Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietersburg — 1996-07-19

MABOA NKUNENG HAPPY: (sworn states)

RUSSELL ALLY: You're coming to tell the Commission about what happened to you in 1986 about an assault which eventually led to you being in the wheelchair today.  I'd just like you to recount your story to us please.

MR MABOA: In 1986 I was one of the ANC members at Radiwana.  At Ga Radiwana we as members of the ANC were trying to tell the people what the organisation is and what the organisation is all about. We called a meeting at Ga Radiwana and Ga Lamela to explain to them when we talk about the ANC what we are talking about.  While they were assembled in a hall at a school at a meeting to organised to explain to the people what politics are another group of ANC youths surprised us when they came singing freedom songs which were not familiar to us, because at that time we used to sing freedom songs that were not like these. We waited to see what would happen and what surprised us was that these youths had pangas, axes and knives.
 I don't know if I can mention our leader's name and we had arranged an agenda for the order of speakers but the group which entered did not regard did not regard us as ANC followers and presumed that we were going to talk about chieftainship.  They called themselves AZAPO and inside the hall they insisted that our leader should explain to the people what the meeting was about and one AZAPO member took the microphone from our leader.  We were not prepared to fight with them as they were the youth of the African National Congress and we came out of the hall and went home.
 The following day we were forced to assemble again to go and solve the problem.  While trying to do so, those people came again and started throwing stones on to the roof of the hall and you could see that they were prepared to fight.  We went out of the hall and didn't fight with them. We said to ourselves that they wanted to fight with us because they said we were not talking about the ANC but about something that affected chieftainship. 
 Because there were problems in the village they came to me and said to me there are people who are my younger brothers and sisters, who I took to Mamonebi. When I came back from there in the afternoon, it was cloudy and misty and when I arrived in the village there was no one in the street.  I went home in order to find out what was happening.  We called the people from Marulaneng, Magane, ...(indistinct), we called them to come and explain to the people what we are doing.  When I arrived at home there was anther group which came from Marulaneng to the hall to go and explain to the people.  When we arrived at the hall we found that there were no people in the village, they had all gone into the mountains and the veld.
 While we were sitting waiting for them to come and assemble, another group brandishing sticks arrived and we started running.  They caught me and hit me with an iron bar or the back of an axe and this put me into a wheel chair.  After that, one of the ANC guys who heard that I was injured took me to a shop in the village and from there he took me by car to Jane Furse, where I was told that I had to be transferred to Garankuwa hospital, where I stayed for three months. I realised there that I could not walk or use my hand.  I came back to stay at Jane Furse for a while using a wheel chair.  I went home after I was discharged where they said that I can't go and stay with people since I was paralysed.  I made little progress and they took me to Marishana where there was a priest, a Mr Mogau, a Zionist and I stayed there until 1984.
 I was doing standard 8 when I got injured.  In 1984 I told the youth I don't know where I'm going to earn a living and asked them to call a meeting with the ANC to talk about my issue and if I can go to school. I was assisted by Divert Monakeng, Monakedi Colbert Marutad, Geddes Stamaga and Moswoso who contributed R50 each at the end of each month to pay a driver to take me to school.  I passed standards eight and nine.  When I started doing standard nine and people were asking for money from the ANC, one of them went to the South African Breweries which gave me R4 000 which was used for my schooling.  The man who started assisting me was my uncle to whom we paid R250 a month but he complained that the money was too little as he had his own children to maintain and needed an increase.  I was paying from the money I received as assistance and increased this to R300 but he disagreed and demanded R350. At the end of the year my money was finished.
 In 1996 I stared staying with one of my friends who I could and can mot pay anything because I do not have the money, I only receive enough to buy food and pay R25 monthly for rent.

RUSSELL ALLY: Mr Baboa, in your statement you speak about the conflict between the ANC and AZAPO in 1986.  Do you mean the ANC or the UDF, because at that stage the ANC was still banned? Could you just speak openly about yourselves as the ANC or the UDF?

MR MABOA: The UDF was a branch of the ANC.

RUSSELL ALLY: And you say that the background to your story is this clash between the ANC and AZAPO but you also say that these other youth, went by that name, now when you say that, are you sure that this was AZAPO or who was this other group? Are you absolutely sure what the name of the other group was which you are speaking about?

MR MABOA: Yes.

RUSSELL ALLY: Because you also said that this group was linked to one of the chiefs in the village, in your statement you speak about the chief of Radingwane, Moleme , was allied to or part of it?  You say this was really a front of the chieftancy.  The chieftancy was using the name of AZAPO to try and frustrate the activities of the ANC youth.  The chief of Ga Radingwane, Moleme who is still a chief to this day, was a member of AZAPO and all AZAPO members were supporters of the chieftaincy. Now I just wanted you to help us to make it quite clear, are you saying that this was AZAPO or are you saying that they pretended to be AZAPO or what exactly are you saying?

MR MABOA: On top of what you are asking me you asked me a very good question which I'm able to answer.  This group was AZAPO, the fact that we are talking about, that is chieftainship, this group of AZAPO, when they started fighting with the youth of the UDF were with their parents and went to burn the schools of Mila, so we felt that these people don't understand this problem as a youth problem but as a problem which affects the community.

RUSSELL ALLY: What was the background to this conflict, what was going on in your village, what was the fight about, do you have an idea?

MR MABOA: As we were not a fighting people we wanted to let people know what the UDF is all about, the people who were fighting with us thought we were not talking about the UDF but about chieftainship.

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you very much Mr Maboa, I'll see if there are any other Commissioners who want to ask you any further questions.

PROF MIRING: Mr Moboa, thank you for your testimony.  Do you mind if I ask you a question or two about your own circumstance at the moment.

MR MABOA: My position is very difficult now.  In 1988 while I was still having problems, I realised that I'm grown up and was forced to meet a woman who I wanted to marry.  Because of my injuries there was nothing which I could do with her.  We are divorced now because there is nothing which I am giving her.  I'm left alone now.  My body is just a body, there is nothing that I can do with it.

PROF MIRING: There are no children that you have to care for?

MR MABOA: No.

PROF MIRING: And can I ask about your studies, you are at school at the moment taking standard nine, and do you think after you have completed your schooling that you will be able to do work.

MR MABOA: Yes I think I'll be able to work.  I would like to be in public administration.