Amnesty Hearings — Palm Ridge — 1998-11-25

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: Yes, I did hear about the Committee of Seven although I never had an encounter with them or got into contact with them or sat down with them and receive instructions, no.  All the instructions I received from Mosa Msimango.

MR SIBEKO: Now in front of me here I've got your application and I noticed that your application form is not signed, do you have anything to say about it?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: May you please repeat your question.

MR SIBEKO: In front of me here I've got your application for amnesty and I notice that it is not signed, do you have anything to say about it?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: In relation to that, it would be because the forms were filled with so much urgency and the person who was assisting us to fill up this form was not knowledgable about the procedure.  Maybe that occurred as a result of that.

MR SIBEKO: Do you have any other thing to say to this Committee?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: One other thing that I would like to say to the Commission is that as we had this violence continuing, there were also gangsters that took part and it looks like they were being used by the police to harass the community.  The community was harassed a great deal and that's one other problem that we encountered.

MR SIBEKO: Those gangs that you are talking about, were they just ordinary gangsters or what type of gangs are you referring to and if gangsters what are their names?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: The first gang was known as Bad Boys, the second one was known as Khumalo gang.  Now the Khumalo gang, you could not bear it.  They would shoot and they were not playing.  When they shoot they were also nor afraid of the police, whether they would be present or not.
		And you'll appear in your T-shirts, organisational T-shirts, they will shoot in the presence of the police.  If you think the help will come from the police you will just be wasting your time because they feared nothing.

MR SIBEKO: Did you have any altercation or did you exchange fire with any of the gangs that you have just mentioned?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: With regards to the Khumalo gang, yes we did have some kind of altercation, to an extent that my friend by the name of Lucky got killed, Lucky Mompoero and he was my close friend and we were both comrades.  What led me to bravely say that the Khumalo gang was opposing strongly the comrades is because of these things.  And if you put on an All Star, those are tennis shoes, you would be killed or you would be attacked as a result of that.
	And there is another gang called ISU.  I will refer to them as a gang because you will not be arrested, you will either be tortured or be killed, they will never discover your body thereafter.  They were other people who brought problems in our residential area, ISU that is.  To such an extent that once you come into contact with a firearm, once you are faced with them that probably be your last day because either you'll be killed or you'll be crippled.
	These are other things that brought harassment and torture in our residential area and those are atrocities that we went through.

MR SIBEKO: What happened the AK47 you were using throughout your membership to the Self Defence Unit?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: My AK47, there was a campaign that was launched at the location, "A Gun-free South Africa", something to that effect.  There was a big trunk that was put in a stadium and that's where I took my AK47  in.

MR SIBEKO: Thank you, Mr Chairman, I've got no further questions.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR SIBEKO

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr Sibeko.  Advocate Steenkamp, any questions?

ADV STEENKAMP: Thank you, Mr Chairman, I have no questions for the witness.
NO QUESTIONS BY ADV STEENKAMP

ADV SANDI: Mr Majiki, when was the Mshayazafe incident?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: This Mshayazafe incident, I don't quite remember the month, as to which month it was but it was on a Tuesday.

ADV SANDI: Which year was this?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: If I'm not mistaken the year was early 19 ...(inaudible - end of tape)

ADV SANDI: And the Mazibuko incident, what was that?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: The Mazibuko incident took place in December of 1993, if I am not mistaken.

ADV SANDI: You also mentioned that you had a clash with the Khumalo gang, did anyone get killed or injured in that incident?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: I really don't know if they were fully conversant with the use of firearms, the Khumalo gang that is.  Once they shoot you and pretend as if you are, and fall on the ground and pretend as if you are dead, they will just pass, they would not inspect as to whether you have died or what happened.

ADV SANDI: Did you kill or injure any member of the Khumalo gang?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: There was no way of revenging to the Khumalo gang because at all times they were under the supervision of the police and the care of the police.

ADV SANDI: So you never really had a fight, you had no contact with the Khumalo gang, is that what you are saying?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: You see the usual thing that will be done by that gang, they will harass the community and we will not be in a position of fighting back because they were always under the care of the police.

ADV SANDI: When was that, are you able to remember the  year and the month if possible?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: If I am not mistaken and my memory serves me correct, I will think it was early 1993 or late 1992, just around that time.  I do not quite remember the day and the month in which this took place.

ADV SANDI: Would it be a clear understanding of your testimony, that you are making this application because you are assuming that some people may have been killed or injured as the result of your actions whilst you were a member of the SDUs?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: I am applying for amnesty because I know that maybe there are people who got injured or died.  This is the reason why I am applying for amnesty.

ADV SANDI: But you do not know who those people are, no so, Mr Majiki?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: Yes, I may not know or I do not know as to who those people were or are because we were fighting each other at a distance, insomuch that it would not have been easy for me to identify as to who I shot or who I injured or killed.  So I am not in a position to say that I know who I killed or I injured.

ADV SANDI: Would I be correct to think that from what you have said you would not even be able to estimate the number of such people, people who got injured, people who got killed as a result of your actions?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: I am also not in a position to estimate the amount because we had so little time at our disposal, we could not tell as to how many we shot or injured.   I don't know, I cannot even estimate.

ADV SANDI: When did you become a member of the SDUs, were you a member right from the beginning, right from the inception of SDUs up to the end?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: At its inception, yes.

ADV SANDI: Thank you, Mr Majiki.  Thank you, Chair.

ADV GCABASHE: Mr Majiki, I want to come back to the very first incident, the photo incident.

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: May you please repeat your question.

ADV GCABASHE: I want to come back to the photo incident.  I wasn't too clear from your evidence, as to who had disappeared you know, after that shooting.  Had the person who had been shot disappeared when you came back?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: The person who disappeared is the one who got shot or who was shot.

ADV GCABASHE: Now that person you had identified in the photograph, that's right yes?

NICHOLAS MBUYSELO MAJIKI: Yes.

ADV GCABASHE: Did that person live in the house that you had gone to investigate?  You know, the house in your area, did he live there or was he somebody who simply came in and out every now and again, he just frequented the place?