Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1998-04-15

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: Oh okay,  Sorry, one of the things that had happened prior to that, because we were going out to my parents and it was the last time we would see Mike before Xmas time, I, when I got back to the house, phoned the airport, we decided to see if we could Mike a later flight.  Instead of him going back, I think it was the 5 o'clock flight, we would see if we could maybe make the flight a little bit later.  I then phoned the airport and changed his flight.  I actually - in actual changed to the 6 o'clock flight.  There didn't seem to be a later one after that.
	Then when all of this happened it was actually quite traumatic you know, it's ...  I then got the phone number from Mike, of Colonel Oosthuizen, and I don't remember whether I phoned the airport first again to change the flight or whether I phoned Colonel Oosthuizen first.  I then got hold of Colonel Oosthuizen to try and ascertain where the children were and get some form of information from him.  He then did confirm that Janine had been murdered, but that he actually didn't know where the children were.  
	Then I phone the airport - as I say I don't know which I did first, phoned the airport, changed Mike's flight back to the earlier one.  That was the earliest we could possibly get him on considering from where we were to have to still drive through to Durban.  In the meantime my husband then drove through to Boston, which was the place where my parents had a farm, to inform my parents of the news of Janine.

MR HATTINGH: In any event, arrangements were made for Michael to go back to Johannesburg.

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: Yes.

MR HATTINGH: And some of the family had accompanied him to Johannesburg, is that correct?

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: Well I accompanied him to Johannesburg.  My father and my husband drove us to the airport to take the flight back to Johannesburg.

MR HATTINGH: At the inquest hearing into this matter, you testified, is that correct?

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: Yes, I did, yes.

MR HATTINGH: Now the whole issue about the telephone discussion between yourself and Janine and the contents thereof was not dealt with at the time of the inquest, is that correct?

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: No, it wasn't at all.

MR HATTINGH: Could you explain the reasons for that.

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: Yes, I can explain the reasons for that.  First of all, at the very start of this, when we got back to Johannesburg - and I might add to this, right up until my brother's amnesty hearing, I firmly believed that my brother was innocent of the murder, nothing was really done about it, there were no investigations, nothing seemed to be going on with this murder.  I stayed for two weeks up in Johannesburg with my brother.  We had no contact, we weren't allowed to know anything that was going on with the case.
	I then went back to Johannesburg and in December was the first time that I was approached by the police to give a statement, which I then did, I gave a brief statement.  Then in January again ...(intervention)

MR HATTINGH: Just to interrupt you, in that statement, did you mention the issue of the telephone discussion?

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: No, I wasn't asked about that.  All I was asked to relate was my names, that kind of thing and the events of the Saturday morning.  That's all I was asked about.  I wasn't asked anything else.  And up until that stage I didn't even know that my brother was even being implicated in this murder.
	So as far as I was concerned, all they were doing was following up on times and things like that.  I think the first time that I was actually told or realised that my brother was being implicated in this murder, I think that was in the January when for the first time Detective Steyn and Beyleveld came down to Pietermaritzburg.  The first was purely with Detective Beyleveld.  And that was in the January.  Shall I continue on what happened?

MR HATTINGH: Yes, yes, please do.  To explain the reason for your not mentioning the telephone discussion with Janine.

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: Okay.  Then in the January when - that time it was Detective Beyleveld and Steyn, they came to my home, not to my place of work.  I was getting quite angry about the insinuations against my brother and I insinuated to Detective Steyn that my personal views on this were that I actually believed it was my brother's colleagues that had done, that had committed this murder.  He then asked me ...(intervention)

MR HATTINGH: Sorry, are you referring to colleagues, where?

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: In the Security Branch.  Because for me it was very sort of strange that they knew about this.  I mean there was Brixton Murder and Robbery Squad, which I can fully understand that at a scene of a murder they were called to be there, but how did they get to know about it?  You know these were all things that were crossing my mind.  How did they get to know about it when, they were investigating a murder and, you know as far as I knew the maid didn't know where Michael was based, people didn't seem to know.  So that was a funny little question that was raised in my mind.
	Then the other thing was that Mike's colleagues had gone home before him.  If I'm not mistaken he mentioned that they'd gone home on the Friday.  Michael was in Pietermaritzburg, I could not understand how he could possibly be implicated in the murder.  So I mentioned that fact to Detective Steyn.  He was at the time interested in it and asked me to elaborate, and I said I can't elaborate, I don't know, those are just feelings that I had.
	And then the next time I had a conversation with my brother, he was highly angry with me and told me I'm not to say another word about it and I'm not to mention the phone call, I'm not to say anything as all our lives, the family's and all of ours, his included, could be at risk over here and I was never ever to mention anything about the Security Branch again.
	So that was basically the start of the threats to me.  Within a matter of a week or so my house was broken into.  Exactly a week later - I mean, we had just had a brand new Chubb alarm system fitted to this house, nobody else had the codes to this.  The alarm went off and somebody used to codes to switch the alarm off.  Exactly the same time the following week, exactly the same thing happened.  The first time only papers were rifled through, the safe, it had looked like somebody had tried to open the safe, they couldn't get into the safe.  The next week the same thing happened again.  This time silly little things were taken, like my hair dryer, the kids' little TV games, so nothing serious was taken, just purely papers and things rifled through.

MR HATTINGH: So what was in your mind, what did you think about these harassments?

COLLEEN JUDY WHITE: I felt intimidated and I felt - and not only that, I was getting threatening phone calls as well, phone calls saying: "Don't get involved", things to that sort of matter.  I also then started having people following me.  When I complained to my brother about it and I said things like this are happening, he just said to me I had to be very careful and not to involve myself any further.  And that was one of the main reasons why I never ever mentioned the telephone call.  And to me the telephone call, it never cropped up and it never seemed, after all those threats, it never seemed to me to sort of come into the picture of the murder as I never ever expected or thought that my brother had committed the murder anyway.

MR HATTINGH: Mr Chairman, if you'll just bear with me for one moment.

CHAIRPERSON: Certainly.

MR HATTINGH: Thank you, Mr Chairman, I have no further questions.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR HATTINGH

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr Hattingh.  Mr Rautenbach?

MR RAUTENBACH: Thank you, Mr Chairman.  Mrs White, am I correct to say that you were present for most of the duration, if not right throughout, these proceedings?