Human Rights Violation Hearings — Piet Retief — 1997-05-21

MATHEWS MASEKO: I would thank the community Sir who are here.  What happened there at Piet Retief was very strange. My sister, my younger brother, my brother in law were at my home.  In the morning my aunt who was there came to report to me that things had already transpired and people had been injured.  I listened to her quite attentively and my other aunt came to me as well and told me that people have been wiped out and have been shot, our cars have been burned and so was the house and the policemen who had been patrolling around never gave any help. I got confused and surprised as to what I could do.  I left in the morning and went to my home. As I tried to gain entry the police refused to allow me inside and I asked them when they had got there.  They told me that they had been there since the early hours of the morning.
 We waited outside and we were told that they would be taking pictures of the whole scene involving my younger brother, my sister and my brother in law. We were kept outside for some time waiting to hear what was next until the bodes were taken to the mortuary and we left and went back to the house. I tried to go to the police station as well with my family.  One policeman said I should not get into their vehicle to go to the police station. I kept quiet and left the whole thing like that.  I left them alone and I told my wife that we should go home, the kids are alone. 
 When we got home we sat down and I realised that Piet Retief was experiencing and encountering problems and I was confused, not knowing who to contact and where to go.
 One day the police came to my house and Taylor was one of the policemen and he said I should go with him to the police station and asked where was Fido my brother in law.  I told him he was around and there were others, the children who were no longer staying at home since this incident.  Taylor said to me that I should disclose everything truthfully and tell them exactly what happened.  This amazed me as I wasn't around when the whole thing transpired, so what will I testify to and what truth will I disclose as I don't know or have any information as far as that was concerned. Taylor was adamant that I should tell the truth and he instructed me not to run away but to be around all the time.  I asked him how I could run away since I was the only bread winner there and would always be here at home. He left saying that he would get in touch with me.
 One day the police came, Mr Manzini Mkwanazi, Tulani and Nlukumlala as well as others whom I don't know.  I was there and I said to them that there is nothing I can do, they must do as they wish. They took me to the police station and when we got to the door Manzini said, you'll have to tell the truth because you have to disclose everything or else we'll take action against you. My neighbour's TV was stolen and instead of going to my neighbour's house they came into my house looking for the television and got into the bedroom taking my money from under the mattress. He was especially rude talking to me because I had reported the fact that Manzini had taken my money at the police station and the case was never conducted, it just died like that, and I never followed it up because I knew that if I insisted I'd be shot.  I could tell that the situation was tense.  
 They took me to a forest up there and said I will disclose the truth. When we got there they insisted that I should talk and I told them that I had nothing to say.  They made me to lie down facing the ground and they tied my hands and feet.  Manzini and another two sat on top of me, one on my shoulders.  One of them started tightening the tube and when I tried to breath I was suffocating, and I felt that my heart was going to stop at any moment and I was wondering as to what I had done.  They kept demanding that I will tell the truth as they haven't started yet. Tulani again started to tighten the tube and let it go and again tied it up while Manzini was twisting my feet on the other side saying, you will tell the truth!  The others on the side, six or seven in number, were not standing still either. When they left me alone one of said go, just go. I asked them why since they generally shoot people, don't they shoot me as well because I don't know what they want from me. One said look at me. When I did so another one hit me saying that I should look at him and not at the first one.  It was that kind of process, they wanted me to look at the one who was talking and whilst I was doing so the other one would hit me. They insisted that we were not there to play games and I must simply tell us the truth.  I replied that they might as well shoot me.  They hit me again, threw me on the ground and tied me again and he was kicking an again tightening this tube so that I can suffocate because he intended to kill me,  knew it and I let go and he must have thought that I was perhaps dying.  He tried to check whether I was still alive and what left them to leave me alone was the other policeman saying that I had said what I know because I have explained that I do not know anything and that they should leave me alone.  I didn't see who he was.  One of them who I think drove the 4X4 pointed a gun at me and pulled the trigger and I saw blood dripping.  He said to me that this was nothing, and he hit me a blow.  Manzini started coming back again and he kicked me on my testicles and then I had lost control and held on to my testicles because I was in pain and the others were whatever they wanted to do to me kicking me on one and then the other side torturing me brutally. 
 I still refused to say anything and they told me eventually just to leave.  I refused and demanded that they take me home from where they had fetched me as felt that they couldn't leave me there in that state. A tall policeman assaulted me even further, clouting me so that I felt that my ear drums were injured and I told them so.  They replied that they don't care and that I must just tell them the truth but I insisted that I needed to know what they wanted from me and just wanted to be taken home.  They took me to Gr...town.  When I got there Taylor came and asked me, I was bleeding at the time, whether I had admitted.  I asked what I should have admitted to and he again accused me of withholding the truth.  I reminded him that I had lost my family members and they were alleging that I was the killer, how was this possible? I couldn't hear what he replied and asked him again if one could really kill one's relatives as he was alleging that I did.  He clouted me and went to his office.
 My wife came to visit me and Taylor reminded me not to run away as they were not finished with me yet and they were going to look for other thugs and if they did not find them, lo and behold. He left saying that he won't give up looking for those thugs.
 My neck has a serious problem because I can not turn around.  If I try to turn and look at who's behind me I can't do that and my testicles have been injured severely as well, especially my left one. At work I cannot labour very hard.

CHAIRPERSON: Can you, we are almost finished, just give the person the opportunity to tell his story and we can all go home peacefully then.  Thank you.
 At this point we can try to ask you a few questions just to clarify some of the things in your statement. I suppose that what we'd really like to understand is why were these things happening, what was the reason for it?  Firstly why would your brother and sister be shot and your brother in law killed, what was the reason for that?

MATHEWS MASEKO: I wouldn't know exactly the reason and I don't even know who shot them and how the whole thing was done.  I don't know.
Were they involved perhaps in any political activities, were they members of any political organisation?