Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 2000-01-17

MR WEBSTER: Where was he living at the time that he was killed?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: Z281 in Umlazi.

CHAIRPERSON: I think the interpreter's voice is too soft.  You say 281, what?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: Umlazi.  Z281, Umlazi.

MR WEBSTER: With whom did he reside?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: With myself.

MR WEBSTER: What was his marital status?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: He was still a pupil who was in standard 10 in Charles James School.

MR WEBSTER: I do not know whether you can recall that during the time that he was killed we used to have what we call the Special Branch police.

FLORA MGOBHOZI: Yes, I used to hear about that but I don't have full knowledge about that.

MR WEBSTER: Did any of those Special Branch police ever visit your home?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: No, I didn't see any except on the day when he was killed and they didn't even speak to me, they've spoken to my daughter.  They didn't say anything to me.  When they arrived I was outside my home, they entered the house and they searched in the house.

MR WEBSTER: So as far as you are aware your child was never ever interrogated by the police, is that what you are suggesting?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: I've never seen a police in my house or even coming there to harass my child, except on the day when he was killed, that's when they first came to my house and they took my daughter and they searched the house and they didn't find anything inside the house.

MR WEBSTER: Do you know whether your son was politically active or involved in any form of politics or so-called terrorist activities?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: I wouldn't know about that because sometimes children, they do hide things from their parents and sometimes you spend more time at work and you wouldn't know.  I wouldn't know that.

MR WEBSTER: Now you've indicated that you'd like to tell the Chairman and Members of the Committee, or at least express yourself regarding the death of your son.  Please proceed.

FLORA MGOBHOZI: The death of my son traumatised me very much because no-one had previously approached me to complain about him, all that I knew was that he was a scholar and I had looked forward to the day when he would be able to assist me, when he'd completed his schooling.  Unfortunately there is no-one to assist me now.
	And after his death the reports that came in were unsatisfactory because from what the reports said it seemed as if they had killed somebody unimportant and useless, but he was important to me, that is why I took him to school, so that he could assist me when I am elderly and also to help him for his future.  I had hoped that he will be in a position to assist me and educate some of his siblings.
	Also, when I went to the mortuary to identify his body, it was on a second occasion because on the first occasion they took my daughter to the identification I was left behind.  As his parent I was unsatisfied with that.
	When I went to identify him I was told to stand far, not very close to him.  He was in a seated position ...

INTERPRETER: ... as she's indicating.

FLORA MGOBHOZI: ... but as far as I am aware a deceased person's body should lie flat.
	Another thing that I did not understand was that his skull or scalp had been removed and I did not quite understand whether he was shot on the head, and all of that worried me.  I was also not given his clothing.  That is all.

MR WEBSTER: That would be what she wishes to say, Mr Chairman.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR WEBSTER

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  How old is your daughter, the one that was spoken to by the Special Branch when they came to your house?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: At that time she was older than my son, she was around 22.

CHAIRPERSON: Did the police tell her what they were looking for when they searched the house?

FLORA MGOBHOZI: She told me that they had been searching for weapons and I enquired from her as to what she told them and she said there were no weapons but they searched the house, all over the house.

CHAIRPERSON: Does counsel have any questions to put to this witness?

MR VISSER: No thank you, Mr Chairman.
NO QUESTIONS BY MR VISSER

CHAIRPERSON: Do you have any questions?

MS THABETHE: No questions, Mr Chair.
NO QUESTIONS BY MS THABETHE

CHAIRPERSON: Right, thank you very much.
WITNESS EXCUSED

MR WEBSTER: Mr Chairman, I call Lindiwe Zondi.  She will speak in Zulu, Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: Please ask her to stand and ask her if she is prepared to give evidence on oath.

LINDIWE ZONDI: (sworn states)

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, you may be seated.

MR WEBSTER: Ms Zondi, are you related to any of the four young people who were murdered at the Quarry Road incident?

LINDIWE ZONDI: Yes, it Mbongeni Zondi.

MR WEBSTER: How was Mbongeni related to you?

LINDIWE ZONDI: He was my husband.

MR WEBSTER: For how long had you been married?

LINDIWE ZONDI: We were married in 1985 and he died the following year.

MR WEBSTER: Did you have any children?

LINDIWE ZONDI: Yes, two children, both girls.

MR WEBSTER: What were the dates of birth of these two children?

LINDIWE ZONDI: The first-born was born on the 2nd of July 1981 and the second one was born on the 2nd of February 1985.

MR WEBSTER: You recall the day when your husband left home and did not come back.

LINDIWE ZONDI: Yes, I do.

MR WEBSTER: Were you at home when he left?

LINDIWE ZONDI: Yes, I was.

MR WEBSTER: Do you know where he was going when he left home?

LINDIWE ZONDI: No, I did not know because he had left with a younger child.  When he did not return I went to his aunt's home to look for him and I only found the child there and was informed that he had been picked up by a friend, so I took the child and returned home.

MR WEBSTER: When did you learn about his death?

LINDIWE ZONDI: On the following day which was a Monday, I went to look for him at his place of employment, which was a garage.  I remained at home until Tuesday and it was during the afternoon when policemen arrived.  They sat me down and they asked if I knew Mbongeni and I said he was my husband.  They had photos and they asked me to identify him in the photos.   I then identified him, he was seated in an upright position.

MR WEBSTER: Could you make out whether he was alive at the time that that photo was taken, or not?

LINDIWE ZONDI: He was not alive.

MR WEBSTER: You've indicated that you wish to say something regarding the death of your husband ...(intervention)

CHAIRPERSON: Perhaps before she proceeds, did they tell you anything at all about him when they showed you the photograph?

LINDIWE ZONDI: When they arrived there was one policeman that I knew who was a neighbour amongst them.  My sister then asked from him as to what had happened and he explained that he had been shot and he was not aware that this person was my husband.  Then this policeman left immediately, the rest of the other policemen who were whites, started searching the house.

CHAIRPERSON: What were they searching for?

LINDIWE ZONDI: They called my eldest child and enquired from her is there was no weapon that her daddy had hidden maybe in the garden and they told her to point out where his belongings were kept, and that is when they looked in the wardrobes and they removed everything that was in the wardrobe but they did not find anything.

CHAIRPERSON: What happened after that?

LINDIWE ZONDI: I was told to go identify him at the Gail(?) Street mortuary.  The following day they returned and took me to the police station and told me to tell them if he had ever disappeared from home and I informed them that he had never left home, he had never been missing from home, it was just on that day, the first time that he had ever spent a night away from home.

CHAIRPERSON: This happened at which police station?

LINDIWE ZONDI: I did not see because I was placed at the back of the van which was covered all over, but on the second occasion we went to we went to CR Swart and we went around the back and we were taken to an underground cell.