Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1998-04-07

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: (No translation) ... at that time there was no enmity between the ANC and Inkatha.  The ANC encouraged its members to join Inkatha because its leader was a close person to the ANC.
	Therefore whilst we were at Robben Island, when there were discussions about organisations in the (indistinct), Inkatha was not an organisation that we would discuss in detail as an organisation that could become a danger to the ANC.  So I can say that it was an organisation that was an ally.  When I was released from prison, I arrived home and discovered that my father was a member of Inkatha.  I then joined Inkatha as well.
	There was no enmity between the ANC and IFP at that time.

MR STUART: Were you and your father members of both, Inkatha and the ANC?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: That is true.

MR STUART: Did you have contact with the then banned ANC while you were involved in Inkatha?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: That is also true.

MR STUART: And is it right that at some stage, you lost contact with the ANC?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: That is correct.

MR STUART: How is that?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: When the Boers attacked Lesotho and Swaziland, I then lost contact with the ANC.

MR STUART: When was it that you became very active in Inkatha?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: I started in 1985.

MR STUART: And why did you become very active in Inkatha?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: At that time, I met other men from Prince Msheni, where they were staying.  These men were members of the KwaZulu government or the legislature of KwaZulu and they had been sent to Durban to form a union UWUSA.
	They then organised IFP members, who were COSATU members to leave COSATU and join UWUSA which was an ally to IFP objectives.
	It was at that time when I really started working for the IFP.

MR STUART: How was it that you came to be the political Commissar of the Caprivi trainees?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: When the parliamentary wing of the IFP was formed, some people decided that the trainees couldn't undergo training, without somebody who had experience, somebody who would really see that the training was appropriate.
	These men came to me, one of them was Siegfried Bengu, who was a member of MK, but at the time he was a member of the Central Committee of the IFP.  He came with Mr Monxo to tell me that I was supposed to go to Ulundi to Mr M.Z. Khumalo.
	They discussed with me the reasons for this summons to Ulundi, that there was this para-military wing of the IFP that they were going to form, and they asked me to become the political Commissar of the para-military wing.

MR STUART: What was the purpose of this, what you described at para-military wing?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: These men explained that as it was clear that the ANC and Umkonto weSizwe were no longer directing their war activities against the Boers, or the government of the Boers, the IFP was then becoming part of the Boers and they would not be able to protect themselves from the ANC or Umkonto weSizwe, therefore there was a need to form this para-military wing of the IFP.

MR STUART: What was the purpose of the training in the Caprivi?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: The main objective of the training was to fight the ANC.

MR STUART: And briefly, Mr Luthuli, what was the nature of the training?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: It was exactly like the training I received in the Soviet Union, although this training in the Caprivi was only six months, but it was exactly like the one in Soviet Union.
	They were training in urban guerilla warfare and sabotage, kidnapping, torturing, assassination and many other military activities.

MR STUART: You said in your statement that at the end of the period of training, there was a passing out parade at the Caprivi.  Tell us about that passing out parade.

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: When the trainees were completing their training, M.Z. Khumalo came to me and said Baba, the Honourable Chief was going to arrive and he will be with Magnus Malan and they will be coming to the passing out parade.
	When the day came, Mr Malan and the Chief came with Brigadier van Niekerk.  I then asked why the Chief was not there and I was told that because the Chief had previously been seen with Magnus Malan or if he was seen with Magnus Malan, it would jeopardise his political career.
	So Magnus Malan and the Chief ultimately did not arrive.

MR STUART: Just on a point of clarity, Mr Luthuli, who was it that told you about why Chief Buthelezi did not come to the passing out parade?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: M.Z. Khumalo.

MR STUART: And at that time, what position did M.Z. Khumalo hold?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: At that time he was a Personal Assistant to the President of the IFP.  That means he was the closest to the President.

MR STUART: And at that passing out parade, you said that certain parts of the training were demonstrated.  Tell us what was demonstrated.

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: When they completed the training, there was Jerry, a Boer boy, that was a sudu name.  He made video recordings that would be used to show the Chief on what was going on at the training.
	Like the offensive group which was used to attack, they went and showed us how to for instance, ambush a person and a car, or if you are going to raid a house, how you would do it, or maybe if there was an attack or if they were involved in a confrontational war, how they would do it.
	All these demonstrations were taped on video.

MR STUART: On returning from the Caprivi to South Africa, you mention in your statement that you attended a meeting of the Planning Committee.  Tell us what was that Committee.

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: When we returned, we then parted ways because there was no provision for what the trainees would do after they returned.
	I was then taken by M.Z. Khumalo who asked me to go with him to a meeting.  We went to 121 Battalion.  The people whom I remember present there were Brigadier Van Niekerk, Louis Botha from the Special Branch, J.P. and Jerry.  The last two men mentioned were also instructors at Caprivi.
	What we discussed was that the trainees were back.  In what way were they going to work and their safety was also an issue because they would be working covertly.  How were they going to be protected?
	This was discussed in detail.  We then discussed that they should get contra-mobilisation and then we decided that we should open bases for them all over KwaZulu Natal so that they would be working in collaboration with the defensive group that used to pick up all troublesome individuals in the community.
	Secondly, the offensive group was supposed to stay in a particular area, because it wasn't supposed to meet with the other groups, because it was only used for attacks.
	We found a base for them at Port Dunfort where they stayed.  We then discussed that since they had no identification, I was then asked with M.Z. Khumalo to talk to Brigadier Matte, so that identity cards or documents could be made for those trainees.

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry to interrupt Mr Luthuli, you say Brigadier Matte, who was he?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: Brigadier Matte, at the time was the Head of Security in the Central Committee of the IFP.  We went to him as a full member of the IFP.

MR STUART: Did Brigadier Matte also have a position in the KwaZulu Police?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: Yes, that is true.  He was in authority in the KwaZulu Police.

MR STUART: At that time, was it intended that the people who had been trained in the Caprivi, would actually become KwaZulu Policemen?

DALAQOLO WORDSWORTH LUTHULI: At the time, we were just looking for a way for them to hide.  We hadn't discussed whether they would join the KwaZulu Police.

MR STUART: Upon leaving that Planning Committee meeting, how did you feel about the involvement of the SADF and the South African Police Special Branch in the planning and deployment?