Human Rights Violation Hearings — Nelspruit — 1996-09-04

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Themba, can you hear me?

MOSES LENTSHISI THEMBA: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: We would like to welcome you to the Commission. Is the person sitting next to you somebody who has come to support you?

MOSES LENTSHISI THEMBA: He is Mr Joseph Nakwacha, who is sitting next to me. He is the cousin to my mother. He is one of the family members.

CHAIRPERSON: We would like to welcome him too. Before you begin to tell your story I am going to ask Mr Lewin to administer the oath.

MOSES LENTSHISI THEMBA: (Duly sworn, states).

MS MKHIZE: Mr Themba, we acknowledge your presence together with your brother. I must firstly request you to briefly give us your story.  Since during, when you said there was a meeting on the 11th of August 1992, if you can start there we would be very happy, and explain what happened that day.

MOSES LENTSHISI THEMBA: Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude and thanks. It is not in my policy that I will just stick to the issue first.  Firstly, I know that first I need to thank the Commission for the structuring of this structure as a Commission. I am really confused. I wasn't aware that we are going to have such a structure in the country.
 To start the issue. On the 11th of August 1992 I woke up in the morning. I was going to visit my relatives in
HRV/THEMBA Schoemansdal/...
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Schoemansdal.  When I returned from there, during the mid-day, I returned home when it was a little bit later, round about five. I found my wife, she was in my shop.  She was back from work, because she was also working. She just came and told me that you, because of your hard work, the people have started boycotting you. I was really shocked. How can my wife say that I am having a big cake. I questioned her what the issue is. She said to me here are the documents.  The people have started boycotting your shop.  Today we are going to have a meeting, as the community you are the agenda of the issue, that the people must not come and support you any more. I was radical.  It was not that I know the business. I am not joking about it. I even said that this boycott is not even going to affect me.  People will not just come and buy here because I am a white or whether I am fighting against the ANC or not.  I just remembered that last month during that year, my car was burnt because I had no one to give me the evidence. I could not take the matter further. I was lucky during the meeting of that day that the person whom I suspected that he burnt my car, he organised the meeting. His name is James Somboli.  He is the sister to my child from my elder father's family. He is the suspect. I even thought that he was the one responsible for burning my car.  I even questioned why he is mobilising people to boycott my businesses and he is talking to the comrades to act against me. 
 I also went to the meeting.  I parked my car outside the venue. I entered the meeting. The person who was chairing the meeting was James Somboli. He is the general-secretary of Youth League in Umpumalanga province.  There was another boy called Kenneth Nkosi and there was also 
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Makana, they were chairing that meeting.  Well, I attended the meeting. I took a seat there. I sit, I listened. I wanted to get the point of why they are boycotting the shop. Then the time came in the agenda where James stood up and asked everybody that do they listen to him. He said Mashipa store, people must not to say to buy to that shop, people must not go and buy at that shop. He is going to give a date when are the people going to start buying there. I raised a hand in that meeting. They didn't want to appoint me, but later they gave me attention. I questioned that gentleman, recently my car was burnt but you never approached me to question why this is happening. Now you are mobilising people indicating that they should boycott my business.  I didn't get an answer from them. People who were there, who attended the meeting, some are still here, are not saying that they must be treated.  They were shouting that I behave like a white man, therefore I need to take my shop to the town or city, because I am a white man.  I questioned why am I guilty.  People were pushing me, advising me not to interfere in that issue.  Then I left the meeting, I went back home.
 On that very day, on Thursday, I woke up.  I continued with my normal duties. I went to the wholesalers, I filled up my stock. I told myself well, the boycott is there, they did not say that I should close my shop, they only said people should not go. I opened my shop.  I worked on Friday, on Saturday, I worked on Sunday. It was just normal. Nobody boycotted me. People were buying normally as usual.
 Now at night, on Sunday, there was a match between Nigeria and South Africa. It was on the 14th August.  I closed earlier than normal, because I wanted to go and watch HRV/THEMBA the/...
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the match on TV. I had a few drinks on that day. I was just watching TV. Another friend of mine visited me.  We sat together around there and we drank a few drinks, and I said to him well, I cannot continue watching the match, it is boring, I had better go and sleep.  As I left the room from the lounge, going to my room, I felt I had better sleep. Fortunately enough I have got another TV in the bedroom. I said well, I will continue watching.  Then it was about 15 minutes and I felt dizzy. I stood up. I said I had better switch off the lights. As I was switching off the lights, after 15 minutes, exactly the same time when my car was burnt.  The time when my car was burnt, when I parked my car and I was about to enter my house.  At the time when I entered my house I was told my car was burning outside. The same thing applied. As I was about to switch off my lights, after 15 to 20 minutes my sister, because the shop which I own is just next to my sister's house.  My sister came to my room on the window and knocked and she said to me, did you switch off the stove, I feel there is a smell of some kind.  Fortunately enough the house faces the shop, on the side of the window. I woke up very quickly. I opened the curtain. As we were looking across, we saw the smoke.

CHAIRPERSON: Could I have order in the room, please.  We have accorded all witnesses dignity and respect and we ask to behave in the same fashion to everybody else.