Human Rights Violation Hearings — Soweto — 1996-07-25

MS SEROKE: You go on in your statement, you say that Eunice came and brought the news and said that he is still alive, he is having twins. You continue that after that, your brother used to phone. At the times when he phoned he was happy.  Did he ever say that he is having twins?  Did he
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ever confirm that he is having twins?

MS NGCOBO: No, he never said anything. We heard it from Eunice.

MS SEROKE: You continue and say you heard it after six years, that Andrew - you heard it through the radio that Andrew was killed.  Did the radio give the details?

MS NGCOBO: No, they never gave any details.  They just said when they investigated there was a person who was coming from Meadowlands, who was killed.  They never explained who killed him.

MS SEROKE: You heard that he was working for the ANC. You never went to the ANC and asked if your brother was killed, what was the problem?

MS NGCOBO: I don't know about that, because a person who went to Khosa House was my mother and my father.

MS SEROKE: What is Khosa House?

MS NGCOBO: Khosa House was the headquarters of the South African Council of Churches.

MS SEROKE: They went to ask about the death of your brother or did they go and ask about bringing him back to bury him?

MS NGCOBO: I don't know, my father can tell you that, because he was the one who went there.

MR NGCOBO: Can I speak?

MS SEROKE: Yes.

MS NGCOBO: I never went to Khosa House, I went to Shell House.

MS SEROKE: To Shell House?

MR NGCOBO: Yes, that is where I went.  I didn't ask because it was a long time. I went to Shell House after we had buried him.   They said they were going to come. No one ever came at home.  Then I went to Shell House and they said they SOWETO HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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know me.  They even gave me photos and they said they were going to write a letter to me. Then I stayed at home.  All this time, 1993, and then this time arrived.

MS SEROKE: Do you remember when, who you spoke with?

MR NGCOBO: I found many people in the ninth floor. There was a woman, I don't know the name, but I didn't think of that because I trusted them.

MS SEROKE: Thank you.  Thank you Hilda and father, I will hand over to the Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: I thank you for coming.  I will ask if any of the other Commissioners have questions.  Yasmin Sooka?
Glenda Wildschut?  Tom Manthata?  
 Maybe I can ask from you that you are here before the Commission, can you please tell the Commission what is important, that we can help you with?

MRS NGCOBO: When I went to the Commission they asked me the same question. I said we can be very much happy if these children are there, they should look for those children.  If they can be looking for these children we can very much happy and we can be happy if they can put tombstone on the grave.

CHAIRPERSON: Concerning your children, Eunice who came and who brought the letters, when you went to Swaziland, were you not able to see her?

MRS NGCOBO: No, she came on her own to the funeral and stayed for a week and she went back to Swaziland and she said she is going to write to us and she never, she has never written anything to us.

CHAIRPERSON: Was it not easy for you to follow her to Swaziland?

MRS NGCOBO: In 1977 I went to Swaziland to collect his
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death certificate. I thought I was going to find him. They said, the people in Swaziland said they don't know him. I never heard about the children. Then I came back.  I stayed for a very long time, nothing went right and I came back.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  We are saying to you what we have said to everyone who have testified here, your case is another one which has to be followed up.  We are going to ask the people who worked with him, we are going to consult with the politicians to investigate the matter, how the people were killed, they must be respected, the way they were buried.  The Commission is looking forward to look into this matter very seriously, because people are not going to be happy if their people were not buried in a proper way.  Thank you for having come here.  The briefers are going to tell you whom to consult.  You will hear from us about the pgoress.
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