Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1997-08-13

MR PURSHOTAM: Mr Zulu, the Committee would like you to relate to them, the incidents which occurred on the 9th of October.  Were you traveling on a Putco bus on that particular day?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: That is correct.

MR PURSHOTAM: Had you finished off work on that particular day?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: That is correct.

MR PURSHOTAM: And were you then proceeding home?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: That is correct.

MR PURSHOTAM: Could you please tell the Committee what happened while you were on the Putco bus and the incident which led to you losing your right arm.

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I was from work on that particular day.  We boarded the bus in Alice Street.  The bus ferried us from Alice Street through the centre of town and when we got to a certain place called Sereteri, that Hill.  There was a garage further down there.  I was sitting on the right hand side.  I saw White gentlemen in a private car.  Just as we were passing in the bus, they got into the car  very quickly, with so much speed.
	As the bus was driving along the road - apparently the driver had also noticed that they were apparently following us.   It was still the old road, not this new one that has been rebuilt.  There was a sharp curve.  Just as the bus was taking the curve, we saw this car speeding up towards us.  The bus continued on that road - they followed us.  
	Just as the bus was approaching the bridge - that is the side from which we got injured - I saw two White people, they were protruding through the windows and they were having machine guns.  They started firing at the bus.  We all started screaming in the bus.  Many that I saw were still alive, some were already dead at that time.  They continued firing at us, despite the fact that there were some who had already died.  	Thereafter, I realised that I had been injured.  I lost consciousness thereafter.

MR PURSHOTAM: How long did this attack last, in your view?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: They were quite quick because I believe they had an intention.  It happened so quickly.

MR PURSHOTAM: If I were to ask you to put a time frame to the attack, would you say it lasted 10 seconds, two seconds, one minute, whatever?  Would you be able to put a time limit on the attack?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I cannot be able to do that because all this happened so quickly.  Apparently they were trying to kill us all.

MR PURSHOTAM: Was the bus full at that time?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: The bus was very full.

MR PURSHOTAM: And were the lights of the bus switched on at the time?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: The lights of the bus were constantly on, they were never switched off at any stage.

MR PURSHOTAM: So it was easy for someone who was on the outside to see that the bus was fully packed?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: That is correct.

MR PURSHOTAM: Could you tell the Committee what happened - what injuries you suffered in the incident?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I lost consciousness by the time I had already seen that my arm was hanging on by a thread.  Thereafter, I don't know what happened because if I can remember well, I regained consciousness at hospital after about two months.  And I was put at the ICU ward.  I stayed for quite a long time -  I can't even remember for how many months I stayed there.
	If I can recall very well, after quite a long time I didn't even know that I didn't have an arm anymore,  I saw after quite a few months after the accident.   That's only then that I realised I had lost an arm.  I remained in hospital for quite a long time and I was in tremendous pain.  Even today I still have these pains, I haven't yet healed.

MR PURSHOTAM: Are you a right-handed person or a left-handed person?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I'm a right-handed person.

MR PURSHOTAM: What job did you do before this incident?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I was a mechanic.  I'm a qualified mechanic.

MR PURSHOTAM: Are you a petrol or a diesel mechanic?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: Both, I work on both.

MR PURSHOTAM: Are you qualified in both the fields.

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: That is correct.

MR PURSHOTAM: Who did you work for?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I was working for NPA.

MR PURSHOTAM: How many years of service did you have at the NPA?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: It was now 19 years.

MR PURSHOTAM: Being a right-handed person, after this incident, have you ever been employed as a result of this?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: No, I cannot work because I'm right-handed and I can't work anymore without my arm.  It is even difficult for me to dress up each day.  My wife, as well as my children help me with this.

MR PURSHOTAM: How are you managing to support your wife and children?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I was given retirement.

MR PURSHOTAM: Are you a member of any - at the time of the incident, did you think that you might be attacked on that particular day, as a Black person?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: No, I knew at some stage that there are people that didn't like us as Blacks so I expected it.

MR PURSHOTAM: Did you know that on that particular day, in the morning, there was an incident at the beach-front where allegedly PAC members stabbed White people?   Did you know about that incident?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I heard that after quite a long time.  After I had regained my consciousness when I was in hospital.

MR PURSHOTAM: But did you know about that incident while you were traveling on the bus on that particular day.

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: No, I had absolutely no knowledge thereof.

MR PURSHOTAM: Did you think that any reasonable person would attack you as a Black person as a result of that incident on the beach-front?

CHAIRPERSON: He had not heard of that incident.

MR PURSHOTAM: Yes, thank you Mr Chairman.   If you had heard of the incident on that particular day, do you think a person - any person would have attacked you as a Black person as a result of that incident - if it was within your knowledge that the incident had occurred on that day?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: When that happened, we as Black people, we were hated so much by the Whites.

MR PURSHOTAM: Do you think that the attack was related to any political objective?

TABANI RICHARD ZULU: I do not believe so, I do not believe that they could have killed innocent people if it had to do with politics.

MR PURSHOTAM: Do you have anything else to relate to the Committee.