Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   What I will say according to rumours, because I was still very young, I was born in September 18, 1976 here in South Africa, in Durban.  That's where my mother was working.  I don't know when I got to Swaziland, but I was staying in Swaziland from the age of one up to five years.  According to my sisters my mother went to Swaziland after having given birth to me.  My sisters were left when my mother went away.  My father was already in Swaziland.  I don't know when he left.  I landed up in Swaziland.  All I knew was that all of us were in Swaziland because I was still very young at that time.  Philani was born in Swaziland.  He was born in 1979.  We stayed in Manzini.  Let me say we were residents in Swaziland, but that's not where this incident took place.  It took place in Matsapa.  We were moving from Manzini - between Manzini and Matsapa.  Matsapa is comprised - it has apartments and flats, so we stayed in KwaManzini, but at night they used to wake us up, put us in the car, and we would proceed to Matsapa.  We never used to know what was wrong or what was right that made us to be ferried during the night to and fro, but we were told that the boers were very dangerous.

DR MAGWAZA: Your father was working for an organisation.

WITNESS:  He was a representative of a certain organisation, the ANC.  This went on for quite some time as I was growing up, and I used to see this being woken up by my father, saying, "We should go now."  When we get to Matsapa we would be told, "Let's go back to Manzini."  At times we would sleep at relatives' places.  There was another lady who was staying in Mbabane in Swaziland.  We used to go to her place.  I think it was on the 3rd, but I am not sure, but I think it was the 3rd, I was taken to No 8, a flat, where there was a granny who was staying there.  Her name was Alzina Zondi.  I was very close to Alzina Zondi.  I almost thought she was my mother.  I had visited there.  There was her granddaughter.  Her name was Nokuthula.  We were attending school at Malcolmville.  I was going to sleep there, and wake up the following morning and go to school together with her.  In the morning my mother was supposed to come and fetch me together with Nokuthula so that they put us in a school bus which would leave us at school.  I waited on that particular day, myself and Nokuthula, waiting for my mother.  That was on the 4th.  I was in grade one.  I waited and waited with Nokuthula.  And Alzina said to us, "It looks like your parents are not coming to fetch you."  I told Alzina that they should be here because they knew I had problems with my school bus.  We waited endlessly until such time that they sent us to the shop.  When we were sent to the shop we were still in uniform.  When we came back from the shop I saw my sisters as well as other children with whom we board the school bus.  I asked what had happened, whether the bus had broken down.  Nobody answered me.  I asked who had died, "Because all of you just look downhearted."   I asked, "Who did the boers kill?" because this boer things was now a joke, because they used to say, "Boers are dogs, when ever they get you they kill you."  I sensed that there was something bad that had happened.  Ntombenhle and Lindiwe was there, but Philani was at the creche.  I think my sisters will go further from then, because they never told me what was happening, they just kept quiet.  They were supposed to have come with my mother and we were supposed to be taken to the school bus all of us.

DR MAGWAZA: They haven't been sworn in, so may you please go on.

WITNESS:   Thereafter I was called by Granny Alzina.  It was myself and Nokuthula.  She said to me, "Nomzamo, your mother has passed away.  The boers had killed her."  That's where I saw that what my mother and father was saying about the boers had now materialised.  I felt so bad.  We were taken to where the incident had taken place.  When I got there my mother's car had burnt down.  I could not see what had happened.  My mother was not there.  We were very confused.  I asked myself as to why my mother wasn't left at home.  I heard that as the car was standing when my father tried to start the car, because my mother sent Ntombenhle to change Philani, the baby, her napkin, so my mother said she must start the car.  Then when my father started the car the car just exploded.  The flat at which we were staying was even having a big hole at the ceiling.  Lindiwe, my sister, ran out and she called Ntombenhle's name, and they realised that the parents had died.  When she came close my father's lower part was no longer there.  He was bleeding profusely.  My mother had her foot inside and the other one was outside.  She was trying to get into the car.  Now she was burnt and her skull had started to crack.  When I thought of this incident I felt very confused, I didn't know what to do.  Thereafter all our relatives from 'Maritzburg started pouring in, because my family is here in 'Maritzburg.  My uncle came, and he is the one who went to the mortuary to identify my parents.  Now when we talk to him and tell him as to the scene that - at the funeral when we were sitting we were sitting just like the audience, and our parents' coffins were further down there.  We never saw them.  We were told then that they were put in big plastic refuse bags.

DR MAGWAZA: Were there people with your parents in your car?

WITNESS:   Yes, there were two people.  One was my uncle, Makhebula Mlungise, and another one by the name of Moffet.  According to my thoughts I think they were their bodyguards, because Makhebula went to Mozambique to be trained as a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe.  He used to come to my place, and whenever he was there we used to trust and believe that our parents were safe, but when he tells us now he says many people did not know.  Because he got this chance to be a bodyguard and he was very happy because he had guarded his sister, but many people did not know that.

DR MAGWAZA: Just tell us about this whole incident.  Then after your parents had died what happened to you, because you were still very young?

WITNESS:   After their death my mother had parents who were staying at Imbali.  They were elderly at that time.  They came during the funeral.  I don't know what happened thereafter, because what I remember we were left with Alzina.  We stayed quite a few weeks.  Maybe it was one or two weeks.  My sister was taken to one white lady, Mrs Forest, whose kids we were schooling with.  We used to visit her very often.  Then we stayed at Alzina's place until my grandfather, as well as my grandmother, came to take us.  Those who were there at that time were saying that we should be left with Alzina.  We were taken, Nonzamo, Lindiwe, as well as Philani, by grandmother and grandfather.  Ntombenhle was left with this white family.  When we got to 'Maritzburg we stayed with my grandfather.  I am not sure about the time which we stayed, but Ntombenhle came back thereafter.  We are staying with my  mother up til today - my grandmother, as well as grandfather and my grandfather's daughter.  That is my mother's sister.  Nobody was working there.  My uncle, I think he was getting pension at that time.

DR MAGWAZA: Which year was that?

WITNESS:   My parents died in 1982.  I think it was 1983/84 thereafter when we were staying there.  They tried to get us schools.  That was a problem because we did not know Zulu, we were speaking Swazi and English.

DR MAGWAZA: Did you ever get help when you got here?