Human Rights Violation Hearings — Newcastle — 1996-09-10

WITNESS:   (Pause)  It was in July, towards the end of July.  It was at Durnacol Mine.  It's a mine that has different cultures of employees.  Even my father was working there.  This mine people were able to work co-operatively, but on the day when the President Nelson Mandela was released from prison in July workers asked for increase.  When they were fighting for this increase they even went to Iscor in Pretoria.  When they arrived in Pretoria they told them they must come back to Durnacol Mine and they will give them the money, and the whites in Durnacol Mine realised that these people are going to get a lot of money, and they said to the Zulus the Zulus must kill the Xhosas.  And my husband was a Xhosa, but he started working in that mine in 1975 while he was still young.  I made a mistake, it was in 1971.  I also grew up there.  When  my husband related to me this he told me that he is so worried because one senior member, his name is Pius Khumalo, was talking to another Khumalo who is a security.  He said to him, "I don't care what you can do because I don't have household things in my house."  So my husband got worried.  They used to have meetings.  In August, when they were supposed to receive the money, the Zulus started getting together, having their own meetings, and one day they told us we couldn't sleep there.  I was staying at Pelindaba.  We were worried, and we told ourselves, "No, it's just something that will pass."  One night we ran away to Dannhauser House, which was owned by an Indian, because this Indian guy was my husband's friend.  We asked them if we could sleep over, and we explained to him because the Zulus were angry so we were scared.  We went back.  When we arrived there we met one guy who was from church.  He said to my husband, "Justice, how can you run away with your kids?  I mean this is nothing, it will pass."  So Justice said, "Oh, because you are saying so now I have hope."  We went back to my house, I prepared supper.  I heard a sound and my husband asked me if I know why is this sound.  I said to him, "No, I don't know," and he said to me, "Something terrible is going to happen."  My husband said to me, "We must run away with the kids."  When we were at the gate, when we were there, Zulus were already there with spears, pangas, lots of weapons, but except for guns.  And I called one guy, I said to him, "Mhlanga, what's going on?"  He said, "No, nothing will happen, because I have a gun and all these people don't have a gun so nothing will happen."  I went to another neighbour who was also my husband's friend, and other neighbours came as well, and they had told the Zulus that they must put red bandannas in their heads so that they could be easily recognised that they are Zulus and they won't be killed.  And my husband and other neighbours asked them, "What's going on really, because we consider you as our brothers-on-law because we've married the Zulus?  We've been into this area for a long time."  And they asked them, "Why are you having all these weapons with you?  Are you going to kill us being our brother-in-law?"  And he answered back and said, "No, nothing will happen."  Soldiers came and they tried to resolve the thing.  We went back to our houses, and all the Xhosas the next day when to the company manager.  And the company manager told them that they must go back until the Zulus come down.  We went back.  The next day at 1 o'clock we saw a very big car, and one person was shouting, telling us, "If you are Xhosa you need to run, to leave the house."  So we were supposed to leave our houses there and then.  We ran.  We took our children.  We got into the car.  We left our houses just like that.  They told us they were taking us in a safer place.  When we asked they told us we are going back.  They told us to leave behind everything.  I saw one security guy.  I said to him, "Brother Mhlanga, would you please take care of my house," and I told him I am not going to Transkei, but I am going to Madadeni.  I went to Madadeni.  We left everything behind.  We left our belongings.  I went back, I took my belongings, and I went to Newcastle.  When I arrived at Newcastle I put my belongings, everything, my household in their house, and then I heard an announcement on television and radio that we should go back.  My husband called, and one guy at work said, "No, you mustn't come, it's still bad."  My husband decided to change his employment because he was scared to go back.  We went to Durban.  It was then in January.  Gaja and Gozo went to Durnacol in attempts to resolve this issue, because - they wanted to resolve this because they knew that whites were behind this.  I heard that there was a list which was written, and one person who was also involved in this thing who was with the whites, Mr Zondo, he is still alive even today, and Pius as well.  They were doing this because they were getting instructions from whites.   He wanted my husband to work alone even though they had almost equal position, so that led to a quarrel, and one manager told my husband to go and open another shaft so that he can work nicely.  In 1990 my husband had written a letter to Iscor, and Iscor sent back forms to Durnacol, because he wanted a transfer to Durban.  Mr Buthelezi, who was in shaft five, said to him, "No, brother, I trust you.  I know you will send me forms."  And then later on he said, "No, they said you must come yourself personally to sign the forms.  They won't send you the forms down to Durban."  So I told my husband that, "No, you should go, because some members have went there to take transfer for their children, and some to apply for their pension, and nothing happened to them, so you must also go and fill those forms."  In February, on the 12th, it was on Monday - I am not certain whether Monday or Tuesday - I told my husband to call first before he goes there.  He called.  He called one guy, white guy who was a labour control, and he said to him, "No, you must come and fetch the forms personally."  And he said he can't send them by mail, he must come and sign there.  So my husband decided to go there personally.  He left at about 10 o'clock, and he wasn't so worried because he had heard that it was now safer.  He went there.  At that time it was peaceful, and they have already hired other people to work.  When he arrived there it was about seven.  When he was approaching the place where we were staying he was seen by Mr Zondo, and he greeted him.  And then one lady went to call Mr Xulu, and then they were talking together now that, "Oh, here's one person who's also on the list, and then they went to hostels to call others.  Most of the people who killed my husband they didn't even know my husband.  They were new employees of that mine.  They didn't even know him.  One bakkie from Mr Khumalo they were 26, and they were singing at Zondo, and Zondo gave them spears and even forks.  I heard that his wife gave them forks.  When they arrived there they found him inside the house.  I heard he tried to ran.  He hid behind the wardrobe.  They broke the door in my brother's bedroom, and neighbours were there watching but they were scared to do anything.  They broke the wardrobe, and that's how he was killed.  He had 26 wounds.  They cut his tongue, they cut his genitals, they took his teeth out, they left him there.  They put muthi all over his body.  After I received a message I went there, I went to look for his corpse, and I was so scared because it was terrible.  And they told me they don't want to see me and my family, and they wanted to kill everything that belonged to him.  Police took his body.  After the funeral they followed us, because one night when I was at Madadeni they knocked, and fortunately my sister had a bulldog.  And the neighbours saw the car, and Mr Khumalo was there.  The person who was trying to resolve this thing, who never liked the struggle, was