Human Rights Violation Hearings — King William's Town — 1997-05-12

ADV SANDI: But before we do that we will hand over to Mr Mnyape to give us a background and tell us about your district Masele.  If you could tell us exactly what was happening at the time in the village, especially in connection with the ADM and the headmen and soldiers.  If Mnyape could give us a picture of what happened at the village such that we are also clear as to what happened and then Mrs Mnyape will give us evidence of what happened when soldiers came to her home and beat people up and her child got run over by a truck and passed away.  Is that what you are going to do?

MRS MNYAPE: Yes.

ADV SANDI: I will hand over to you Mr Mnyape.  If you could tell us at the time in your village, Masele, what was the problem at the time.  I am going to hand over to you now.  Thank you Mr Mnyape.  If you could come closer to the mike so that we can hear you.

MR MNYAPE: The problem at Masele, a gentlemen called Zolele Puti came to Masele.  He had bought a shop.  That is when the trouble started at Masele.  When he got there he was alright.  We stayed with him.  We would buy our groceries from his shop.  After a while, we were already use to him at the time, he started selling alcohol in his shop.  As residents we did not like this, because a store is for selling food and groceries and not liquor.  Mr Puti sent a letter, first of all, to the residents saying that he would like to open a tavern.  He was, he had already started selling alcohol.  We said that we would not like him to sell alcohol, because alcohol is destructive especially to our children.  He then refused to come to us to talk to us, because he was the Government, he said.
 On a Saturday, on a Saturday night his shop got bombed.  On the Sunday cars came to our village.  Gqozo was amongst the people who came.  He came with his people.  According to the evidence it was a Russian bomb that had been used to destroy his store.  Apparently there had been a meeting on the Saturday.  The police were called and it was later found out that there was a church meeting.

ADV SANDI: Before I disturb you, Mr Mnyape, what Chairperson are you talking about?

MR MNYAPE: The Chairperson belonged to an organisation SANCO.

ADV SANDI: Thank you.

MR MNYAPE: The Chairman of ASASCO was then called.  He went to answer to the police and they found that the meeting was at the school and it was a church meeting.  He then went back to sleep.  The Putis' were saying that we, as ANC members, had bombed down his shop.  We then decided, as the ANC in the area, that if Puti could not work together with the residents of the area, then we must boycott his shop.  It is his people from the Government, the then Ciskeian Government, that should go and buy from him alone.  We then stopped buying from his store.
 On the Tuesday, the following week, three children came into my house.  It was just before I had my bath in the morning.  These children got into the house, then my wife followed and my children.  These children got in and they refused to sit down. I asked them to sit down.  They said that the Government from Zone Six asked us to pick you up, Sir, they said.  I said that I am going to have a bath first.  They then left.  I had my bath, my coffee.  After that they came back with Maginga, the SANCOR Chairperson.  I got into the car.  There were seven people.  Three were in a bakkie and the four in the car.  We got to Zone Six.  We were divided, Maginga and I were separated.  I was then asked why it is that we are not buying from the store.  I said that Puti was not in harmony with the villagers especially the ANC members.  We then, I then said that it is the members of the Government that should buy from the shop, that he is in harmony with.  We did not want alcohol to be sold in the village, because it is destructive.  
 We gave in our statements.  We were then taken home.  We were told that at seven am the next morning we are going to be fetched again.  They fetched us at seven am as they said.  There was a third person added, Mzwandile Mnyape, a brother of mine.  We were asked to give statements yet again at the security police branch.  We then reiterated that we did not make a mistake, we never thought that there would be someone who would come to disturb us in the village.  We were adamant that no alcohol be sold in the store, but only food.  It was the ANC that was the majority in the village.  He was not going to change anything.

ADV SANDI: Mr Mnyape, were you taken to court at all?  Was there a case against you?

MR MNYAPE: Yes, we were taken to court.

ADV SANDI: What happened?

MR MNYAPE: What happened is the case was postponed.  Puti had not appeared.  The eighth time the case was postponed we eventually said in court, Charles was representing us.  The case took one day.

ADV SANDI: Were the ADM members at Masele?

MR MNYAPE: ADM started after Puti started selling alcohol.  He would give cards to people who would buy the alcohol and also elderly ladies who would buy from the store.  The elderly ladies refused to join ADM, because they were ANC members, but there were a few people in the village who were ADM members.

ADV SANDI: These cards that you are talking about, were they membership cards for the ADM?

MR MNYAPE: Yes.

ADV SANDI: Was the headman at Masele?

MR MNYAPE: We had a headman.  There was a chief in the area, but there was no headman actually.  What happened is Puti said that he had come to Masele to be a headman.  We went and said that we did not want a headman at Masele.

ADV SANDI: According to your statement you say that there was conflict between the ANC and the ADM in the area.  Were there incidents that reflected this?

MR MNYAPE: Puti would use the police, Ciskeian Police.  The police would come with teargas in our members, they would beat us up so that we could disperse.  Youth meetings, everything, even Puti's sons would come with the police to disrupt our meetings.  The ADM people that were in the village were used by Puti.  The one time I was sleeping at home, I think it was at about three am, I had diarrhoea, I could not sleep well.  I heard my wife calling out.  There was something happening at home.  As I was trying to ascertain what was happening I heard a bullet sound, actually four bullet sounds.  I heard that there were people in the yard and the dogs were barking.  My wife then said that something happened in one of the flats at home.  She heard a window breaking.
 I then got up.  I was on crutches, because I had just come out of the hospital. I went out, I could see that the flat was being stoned.  Our windows had broken down.

ADV SANDI: Who attacked your home?