Special Hearings — Women's Hearings — 1997-07-28

MS SEROKE: Did the post-mortem report mention anything about the rape that was done to these children.

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: No, there was nothing about the rape in the report.  They only said they were found with bullets in their stomach, but even if they might have explained I was real confused.  I was in a state of shock at that stage.  I might not remember if they did report that.

MS SEROKE: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Mahlophe, I'm just going to ask you a few questions.  You went to identify Tembe's body at the mortuary?

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: Yes, I did go to identify the body.

CHAIRPERSON: And did you ever try to get hold of the other young girl who was with them, Santie?

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: No, I was not in a position to do that, because they pulled her and she ran out of the window.  And when we went to the family, we realised that the family had taken this kid away. I only heard from other people that Santie was with them at that stage.

CHAIRPERSON: After this had happened, did the police ever come to you to tell you anything more about this matter?

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: No, the police didn't come.  They didn't come to explain to us how our children died.  No, there was no such a time when they came.

CHAIRPERSON: Did they ever come to you to try and get Winnie to identify who had actually done this?

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: Yes, they did come.

CHAIRPERSON: And what did you say then?

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: We said to them, Winnie has gone away, has gone to Bush - Bushbuckridge.

CHAIRPERSON: From your statement you talk about Winnie being visited in hospital by one of the possible perpetrators?

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: Those who came to visit, they went to visit the hospital. When Winnie came round, she saw one of the ladies there and when she saw one of these people, she fainted and she didn't explain anything.

CHAIRPERSON: Does Winnie herself have - what was the kind of treatment that was given her at the hospital?  Does she also have scars on her body from the hacking.

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: Yes, she's got scars on her head and her neck and the operation on the throat her whole stomach - they shot her in the stomach.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you ever go and see any lawyer or anybody to assist you in this matter.

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: No, we didn't see anybody to assist us.

CHAIRPERSON: And you don't know if the police charged anybody for this matter?
 I'm going to ask Winnie some questions.  Are you receiving any kind of counselling for what actually happened?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: No.

CHAIRPERSON: Is this the first time that you've talked about it after telling your family?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: Yes, it is the first time.

CHAIRPERSON: Does it still cause quite a lot of pain, to talk about it?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: Yes, I'm still very sad and pained by what happened to me.

CHAIRPERSON: Do you struggle to remember things?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: Yes, I do remember things.

CHAIRPERSON: What do you want to do when you finish school?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: I want to be a teacher.

CHAIRPERSON: Do you know what happened to Santie after this accident?  Did you ever have any contact with her?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: No, I haven't seen Santie since then.

CHAIRPERSON: Are you happy to stay in Bushbuckridge?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: Yes, I'm happy in Bushbuckridge.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, Mrs Mahlophe and Winnie, for coming to share this painful story with us.
 We know that it's not easy to talk about it, but we hope that by talking about it, at least something can actually be done.
 We will see what we can do about putting you in touch, certainly with counselling services, so that at least Winnie can have the benefit of proper counselling.
 We will see what we can do about that fairly quickly.  Thank you for coming today.
 Is there anything that you would like to say before you go?

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: Yes, I do have something I'd like to say;  that since this child died, I was no longer able to get any employment and I kind of lay a - put a stone for my child on thegrave.

CHAIRPERSON: And you'd like a gravestone for  ...

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: And you, Winnie, would you like to say anything?  Winnie, is there anything you would like to ...

ELLA GLORIA MAHLOPHE: I'd like to have a gravestone for my child.  I'm not working at the moment, I am unemployed.  That's also my other problem.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  We have heard you and we'll certainly note those requests for the Commission.
 Winnie, would you like to say anything before you actually go?

WINNIE MAKHUBELA: If you could please assist with my education.

CHAIRPERSON: The Commission will take that request into consideration and when we talk about recommendations to Government about reparation, that will certainly be noted.
 Thank you for coming today.