Human Rights Violation Hearings — Nelspruit — 1996-09-03

CHAIRPERSON: The next witness is Jemeya Gertrude Mnisi and I'll ask her to please come forward.
 Good afternoon, Mrs Mnisi, we're very pleased to see you, can you hear my voice on the earphone?

JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: I can hear you.

CHAIRPERSON: I can hear you too, so we are now in touch with each other.  Can you please tell us just to start, who is your friend who is with you, or the relative that is sitting with you?

JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: This is my sister.

CHAIRPERSON: May I just say a very warm word of welcome to your sister as well.  We are very grateful that she is being of comfort to you today. You have waited a very long time today and you must be quite tired, so we are going to start right away, because you have a story to tell about your son.  Now before I ask Mrs Mkhizi to guide you in the telling of your story, Ms Sooka is going to help you to affirm the oath.

JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: (sworn states).

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mrs Mkhize please.

MS MKHIZE: I welcome you and I will lead us as you tell us what you have written here in your statement.  Maybe you should tell us the name of your sister so that we don't just call her your sister.

JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: She is Priscilla Nkosi.

MS MKHIZE: Priscilla, we also welcome you. Thank you, you NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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can now carry on with your story.

JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: On the 3rd of July in 1986, I was befell by this tragedy with my son.  There was a place they used to go for their meetings.  There was their camp at a place called Shangaan Hill.  That was their usual place to meet. He'd been to this hill for quite a few times and at times we would even go to bed without seeing him at all and he would come the next morning. They would leave in the morning and at times they would leave in the evening and we would see him the next day.  He was involved in this struggle.
 The police used to come to my house almost every day, we couldn't sleep peacefully. It was one o'clock in the evening when the police came and they kicked the doors and we would open the doors and they would search for my child.  One day they picked him up and they took him to the cells and they would come in, they would shout, they would insult us. They took the boy with them and they put him into the cells and it was quite a time that I didn't know what happened to my son and I said to myself one day, I haven't seen my son for a week, what happened to him? What am I going to say if the police come to me, if they tell me that I should appear before the court of law?
 Things were just quiet, I was never called,I didn't know that my son was arrested.  Time went by and I heard from rumours that my son was moving in police vans and I was shocked and said, "My son in police vans?"  They said, "Yes".  Other people were sympathising with me and every time I would walk in the streets, people would be pointing their fingers at me, and seeing that I didn't know anything I'll be surprised. Those who were brave enough 
came to me and they said to me, "We've that your house is NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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going to be burned together with your mother's as well as your sister's, and I said to them, why, what have we done, because we don't know anything?
 And I was now told that they want to kill him. On Wednesday my child came home, it was in the evening. I woke up on Thursday morning and I talked to my son. I said to him, "Lucky, what is it that you are doing because now my house is going to be burned, what have you done? Please leave this struggle, come back home, stay at home.  And Lucky, I'm asking you not to move around the streets because even if I walk around the streets, people point fingers at me, I don't know what I have done". 
 It was a Thursday and I went to the women's church gathering and I said to him, "Please, do not leave today, you are now being chased and I've heard that you are going to be killed, please stay here at home.  I put on my church attire and I went to church.  On my way I came back just before reaching the church.  I said, "Lucky please I want you to stay here, don't go!" , and I went to church.
 When you are inside the church you can still see my house.  I saw him moving out of the gate.  We prayed in the church and at half past four I went back home.  I said, "Where is Lucky?".  They said to me, Luck is not here at home". I stayed till it was time for bed and he wasn't in the house.  The next morning on Friday, my sister arrived. This one sitting next to me and she said to me, Lucky has passed away. He was burned to death.
 I asked her what happened? Who burned him? We started crying.

MS MKHIZE: Let her drink water please so that she can
breathe.
NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: Thereafter I asked where he was.  I wanted to know where he was and my sister said, "No they've removed him, he is now at the mortuary".  We stayed at home not knowing the reasons for his killing, we prepared for the funeral, my sister personally went to the mortuary.  I became brave enough and I followed. My sister said to me, "Please do not cry!"  I said to her, "No I won't".  My sister was there with my husband and they said," Can you please open so that we can see whether it's my son?"  I turned him and I looked at him, he was stabbed 18 holes, I was brave enough to count those holes, and my sister wanted to pull me from counting them.  I said to her, "Please stop it, I want to see him".  My son was burned.
He was my first born and I was looking to him, he was my future.

MS MKHIZE: Take your time, don't rush yourself. We know that when memories of the past come to you, they open the wounds.

JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: I want to know, why my son was killed? I'm here to know the person who killed him and I want to know them and they should tell me why they killed him because he was involved in the struggle.  He was fighting for the freedom that we have today.  There was no help at all, not even from the police, they would come to me and they would say, "We want you before the Court of Law. Come we have to go, you have to listen to the case with regard to your child".  But things were quiet thereafter until today, and they even gave orders that there shouldn't be many people at the funeral but because of the family we decided that we are not going to listen to that, we want to carry on
ith the funeral.  I would be very happy to see the NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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wperpetrators.

MS MKHIZE: We want to thank you Mrs Mnisi, this is a very sad story.  You lost your son in a very brutal way.  This was your only child and your only hope and we are sorry to be taking you back to the past but as soon as the truth is revealed, you will have peace in your heart.  I'm going to ask you a few questions so that your story can be clarified.
 You started by telling us that your son Lucky was involved in the struggle.  They were continually going up and down this Shangaan Hill.  According to your knowledge, before Lucky was involved in the struggle how old was he? What is it that they discussed when they were in their meetings at the Shangaan Hill?

JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: Lucky was 19 years old.  He was involved in the struggle because he wanted to taste the new government that we have today. I once talked to him and I said, "Lucky, you must stop talking to me anymore, and he said to me, "Mum, I am involved in the struggle and I will continue".
 You know if the previous government could have arrested him and put him in the cells, my son would still have been alive today.  The children that were arrested were three but I won't tell you their names.  They were not even sentenced. I was waiting for the case to take place and I thought they would call Lucky and charge him with something, but that didn't take place.