Human Rights Violation Hearings — Bisho — 1996-09-09

BONGANI FINCA: Chairperson, I report to you on the matters that are going to come before the Commission at today's hearing.  They do appear in the programme for today.  We are proposing sir that we take these cases in groups of five, if you agree, although we will take perhaps the first two before tea and then take the rest after tea.  The cases are fairly similar, they deal with the Bisho massacre and for that reason we think that it should be possible to take them all together.  
 The witnesses that are coming before the Commission today are as follows.  Ntobeko Osward Mafa who appears on attempted murder on himself.  Buzelwa Eunice Matikinca who appears on two matters.  There was an attempted murder on herself and there was the murder of her husband who was involved with her on the same march.  There is Ncumisa Alice Kali who appears on the matter of the murder of Tobile Kali.  Monwabisi David Hlakanyana on attempted murder on himself.  Mzwabantu Nqabisa who appears on the matter of Vusumzi Sydney Nqabisa and the violation is murder.  I report at this stage on those five cases which are going to be the first five cases for this morning.   
 There are going to be ten more cases which we will take in the afternoon session and I propose that in the interest of time, I report to you at that stage when we take those cases.  Could I at the same time report that we will be taking submissions as per our programme on political parties and individuals who the Commission has invited to give testimonies in order to arrive at a clearer picture of what happened on that day and on the political background which lead to the Bisho massacre march.
 Mr Cyril Rhamaphosa and Mr Smuts Ngonyama will be making a submission on behalf of the ANC and Mr Rhamaphosa has made a request that he be taken, if it is possible, just before tea so that he goes back to his very pressing assignment in Johannesburg.  I propose sir that we accept that request and take him before tea.  
 The submission by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, Mr R F Botha.  I am told sir that he is on his way from the airport and may be joining us soon, who I propose that we take him immediately after lunch, followed by a submission by the Honourable Mr Kasrils, the Deputy Minister who will be testifying on his own particular involvement on that particular hearing.
 After tea in the afternoon, we will then take witnesses who are going to be testifying as victims in the same massacre.  I propose that you accept sir this order for today.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  I think we are in your hands and you have done these things well previously and I have no reason to think that you will mislead us on this occasion.   [indistinct]

<UNKNOWN>: Thank you Mr Chairman, Honourable Chairman.  I would like to call to the witness stand Ntobeko Osward Mafa and Buzelwa Eunice Matikinca.

<UNKNOWN>: Mr Chairman with your permission  [indistinct]

CHAIRPERSON: Yes please.

<UNKNOWN>: Thank you.

<UNKNOWN>: Mr Chairman they have been sworn in.  Thank you very much.  Tiny?

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION: BISHO MASSACRE - DAY 1 - 9 SEPTEMBER 1996

CASE NO: 1

NTOBEKO OSWARD MAFA: NTOBEKO OSWARD MAFA    Duly sworn states

MS MAYA: Thank you Honourable Chairperson.  Good morning.  We spoke yesterday and you made a promise that you would briefly tell us and just give us a background or an idea about what this march was all about, where it originated from and what happened there.

WITNESS:  It was on the 7th September in 1992 on a Monday.  At the time I was a student at the Cape College of Education in Fort Beaufort and the organisation at the college had informed us, the South African Students Congress had informed us that on Monday there would be a march and that march was being organised by the three organisations, The African National Congress, The South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU.  That march was organised and the intention of the march was to force the regime to free political activity because at the time it was under the government of Brigadier Oupa Gqozo who was leading the military council here at the time.  We moved from there as students and other supporters of the organisations, the organisations which I had mentioned, and we went from where the starting point of the march was, which was Victoria Grounds in King William's Town.

MS MAYA:  You then left Victoria Grounds, what time was that and where did you go from there?

WITNESS:  We left Victoria Grounds being lead by the leaders of the organisations I have mentioned, towards Bisho and we left as that group of these people and our intention was that we were going to come and make our demands quite clear.

MS MAYA:  And as far as you know, where did the problem start, where did the shooting start?

WITNESS:  I think that approximately after 1 p.m. when we were going up the road that leads towards this field, the Bisho stadium, the march stopped and as one of the people that was in front, I wanted to know what was happening and I found that the march had stopped and it couldn't proceed and it was obvious that there was some talks between the leaders of the march and the representatives of the government.  It became obvious that people were panicking because the march was not proceeding and after a while people were seen running towards the stadium, since that was where the march was headed anyway.  I joined the group that was running towards the stadium with the intention that I wanted to get there as soon as possible and find myself a place to sit and have a better view of these people and our leaders.  During that chaos of running towards the Bisho Stadium all of a sudden there was this - chaos erupted and we didn't know where it had started.  You wouldn't even be able to say whether we were being shot or what was going on because we didn't realise immediately that we were being fired upon but I found that these people that ran in quickly into the stadium were coming back, back towards our direction and after that, after a little while there were screams that we are being shot and I realised that we were being shot because some of the people were screaming saying that we should lie flat.  I also lay flat but I found that some people are running past me because at that time it was not easy to establish exactly who was shooting and where the shooting was coming from.  All you could hear was this noise which was terrifying.

MS MAYA:  Did you get up from where you were laying?