Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-08-29

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible) ... if I could just stop for a moment.  Please take your time.  If you need to just stop for a second and recover yourself.  You've said this was on a week between the 26th - round about that time, but you didn't tell us what month it was.

WITNESS:   It was May 26th 1986.

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible) ... Monday, and you buried him on the Saturday of that same week.

WITNESS:   Yes, that's correct.

COMMISSIONER: Okay.  Now, you said you were taken by your employer to a police station to open a case.  Which police station was that?

WITNESS:   Firstly we went to Gagido(?), but we did not give statement, but we went to Makhotha.  The sergeant in charge explained to us and that's the sergeant we gave the statement to - Overport.

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible) ... from the tear-gas.

WITNESS:   That's true.

COMMISSIONER: Okay.  Do you remember the sergeant's name at all?

WITNESS:   No, I don't remember.

COMMISSIONER: Was that after the funeral that you went to do that?

WITNESS:   No, it was before the funeral.

COMMISSIONER: You've said in your statement that the ANC helped you with the funeral costs, and helped you to conduct that funeral.  Is that right?

WITNESS:   That's correct.

COMMISSIONER: You yourself, do you belong to any political organisations?

WITNESS:   No.

COMMISSIONER: Now, are you still working at the moment?

WITNESS:   Yes.

COMMISSIONER: For the same employer?

WITNESS:   Yes.

COMMISSIONER: Do you know whether there was ever any case or inquest arising out of Sipho's death?

WITNESS:   Yes, there was a case that was opened at the court of law.

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible)

WITNESS:   C R Swart in Durban.

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible)

WITNESS:   Yes.

COMMISSIONER: Did you ever get any letters about that case with numbers on that might help us to trace the case?  Maybe you've kept them.

WITNESS:   No, but my attorney is van George.

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible) ... name again please, your lawyer's name?

WITNESS:   (No reply)

COMMISSIONER: Would you be able to go to your lawyer and try and get us his name so we can follow up the case and see what happened?

WITNESS:   Yes.  Yes, I can.

COMMISSIONER: We would appreciate that.  Now, you've indicated in your statement - sorry.  So the lawyers you went to were from the Legal Resource Centre?

WITNESS:   Yes.

COMMISSIONER: Thanks.  If you could just turn that - the earphones for the witness down a little bit, just the volume down a little bit.  It's creating a bit of feedback.  Thank you.  You've said in your statement that you would like some sort of a pension to help you with the loss of your son.  Do you confirm that?

WITNESS:   Yes.

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible) ... Chairperson, I have no further questions.  I hand back to you.  Thank you, Mrs Ndlovu.

COMMISSIONER: Mrs Ndlovu, we have heard what you wish the Truth Commission could do for you, but there's one other thing that we usually emphasise, because we do feel people must get help from the Commission.  Many people have been harassed and traumatised and never got an opportunity to consult with a psychologist.  People will think that they are healthy and fine, and yet they don't know deep down in their bodies they are not healthy.  How do you as a person feel?

WITNESS:   I feel so much disturbed, and I don't think I am fine mentally, and my child was affected even at school.

COMMISSIONER: You mean your son - your daughter?

WITNESS:   Yes, my daughter.  She was highly affected at school and she keeps failing.  The other one who died in 1993 as well, he was so highly affected as a result of this.

COMMISSIONER: So really it will be great for you to consult the psychologists who have given their voluntary services to serve people like you.  Would you appreciate that?

WITNESS:  Yes, I would highly appreciate.  Thank you.

DR RANDIRA: Mrs Ndlovu, just two questions.  My first one is that - just for clarification, you know.  Our democracy has created a situation where many parties are legal now, but you say in 1986, at the time of your son's funeral, the ANC paid for it.  The ANC was a banned organisation at the time.  Are you talking about the ANC or the UDF?

WITNESS:   It was UDF at the time.

DR RANDIRA: My second question is related to your son.  He was 14 years - how old was he at the time?  14 - no, 20 - sorry 24.

WITNESS:   24

DR RANDIRA: 24, yes.  Sorry, my apologies.  Did he have any children?

WITNESS:   No, he did not have any children.

MR LAX: Thanks, Chairperson.  Mrs Ndlovu, you indicated there was something you forgot to tell us about that you wanted to add to this story.  Please do so.

WITNESS:  At the court of law he did agree that he was the - the police was the one who killed him.  He said yes, he killed him.  Small, Mr Small, his surname, the one who admitted that he killed him.

MR LAX: Was that person convicted in the court?  Do you know what the outcome of the court case was?

WITNESS:   No.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... interpreters can hear you.

WITNESS:   He did admit that he's the one who killed in front of the judge at the court of law, at the Magistrate, that he is the one who shot him.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... convict him?

WITNESS:   No, he was not convicted.

COMMISSIONER: (Inaudible) ... to thank you very much for coming and being brave enough to tell us the story of your son's death today.  As I said to witnesses yesterday, we have heard so many mothers telling us about the death of their children, and, as you must know better than anybody, it is a terrible thing to have to bury a child, especially in your case, where Sipho was an only child.  Yesterday I commented on the role that the Defence Force played under the old government, and that instead of upholding the law and protecting people they spent much of their time and energy, and much of the taxpayers' money, pursuing the political opponents of the previous Government, harassing them, assaulting them, and, in the case of your son, killing them, and we hope that we have passed that era forever.
As Mr Lax said, we have heard what your request is.  Our job is to make recommendations to the State President and to the Government as to how victims of the violence, people like yourself, should be assisted, and we will be taking those recommendations to the Government.  So thank you very much again for coming in today, and to your niece.  Thank you.