Human Rights Violation Hearings — Tembisa — 1996-11-26

YASMINE SOOKA: Is that a member of your family that is sitting with you?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: Yes it's a member of my family.

YASMINE SOOKA: We would like to welcome her as well.  Before you tell your story please take the oath.

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: (sworn states)

YASMINE SOOKA: We have asked Mr Hugh Lewin to assist you with the leading of your evidence.

MR LEWIN: Thank you.  Mrs Malosi we are very pleased that you could be with us.  Thank you for waiting so long.  You come from Moyeni Section in Tembisa?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: Yes it is so Sir.

MR LEWIN: You will be telling us about this afternoon is an incident in May 1986.  Please feel relaxed and in your own words tell us please what happened.  Thank you.

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: On the 1st of May 1986 young men went past the street singing. After some time when they had gone by, I don't remember what time it was, my son left with his younger sister and my neighbour's child saying that they were going to buy some cigarettes.  A policeman came names "Scarface" in the Township.  When he appeared, this policeman, he said what are you doing here, I want nobody here, and he pointed a gun at him.  My younger child ran to me and said to me they have shot Vincent.  When I went out the children had already run away when I arrived at this place of this incident.  Scarface wanted to know what am I
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doing there.  Vincent asked him why did you kill me because I did nothing wrong, and he said are you still alive dog?  And he turned him over and he pointed him in the forehead and that is the finishing bullet.  I asked Scarface why are you killing my son?  He said I am going to shoot you as well.  That's when I decided to run for my life.  
 When I got home a man came who tried to find transport.  He is a neighbour, this gentleman.  He was looking for a blanket.  He covered him with this blanket because he was dead already, because Scarface had already chased me away because he wanted to shoot me.  He wanted to shoot anyone who wanted to come next to that scene.  This happened in my street very near my house.  A Casper arrived and took my child away and my blanket as well.  Till today I never got my blanket back.
 As time went by we were being harassed by tear gas. Black and White policemen used to go and throw some tear gas canisters in the yard.  We were running out of the house crawling for our lives.  On the day when we were arranging for the funeral they came during the night vigil and threw some tear gas in the yard.

YASMINE SOOKA: There is a problem with the sound.

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: We waited the whole night in the night vigil and the policemen came during the night vigil and harassed everybody in the house.

YASMINE SOOKA: Can we have some order while we try to restore the sound please.

MR LEWIN: I am sorry Mrs Malosi we will try and fix it up now.  Sorry about the interruption, could you please continue.

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: During the night vigil all the youth were there
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as far as Daveyton.  These policemen came again.  They were harassing people in the yard and they were throwing tear gas canisters.  People were being choked and they were trying to run away crawling outside of the house because they were even throwing this teargas inside the house.  
 On the morning of the funeral a Casper arrived.  When this Casper arrived it was driven by a White policeman, it was full of Black and White policemen and they said nobody is going to go except for me and my children.  The women who were there hid me away and I hid in my neighbour's house.  The policemen came saying that they are only going to collect the family to go to the graveyard.  I ran to my neighbour's house.  When they couldn't find me they threw more teargas canisters and more people fainted due to this.  They went away.  In the afternoon I came back home.  We were being harassed with this teargas all the time.  
 One day people came to tell me that the corpse was not in the mortuary any more, it's in the Kempton Park Police Station.  My son is being detained as a corpse.  As I was listening to that women from the Township went to the Kempton Park Police Station and demanded to know what is happening, but only found out that when they got there it was not only my son who was kept there but many corpses that were killed by the police were there in that police station. The women fought against this.  My child was kept there for the whole month, from the 1st up until the 29th of May when we were given the permit.  The whole month my son's body stayed in the police station after being killed by the police.  We were being harassed by the police with teargas all the time.  One day they even burnt my curtains.
 On the 28th, which was another day now for the night 
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vigil, which was a second night vigil the youth came back again.  The policemen came again.  They were coming even during the week to disrupt everything and swearing at us and these policemen threw more teargas in the night vigil.  In the morning when some children wanted to go and wash, those who stayed in Daveyton they met them at Tembisa railway station, they dispersed them and they shot the one boy from Daveyton and killed him.  The comrades brought him to my yard.  My son was not there.  They left this boy's body and the policemen arrived.  We were now being guilty of taking this boy for helping him and they wanted to know why did we do that.  They took this boy and they were swearing at us all the time.
 On the 29th, which was the day of the funeral we were busy cooking outside, the policemen threw more teargas, even inside the pots.  They fenced around the street and they said nobody would be allowed to attend the funeral.  Even the way to the cemetery was blocked.  They released my son and he was buried at the cemetery down.  All these children they were there dead and we managed to bury them. Even when we got to the graveyard there were Caspers full of policemen.  Even when we tried to bury there was teargas all over and people couldn't see properly but we managed to get back home.  There were fences all over blocking with policemen and dogs as well.  We couldn't pass through.  And that is the end.

MR LEWIN: Mrs Malosi the story you have told us is a very terrible one.  You mention this policeman, you saw it happen, was he a policeman that was well-known in the community, this "Scarface"?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: Yes he's a well-known policeman, Scarface.
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Everybody knows him and he has killed many children here in Tembisa.

MR LEWIN: Do you know his name?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: I don't know his real name.  Whether he's the one called Vusi I am not sure, but the name that I know it's Scarface due to the scar that he had on his face.

MR LEWIN: There has been someone who has been, certainly on the television quite a lot recently, who is called Scarface, have you recognised him at all?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: No I never saw him on television.

MR LEWIN: You haven't seen his photograph in newspapers?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: No I never Sir.

MR LEWIN: Why do you think that he had this, what can only be called a terrible attitude, to the children?  What was behind it do you think?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: I think it's because he was against the comrades.

MR LEWIN: And do you know of other people that he was responsible for killing?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: I just heard that he has killed in different Sections, but I don't know the people he killed exactly.

MR LEWIN: But in the case of your son there was no reason, there was no provocation?

FANISWA ILENE MALOSI: There is nothing.

MR LEWIN: Was anything ever done afterwards?  Was there a post mortem, was there a case against the police?