Human Rights Violation Hearings — Empangeni — 1996-11-06

WITNESS:   Mkululeko at that time was very young, he was four.  Then on February 16, 1992, when the IFP invaded Esikhaweni, aiming at cleaning Esikhaweni, Gcina Mkhize harassed me.  He was one of the members of the KwaZulu Police and he arrested me.  He assaulted me and he took me to the police station.  At that time we were monitoring the move by the IFP, the KwaZulu Police, because they were all arresting everybody on the road and in the hostels.  On the 10th June 1992 Sergeant Gumede - Khumalo - chased me from Mkhabusa area.  He was driving in a white Sentra, and the other squad were in an Nyala.  Because they were getting close to me I had to overtake, because I realised that it was the police and I knew that they were aiming at killing me, because they were always saying they will get hold of me and I will be killed.

CHAIRPERSON:  Sorry, who was the policeman who was chasing you?

WITNESS:   It was Khumalo that I knew amongst the police.  Then I went to Fred Mthembu.  I was with Sithle in my car and I hooted before I got to Mthembu, of course using the sign that Mthembu could understand that it was me hooting.  He immediately opened the door and then they couldn't do anything because he had already seen them.  So they told me that they are looking for my car because my car is carrying firearms.  They searched the car, but couldn't find any.  Then they left me there.  I was then afraid to go back to my house, H125, at that time and I requested to sleep in Fred's house, because I knew there was only one way to come out of that area.  After about 15 minutes Khumalo came back and said he wanted to talk to me.  I went out and he asked me if I had seen some copperhead around.

CHAIRPERSON:  A copperhead is a colloquial word for a balaclava?

WITNESS:   Balaclava, yes.  I asked him - he said his boys seem to have left the copperhead in the area where they were chasing me.  Then I asked him, "Why would the police wear a copperhead?  Because copperheads are not for people that are doing legal things", and it was not cold on that day.  Then he didn't answer.  He said, "I do know that some of the members of the police can be tsotsis at some stage".  But when he left, after having not found the copperhead he wanted to find, then he told me that I will not survive.  They will get hold of me.  On the date that I can't remember they also were in the same - it was in August now, close to the attack to my house - I had realised that they were going to get me at that time, because they were everywhere I went and every car of the police I met was stopping me, searching my car, always, and my style of getting out of Esikhaweni - when I wanted to go out from Esikhaweni, I could first check whether or not there were cars following me and if I suspect I would come back to Esikhaweni.  Then they arrested me in the mid-August and they raided my house and they arrested everybody, despite the fact that they couldn't get anything from my house.  We were all arrested.  We were all gaoled.  And my car was used over the night and I could realise that, because before I went to the cell I checked the kilometres and I knew how much petrol I had in my car, but the next morning some other guys that we were arrested with, they were called to Mtunzini, but I wasn't.  Then we had to phone the lawyers.  We were using Saloshni Pillay at the time, and the Legal Resources Centre also was phoned at the time.  Legal Resources Centre, in which you were also working and Howard Varney was the person that was found there.  I was then released on bail, but because the case was being formulated and they couldn't charge me ... (intervention)

CHAIRPERSON:  Sorry to interrupt.  We've just had a request that if you could either speak in Zulu and in English or in Zulu only so that some more members of the audience can understand you.