Human Rights Violation Hearings — Nelspruit — 1996-09-03

MILDRED MTHETHWA: He was a member of the ANC.  Because I remember one day, we asked him as a member of the family that he is still having a bright future, he must not involve himself in political activities, because he was going to die.  We pleaded with him not to involve himself because he was still young.  We told him that he still had a bright future, he can become a teacher, he is going to die if he continues to involve himself in these.  We were advising him and he used to say, "I know that I'm going to die, but I know if I'm going to die, the community is going to bury me".  Then we failed as a family to win him, because he was aware that he is going to die.  But because, even if he was going to die, he told us that he doesn't mind because the community's going to bury him. Then we failed as a family, that we cannot do anything else because this was his personal decision, that he was not afraid of death.

YASMINE SOOKA: On that particular day they were celebrating
June 16.  Did you know what the celebration or the commemoration was going to be?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: In the beginning I felt I'm going to give the testimony of what I saw.  I don't know what they were doing on the mountain, I wasn't even there, I was not part NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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of them, I'm giving the testimony of what I saw.

YASMINE SOOKA: Do you know who killed your brother?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: No, there were rumours that the CABASA group did kill my brother, some ...(indistinct) police.

YASMINE SOOKA: Yesterday Mr Ndlazi testified that his son Sidney was also shot on that mountain on the same day and earlier this morning we had Pendile who had also been shot.  Was your brother in their company on that particular day?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: I hope so because when I could cheer Pendile, I become very angry, it was shocking and they said they were in the house and she said that there was somebody who could assist when there was need for help but I therefore realised that maybe it was my brother who wanted that help and he died because he was shot. The way in which he was wounded, he was even shot while he was already dead.  The stomach was totally destroyed with many holes of wounds and this person wanted to make sure that he's dead.

YASMINE SOOKA: You yourself were not present when they held a post mortem?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: I wasn't there but my elder sister was there, she's a nurse, she was there during that time, I wasn't there.

YASMINE SOOKA: You also say that when your brother was already dead, the soldiers were kicking his corpse, is
that correct?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: Yes I said that.

YASMINE SOOKA: Did you see that or did your father tell you about that?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: In the beginning I clearly stated that my father told me that somebody came to bring my brother.  Then later they sent the children to come and fetch us as family NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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members.  When my father phoned the hearse of SAFAS people from the neighbour I wasn't at home during that time.  When the car came to fetch the corpse, the police were following and they came to knock there, I was then present during that time. I am an eyewitness of that.

YASMINE SOOKA: After your brother's death was there ever any kind of investigation?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: It is puzzling, because when I came to register for the Truth Commission, the guy whom I met when coming to register, then he said I must return and go to the police and find the docket from the police.  I said to him, "I doubt if the docket is there."  What really the family is aware, is we saw it wasn't necessary to lay a charge or open a case on that, because the police were there.  To my surprise, when I arrived at the police, the police gave me the docket number and they also wrote who is in charge of the case.  I became confused then. How, because we were never contacted as a family? Because in this case we do not have the information from the police of the investigation or even a court hearing about the case, nothing was done. I question myself, why must I go to the police, because it was my first time to hear that there was a case. I don't know who opened the case, how?

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Any other questions, Mrs Mkhize?

MS MKHIZE: When people come to register for their statements to the Commission, sometimes they have got a motive and when you are giving this statement, what is the motive, what do you prefer the Commission to do for you?

MILDRED MTHETHWA: My brother was killed in a barbaric manner. I wish, if I can know the perpetrator.  He needs to come.  NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
 
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He must come and apologise.  You cannot forgive somebody whom you don't know.  Somebody whom you don't know who was never in front of you.  Then you forgive that person. You can not even know what reason.  That person needs to come to you and ask for apology.  He needs to state reasons and state whether he was being bribed by somebody to do that, like the Boers, then you can forgive that person. Until today, noone came to us as a family to say, "I know about this, I know that the Devil tempted me".  Nobody came to us as a family and admitted being concerned about the issue.  I also wish to see the perpetrator, who is he, why he did that?

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  I'm sure you did answer this question already but I may have missed it. Could you just remind me, how old was your brother when he died.

MILDRED MTHETHWA: He was 15 years of age.

CHAIRPERSON: As you know, we have heard today and every day when we have hearings all over the country in every province, of young people who were either very badly injured or were killed, and your brother is such a person.
 Now, what was happening of course, was a terrible struggle between forces who wanted to keep the country as it was and people who wanted change, and many many people 
paid a heavy price, and those of us who now enjoy a new democracy should never ever forget what your brother did and so many others like him.  He paid a very very heavy price and I'm sure he didn't know when he was singing the songs and marching on the mountain, that his own life would be taken, but life seemed to be very cheap and many many people died.
 You have told us about the docket.  You've said you NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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want to know and we are going to try and find out, and if we can we will come back to you and will tell you.  Right now I want to thank you very warmly for coming and telling us and sharing your pain with us, it's very difficult, we know that.  And I hope that in the telling of the story, something of the hurt, something of the anger will have been helped by sharing it with us, thank you very much.

MILDRED MTHETHWA: Can I please tell you something. All these children who were victims, they did put the tombs on their graves, I question why my brother did not have a tombstone. I therefore request the Commission to help the family for a tombstone so that we can remember him, because usually on the 15th of June, when we go to look at the grave, usually the others come and clean the graves for their families and usually they forget my brother. I wondered why they used to forget him and his grave is without a tombstone. Can I request the Commission to help in that regard that he gets a tombstone?

CHAIRPERSON: I'm glad that you have raised that and we will certainly pass this on to the Commission, the full Commission.  We have to make recommendations to the President as to who should be helped and how they should be helped and some people have talked about one large memorial somewhere in the country, where every name of every victim will be, and others, like you have asked for just a small tombstone to remember people by.  We will certainly pass that on and thank you very much for telling us that.