Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1998-10-12

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: I think it was Wellington if I recall quite well.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You made reference to the name of Ntuli, who was that?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Ntuli was a member of Inkatha and he also worked at the same factory.  We knew him very well to be as staunch member of Inkatha and he was living at Westgate Hostel.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Mr Chairman, there is a document in the bundle of documents which has been made available to you.  At page 66 of the bundle, headed
"Memorandum - A history of violence at Langeberg Foods Ltd, Boksburg"
I intend to call Mr Simpson who testified at Mr Kondile's(?) criminal trial in mitigation and I just wanted to take Mr Kondile through the chronology so that he can identify those incidents which he has personal knowledge of.
	Mr Kondile, if you look at the bundle of documents in front of you, page 66 of the bundle, you will see it's marked at the top right-hand corner.  Can I refer you to page 67, paragraph 6.  It starts - it says:
"Later on the same day two FAWU members at the factory, Wellington Site and John Masondo were abducted by a group of men while walking towards the nearby Dunswart Railway Station but the were taken to the ..."
...(intervention)

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, that is correct.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Alright.  What I wanted to do was, this is the incident, if you read the paragraph, this is the incident that you've just testified about.

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, this is what I've just been relating.

MR VAN DEN BERG: And you have personal knowledge about that?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I do have personal knowledge because I know the two people who were abducted as well as the survivor who came back to relate the story to us.

MR VAN DEN BERG: If you look at the next paragraph ...(intervention)

MR SIBANYONI: Maybe before going to the next paragraph, what is the name of the hostel you talk about?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: It's Wadeville Hostel.

MR SIBANYONI: I see in this paragraph they call it "Actonville Hostel", is it one and the same hostel?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Actonville is the town or it's near the Indian area, Actonville.  It's only a street that divides the hostel as well as the area but the hostel is Wadeville Hostel, it's called Wadeville Hostel.

MR SIBANYONI: Thank you.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Thank you, Mr Chairperson.
	I was going to refer you to the contents of paragraph 7 which deals with an incident relating to Amos Makanja, do you know about that?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I do know.

MR VAN DEN BERG: And then if you have a look at paragraph 8, there's an incident which deals with a Mr Msotho, do you know about his death?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I do know about his death.

MR VAN DEN BERG: And then also in paragraph 9, there was another attack on the home of Amos Makanja, did he tell you about that attack?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, he related it to us.  I even went to his house to see the aftermath of the attack, I witnessed the aftermath.

MR VAN DEN BERG: In paragraph 10 it deals with the death of Philios Shilakwe on the 21st of August, do you know about that?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I do know him and I know about the incident because we worked together.  I even know where he died, next to the shops.

MR VAN DEN BERG: The same paragraph deals with the shooting of Amos Gamede, do you know about that?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I do know.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Who was Mr Gamede?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Mr Gamede was also a shop steward at the factory, at the same factory where I worked.  He was an ordinary worker but he was elected by his co-workers to be a shop steward.

MR VAN DEN BERG: And then if I can refer you to paragraph 11 and that relates the death of a Solomon Mokwatanja, also a FAWU member, do you know about that?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I do.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Paragraph 12 talks about a attack at the factory gates at Langeberg on the 27th of August, were you present when that happened or did you know about it?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: I would request the Committee to bear with me because it's quite some time after this happened.  I can't recall, I have absolutely no recollection of Sampson Shlajayo, I don't remember and I was not present when this took place.  I have no clear recollection of the matter.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Can I refer you then to paragraph 15 on page 69.  I'd referred you to paragraph 15 on page 59, did you know Rosoline Makulukulu?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I knew her.

MR VAN DEN BERG: And did you know about the attack on her home?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, I do.

MR VAN DEN BERG: What I wanted to ask you is that in the light of the incident on the 15th of August and these subsequent series of attacks, what did you together with your fellow shop stewards do?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: We realised that we were being attacked continually and we had to report this matter to the management in order to get its opinion and report the matter to the police as well.
	We reported to the offices of the ANC, that is the ANC Headquarters and we thought that we could get some help who we could enlist some opinions as to how to deal with the matter.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Was the matter reported to the offices of the Food and Allied Workers Union?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: Yes, that is correct, we reported the matter to the offices of the union as well as the ANC headquarters.  We went to all the places to report because we wanted to get some help.  We realised that we were being attacked by other people and we wanted the world to know that this was happening.

MR VAN DEN BERG: What did the people at FAWU say to you and to your fellow shop stewards?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: I think we sent a delegation of four shop stewards who gave us a report back that they are from the offices and they said there was absolutely nothing they could do because people were killing each other and the atmosphere was quite violent, it was quite a volatile situation so we had to do anything in order to protect ourselves, to protect the union as well as to protect ourselves as members of the ANC because people were being forced and coerced to join Inkatha.  So we decided to walk in groups when we go to work as well as when we come back from work and we would make some lift clubs in order to go in groups when we go back to our places and when we go to work.
	We had a belief that they were going to help us with arms or any help they could give us in order to be able to protect ourselves.  So we resorted to lift clubs and walking in groups to and from work.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You said that you had expected that you would get help, you said: "they would help us", are you referring to FAWU or are you referring to the ANC or are you referring to both of them?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: I'm referring to both of them, that is FAWU as well as the ANC.

MR VAN DEN BERG: One of the things you testified about was that they would give you arms, did that happen?

ZANDISILE PATRICK KONDILE: No, it did not happen, we were not given any arms.

MR VAN DEN BERG: What did the shop stewards do as a result of the meetings with FAWU and the ANC?  What did you as shop stewards do?