Human Rights Violation Hearings — Umtata — 1996-06-18

MR ZIBI: The funeral was at our home in Umtandoli. As the days went on we got a message and this message was that we are supposed to bury Vuyani during the week and we were told the people in the funeral must not be more than 200 and we were told that at twelve o'clock the whole process must be over. But on that day of the funeral one of the older men entered as a priest, because there were so few people at that time, in that funeral. The people who came to the funeral were quite few but the people who were so many were the police. Even the people right behind the chair that I was sitting on were the police.

MS MKHIZE: If you can further tell the Commission as to the impact of those restrictions on the normal mourning process that takes place within families if a loss of this nature had occurred.

MR ZIBI: The restrictions had their impact because when somebody has died in a family there are people who usually come to the home to comfort the family members, but we were restricted, but there were people who dared this order, this restriction order. They came. Usually we are supposed to have young men to dig up the hole but there are those who dared and went and arranged for the funeral. But people even if they didn't participate fully as they usually do in our funerals, they did explain that it is because of these restrictions that they are not coming. But the funeral went on and was over at the time when the Policemen wanted it to be. My sickly mother was a very hurt by this whole process. Especially that Lesotho massacre. It really hurt her. She never recovered after that. Even after she died, a few years after that - this stayed on for years after Vuyani was buried.

MS MKHIZE: It's made here, it's like you are in search for more information about people who lived closely to Vuyani. Did you ever hear from any of his fellow comrades in Lesotho after his funeral?

MR ZIBI: I never got any word after the funeral. Unfortunately one of the people that I thought had knowledge about this, especially about Vuyani he was Mr Matutu, unfortunately he died as the years went by. I think he was the one who was going to have information but unfortunately he died before we could get anything from him. Now then after that we never got any details about Vuyani's death.

MS MKHIZE: Before I hand you over back to our Chairperson I would ask you just to think about the things that you'd be happy if the Commission can help you with. I see here you referred to his photo. If anyone has his photo can you think of any other thing that you think the Commission can be of assistance with?

MR ZIBI: Firstly, as a family, we would like to know, we would like to know why were those people massacred. Why were those people massacred in their sleep, unfortunately Vuyani was one of those. This looked like it happened at night, as you can see when we went there it looked like Vuyani was asleep when he was attached. We would just like to know the reason. We want to know from the South African soldiers why they did that, because we know that it was the South African soldiers who did this. About the photo, unfortunately when I was trying to look, trying to search for his photo, so that even those who are younger, even the next generation, those who are nieces and nephews to him should know what he looked like. The last time I saw his photo it was in Lesotho. But now I unfortunately at the time we didn't think of taking it and bringing it home. It looks like something that is insignificant, but it means quite a lot to us because now people in his family don't know what he looked like. Thank you.

MS MKHIZE: As you know, according to your knowledge did Vuyani know or have any friends or any girlfriends that he had a child with?

MR ZIBI: I did try to see if he had any child even while he was in Lesotho, we would really like to know more about that if there is any child of his in Lesotho. We would like to know about that as well.

MS MKHIZE: Is that what you are asking the Commission to please try and investigate if your brother had any family of his own in Lesotho?

MR ZIBI: Oh, yes, we would like it very much if the Commission can help us in that regard.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much Mr Zibi from the Commission About the fall of your brother, falling in a foreign country in Lesotho. The details that you have put before us ask us that we should follow them and investigate. We are going to do this. There is one thing that I want to report to you know that the Commission is going to meet with all the political organisations and one of them will be one of the political parties that was in government at the time of the National Party. This is one of the questions we are going to ask them - that who was doing the raids in Lesotho. We are going to get the answers from them.
 I would also like to ensure you that the reparation and, the Reparation Committee which is led by my colleague here next to me, Commissioner Hlengiwe Mkhize, is looking very closely into this matter to see what other things that can be things that can be permanent stones for your people to remember them, to remember our heroes, I assure you that your brother's name will be in there. You will remember some of those people were never brought back to South Africa to be buried properly. They died in foreign countries and they were buried in foreign countries but now this committee, Hlengiwe Mkhize's committee is going to investigate and see what is going to happen. This Committee is going to see how this people can be given their dignified and respective funerals. I assure you that all your requests will be taken seriously by the Commission. 
   We will appeal to the entire country where you are asking that if there is anybody who has got a photograph or any woman who had a relationship with your brother and out of that may been a child coming out of the relationship you would like that family to get into contact with you it is a cry of a desperate family which would like to have something which will perpetuate the memory of your brother, and I'm sure that call and that cry is being taken seriously.  
 We thank you very much and we are grateful for your time.