Human Rights Violation Hearings — Grahamstown — 1997-04-07

MR MPHITHI: It was in 1986.  They took me to East London.  In East London the doctor said that I must stay in hospital to recover.  I stayed there in hospital.  I was sick and I was not well.  I was afraid of being assaulted.  I will tell the doctor that I am not okay so that he will not discharge me from hospital, because I was scared of being beaten up.  I stayed in hospital.  The doctor would come to me and ask me how I felt.  I will tell them, him that I am not well, because I was scared I did not want to go back home, because I would be assaulted by the police.  We were not happy at that time.

MS MAYA: How long did you stay in hospital?

MR MPHITHI: I stayed for a year in hospital.  I stayed for a whole year.

MS MAYA: Which hospital is this?

MR MPHITHI: It was in East London, but I do not remember
the name of the hospital.

MS MAYA: Do you remember the doctor, the name of the doctor?

MR MPHITHI: There were many doctors.  I do not know who was my actual doctor.

MS MAYA: When you came back from hospital were you assaulted?

MR MPHITHI: No, I was not assaulted, but my younger brother, when I came back, was the one who was being assaulted.  He was shot when I came back.

MS MAYA: What was your brother's name?

MR MPHITHI: It was Stellom Mphithi.

MS MAYA: Where is he?

MR MPHITHI: He is in Bedford.  He was shot by Mabityi in Newbright.

MS MAYA: Why was he shot?

MR MPHITHI: I do not know.  He was in Port Elizabeth.

MS MAYA: Was it in connection with political activists?

MR MPHITHI: I do not know.

MS MAYA: Do you know whether he was a member of any organisation?

MR MPHITHI: No, I do not know.

MS MAYA: Mandlakayise, what is your request to the Commission?  What is your request to the Commission?

MR MPHITHI: My request to the Commission is that police were harassing us and I cannot forgive them, because they were not supposed to treat us and it was against the Law to torture us and to treat us like that, because our lives were not safe.

MS MAYA: In other words, what are you saying to the police now?

MR MPHITHI: What I am saying is that I cannot forgive them.  I would like them to, I would like new members to be placed in the police force.

MS MAYA: You said that you want the perpetrators to come forward.

MR MPHITHI: Yes.

MS MAYA: You also mentioned that you need disability grant in order to take care of your ten year old child.  Is that all you want to say?

MR MPHITHI: Yes, that is all.

MS MAYA: Thank you Mandlakayise.  I will hand over to the Chairperson.  Maybe there are questions you are going to be asked by my colleagues.  Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: June Crichton.

JUNE CRICHTON: Mr Mphithi, I just have two questions for you.  The first one is, maybe, a difficult question, but, perhaps, you may answer it if you want to.  Were you ever approached by any State officials to assist them in their work against the community?

MR MPHITHI: No, I was not approached by any.

JUNE CRICHTON: Alright and the second question is to ask you what is the situation in Bedford now?  You are saying that those who were part of assaulting you are actually still in Bedford, one of them is still in the police in Bedford.  What is the situation in the community now?

MR MPHITHI: The situation in Bedford is not the same as before.  Things are better now.

JUNE CRICHTON: Thank you, Mr Mphithi.

MR MPHITHI: Thank you, Mam.

CHAIRPERSON: Ntsiki Sandi.

ADV SANDI: Thank you, Mr Chairperson.  Mandlakayise, you said that you stayed for a year in hospital.

MR MPHITHI: Yes, that is so.

ADV SANDI: You do not know the name of the hospital?

MR MPHITHI: No, I do not know the name of the hospital.

ADV SANDI: The doctors in the hospital, you do not remember even one of them?

MR MPHITHI: No, I do not remember any, because there were many.  Some of them were indians, coloureds, etcetera.

ADV SANDI: You did not hear anyone mentioning the name of a doctor in hospital?

MR MPHITHI: In front of me, no.

ADV SANDI: Do you know any of the nurses there in that hospital?

MR MPHITHI: No, I did not know any name, the nurse.  I did not know anyone.

ADV SANDI: What is it, your left or right hand that was injured?

MR MPHITHI: It was the left.

ADV SANDI: You said that Gideon injured you.  Is he a policeman or what?

MR MPHITHI: Gideon was against the police, but he was together with the police.

ADV SANDI: He was together with the police?

MR MPHITHI: Yes, he was working together with the police.

ADV SANDI: Except that he was working with the police, what was his job?

MR MPHITHI: I do not know about his job.

ADV SANDI: Was he staying in your community?

MR MPHITHI: He was staying in a coloured township.

ADV SANDI: Is he still there?

MR MPHITHI: No, he passed away.

ADV SANDI: You mentioned a consumer boycott, were you part of that decision?

MR MPHITHI: No, I was not part of it.

ADV SANDI: When the shops in town were boycotted were you not part of that?

MR MPHITHI: No, I was not part of it.

ADV SANDI: Did you go and buy in town?

MR MPHITHI: No, I would not go and buy in town.

ADV SANDI: What was happening to the people who broke this law.  Were there any people who broke the law?

MR MPHITHI: No.

ADV SANDI: Everybody agreed?

MR MPHITHI: Yes, everybody worked together.

ADV SANDI: Thank you, Mr Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Mandlakayise, do you know Matthew Goniwe?

MR MPHITHI: I do not know him, but I hear people talking about him.  When I was injured, I got injured in that funeral, I was injured on the day before the funeral, I wanted to go to the funeral in Cradock, but I could not, because I got injured.

CHAIRPERSON: People who were not involved in politics did not use to go to such funerals, why did you want to go?

MR MPHITHI: I wanted to go, because I wanted to join people who use to go.  I would follow them and join them.

CHAIRPERSON: But you were just looking after livestock, you were not in politics?

MR MPHITHI: Yes, I would take livestock and I would follow people to such places.

CHAIRPERSON: When people were arrested in Bedford, when you were arrested, sorry, in Bedford were there any Comrades who were arrested?

MR MPHITHI: Yes, there were many.

CHAIRPERSON: You were part of them?

MR MPHITHI: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Why were they arrested?

MR MPHITHI: I do not know.

CHAIRPERSON: But the hospital you were admitted in in East London, although you do not know its name, do you know the hospital?

MR MPHITHI: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: If you can go to East London can you be able to point the hospital?

MR MPHITHI: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mandlakayise.  You have told us a painful story that happened in small towns.  People would be arrested like flies.  You have told us a painful story, but the way you present your story, you make us laugh.  We are laughing because you remember nothing, you were just looking after your livestock, but we can see that if we can sit down with you, there is a lot we can get from you that you have not revealed here today.  We thank you and we will try to find out the name of the hospital.  I know that you have mentioned that you do not remember the name.  I know that if you are coming from a small town and you go into a city, you become confused.  It might happen that you do not remember the name of the hospital, but it is important for us to know the hospital so that we can get a medical report.  We thank you, Mandlakayise.  You may step down.  Do not run away, we will come back to you.