Human Rights Violation Hearings — Umtata — 1996-06-19

LANDI NXIWENI: After the June holidays in 1988, I visited Phumezo and I found him a school.  He was still using another accommodation and I used to share this accommodation with him when I visited him.  He would also come back from wherever he is and would visit me here at Umtata during weekends.
 During this stage he didn't frequent the place because he used to stay.  He had to study a lot.  He stated that he doesn't get much of his books when he is here in Umtata, it is much better when he is in Natal. That's why he didn't frequent home.
 I think it was in October, the same year when his friends arrived.  They came to report that he has disappeared from Alan Taylor Residence.  They stated that they had had much confidence in him and that's why he kept the money which belonged to all of them.  That money was going to be used for a party which they were going to hold during the weekend.  They noticed his disappearance when they didn't find him when they were making preparations for the party.  That is when they realised he was nowhere to be found.  He promised to try and trace him and then they will try to inform the authorities of the university of his disappearnce and the wlil also request that they should assist in the search. They had suspicions that probably the police are the police who were responsible for his disappearance.
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 I went to the lawyers to report this. They also promised to assist with the search.  Up to date he is nowhere to be found.

MS MKHIZE: I will hand over to the Chairperson who will give other Commissioners an opportunity to ask more questions.  Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Yasmin Sooka?

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you want to put on the head-phones, Sir, so that you can understand me or are you able to ...?  Okay. Could you just tell me a little bit about Phumezo.  Was he a medical student?  Was he studying to be a doctor?

LANDI NXIWENI: Yes, he was studying to be a doctor.  He was studying to be a doctor.

YASMINE SOOKA: In what year was he when he disappeared?

LANDI NXIWENI: He started for two years at Fort Hare to do premed and then he went to Wentworth for his second year.
When he disappeared from the university he was doing the third year because he failed.  So in 1988 he was doing his third year.

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you know what happened to the other people who were not acquitted?  You said 12 people had been charged and only three of them had been released.  What happened to Dr Ramalakane and the other people?

LANDI NXIWENI: They were sentenced. Dr Ramalakane and the others. They were sentenced to 12 years.  When I visited one who is my younger brother, because he was serving six years in Robben Island, I saw Dr Ramalakane amongst them.  He was also in Robben Island.   Then he was going past because his sister was also paying him a visit.  Because we used to meet at the court hearings.  I asked Lindile about where are the others who were arrested with Phumezo, were they also there
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at Robben Island.  Then he said all of them, the nine of them were serving sentences in the Robben Island.

YASMINE SOOKA: Was Phumezo also a member of the SRC at Wentworth?

LANDI NXIWENI: Yes, it is so.

CHAIRPERSON: I would like some clarification because you mentioned another younger brother of yours, who was also serving a sentence in Robben Island, the one whom you call Lindili. Is that so?

LANDI NXIWENI: It is so.

CHAIRPERSON: Was he also involved in the struggle?

LANDI NXIWENI: Yes, it is so.

CHAIRPERSON: In other words, it was Lindile and Phumezo, the people that were in the struggle?

LANDI NXIWENI: Yes, it is so.

CHAIRPERSON: I would like to get some information about the involvement in the university.   When Phumezo was arrested in 1986 when he was still at the university, was there any role played by the university to inform you about his arrest?

LANDI NXIWENI: No, I cannot remember any information which was brought by the university. Only the students told us.

CHAIRPERSON: When he got arrested in 1988, did the university inform you about what happened to your son or about his disappearance whilst he was in their custody?
Were there any attempts which were made to trace or assist in finding him?

LANDI NXIWENI: No, there were no attempts made, Commissioner.  We just learnt it from the other students and his colleagues. Up to this day the university did not inform us.

CHAIRPERSON: Do you remember Rev Nuyene who was the rector
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at the time?

LANDI NXIWENI: No, I cannot remember.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

MEMBER OF PANEL: Mr Nxiweni, did you read anything from the newspapers about Pindelim Feti who disappeared who was also a student at the University of Natal.  Do you know anything about him or did you ever hear anything from your brother who disappeared?   Did you hear him talking about Pindelim Feti?  Did you hear them talking about him?

LANDI NXIWENI: Yes, I did.

MEMBER OF PANEL: What did you hear?

LANDI NXIWENI: What they said about him is there was some policemen, especially they used to mention Capt Taylor.  Because they said he used to say he is going to clean-up the Alan Taylor Residence, because it was a den of guerillas.

MEMBER OF PANEL: Did you hear anything about Gwaso Twalo?
Gwaso Taylor, did you hear anything about him?

LANDI NXIWENI: Yes, I can also remember, but I can't remember much about him.  The only thing that I can remember is that he also disappeared in Natal.

MEMBER OF PANEL: Did your brother say anything about probably Pindelim Feti? If he did, what did he say about him after the disappearance of Feti?

LANDI NXIWENI: No, there was not much that I said about Feti directly to me. But when we were together, because he used to come along and visit with his colleagues from Natal, they would meet with those who were students from Unisa. They would spend their time together at my place. They would tal about their disappearance, because they suspected that they had been abducted and they would also mention that there was a Cressida, a white Cressida which always comes and pick up
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some of the students.

MEMBER OF PANEL: Thank you, Mr Nxiweni.

CHAIRPERSON: Rev Nxiweni, we thank you very much.  We also thank your son Landi for presenting before this Commission the experience that you had about the disappearance about your son, Phumezo.  We promise to make a follow-up about all this as we usually do when we get some information through the evidence.
 We are finding evidence to the fact that we need to investigate how tertiary institutions handled their responsibilities as parents in loco, at that time. Not only the University of Natal.  Not only the University of Transkei.  But I think we will have to investigate tertiary institutions as a whole.  If we are going to bring to the nation a complete picture of what was happening at that time and how those institutions performed or failed to perform their responsibilities to the children who were entrusted to their care, and how, in fact, they co-operated with the police in some universities, in actually serving the political programme instead of being tertiary institutions for higher learning as they were meant to be.
 Thank you very much.  We promise to make a follow-up again as I have said. We will try our best to find out the truth of what happened to your son.  Thank you very much.
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