with one of the parties and it was known that I was an IFP follower or supporter, I won't be in the position to judge who was right and who was wrong.

MR MACADAM: And did you at any stage, over and above your duties

MR MACADAM: /as a police

MR MACADAM: 1A as a police officer, administering law and order in that area, become personally involved in this violence?

WITNESS:  Can you please repeat that question?

MR MACADAM: Over and above your duties as a police officer at that time, did you, in a personal capacity, become involved in this violence which you've described to us?

WITNESS:   No, I didn't get myself involved in the violence.  However, in continuing with my statements it will come to light as to how I got involved in the violence around Esikhaweni.

MR MACADAM: Could you proceed to move to that point and tell us how that happened?