Human Rights Violation Hearings — Empangeni — 1996-11-04

WITNESS:   The policemen phoned me and they said I should come to them.  They said there was going to be a case.  We were going to Ngwelezana because they had heard that my son's body had been stolen.

CHAIRPERSON:  And did you go there?  Was there a case of any sort?

WITNESS:   Yes, I did open a case.  Up till today nobody has been arrested, because after quite a few days thereafter I met some other youths who said to me I was a child, and when I got to them I asked them as to why they greeted me in such a manner.  They told me that they wanted to kill me, because they had already killed my son and I was the only one who was left, and I hit them with my knob kierie.  Some ran away.

CHAIRPERSON:  Mr Khumalo, do you know why the soldiers would have wanted to kill your son?  Why they should have come to the hospital and done that?  What did they have to want to do that?

WITNESS:   The reason was that they were also helping the Inkatha to kill people, so they were fighting with ANC members.  They were saying he was a comrade.

CHAIRPERSON: Any other questions?  Mrs Gcabashe?

MRS GCABASHE: I just want to clarify this issue, Mr Khumalo.  As you are relating this story, you are still feeling the pain of losing your son.  Tell us more about this doctor whom you consulted so that you could take your son out of the hospital.  Who is this doctor?

WITNESS:   I did not take the doctor's name, because I went to his house and I spoke to him.  I told him as to what had happened to my son and he was an ANC member and that I needed him to be taken out of that hospital.

MRS GCABASHE:  Was it a black or white or Indian doctor?

WITNESS:   It was a white doctor.

MRS GCABASHE: As I've already said that you are still very

MRS GCABASHE: /traumatised.  I

MRS GCABASHE: traumatised - I can hear it from your voice - how were you affected, you and your family?

WITNESS:   Ever since my house was burnt down I've never quite been the same.  I work because I'm a man.  Maybe if I was somebody else I wouldn't even be working, I would be staying in the forest, because I'm staying in the forest right now, because my house was burnt down.  My house was burnt down, the first one.  I had four houses and the first one was burnt, as well as the other ones, together with my possessions.

MRS GCABASHE:  What else do you feel emotionally or physically and financially?

WITNESS:   I feel that I could kill people and do anything, whoever comes my way.  I'm very aggressive now.

MRS GCABASHE:  And how is your wife?

WITNESS:   My wife ran away to Durban and she's still staying in Durban even now.

MRS GCABASHE:  Whereabouts in Durban?

WITNESS:   She stays in Clermont.

MRS GCABASHE:  Are you not staying together any more?

WITNESS:   She does come, but she's very scared because she also received death threats.  She's also employed.

MRS GCABASHE:  How is she?

WITNESS:   She hasn't yet told me anything besides that the children are still very scared because of the trauma that they went through.  The children are not very well.  They are not normal like other children.

MRS GCABASHE:  Are they getting any treatment for their illnesses?

WITNESS:   I do go to the clinic where I work and I will take them to Ngwelezana Hospital.  I get my medication from work.  There is a resident doctor at the hospital.  I also send my children to the Ngwelezana Hospital whenever there is anything wrong with them. Have you ever tried to see psychiatrists or psychologists?   ---   No, we've never attempted that.

MRS GCABASHE:  But would you like to be assisted to see these doctors?

WITNESS:   Yes, I think I would like to be assisted with regard to that matter.

MRS GCABASHE: Thank you.

KHOZA MGOJO: This is a painful story that you've related, Mr Khumalo.  You have already told us that the doctor at Ngwelezana refused to hand your son over to you.  You said it was Dr Alexander.

WITNESS:   No, Dr Alexander was working at the ICU at that time and I'm not clear as to whether he's still working there.

KHOZA MGOJO:  Where is Enoch Ngomezulu, the policeman?

WITNESS:   Enoch Ngomezulu is the one who issued out the death certificate that I sent to Cape Town.  He's still at Empangeni.  He is still working at the police station.

KHOZA MGOJO:  I just want to verify the things that you've asked the Commission to do for you.  You have a request.  You want this Commission to help you with the investigation as to the death of your son?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

KHOZA MGOJO:  Is that your only request?

WITNESS:   Yes, that's my only request, even if I'm not going to do anything, but I would like to know as to why he was killed.

KHOZA MGOJO:  So that's your only request?

WITNESS:   That is correct, that is all I need to know.

PROF MAGWAZA: There are just a few questions that I would like to ask you.  You have pointed out that there is a security guard who died.  What was his name?

WITNESS:   I wouldn't know, but he used to stay at Mpenpene.  I think it was from the Dubazana family.

PROF MAGWAZA:  This incident, the shooting of your son when he was shot at the hospital, were there any eye-witnesses at the hospital?

WITNESS:   I wouldn't say that they were there, but what I know is that the sister in charge who saw everything and who should have seen everything that was happening in that ward at that time should also be answerable.

PROF MAGWAZA:  Do you perhaps know as to who was in charge at that time?

WITNESS:   At the time the incident took place, it was Jabu Mthembu.

PROF MAGWAZA:  You've also pointed out that you suspect that he was killed by members of the IFP, because they had come to you.  Why did they come to you?

WITNESS:   They wanted my son even then.  They said if there was a problem then we should phone the police and call the police.  We should tell them that there was a problem there.  That was the problem because they did not want our children to be comrades and join the ANC.

PROF MAGWAZA:  The very last question.  You said you have 13 children.  Now, are you staying with them without your wife?

WITNESS:   Yes, I'm renting out a place with those 13 children.

PROF MAGWAZA:  Are they from one wife?

WITNESS:   No, they have different mothers.

PROF MAGWAZA:  Is there any mother, one of their mothers who is staying there?

WITNESS:   Yes, she's staying with me.

PROF MAGWAZA: Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Finally, sorry, Mr Khumalo, do you know the mortuary where they removed your son's body from?  Where was that mortuary?  The hospital mortuary or the mortuary at - hospital mortuary?

WITNESS:   It's the hospital mortuary. At Ngwelezana?   ---   That is correct, at Ngwelezana.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  Thank you very much for coming in today.  It's a shocking story that you tell us.  It's unbelievable that in this day and age that those sorts of things can happen.  It sounds like a story out of the Wild West that people can break into a hospital, shoot somebody in their hospital bed, take the body from the mortuary at gunpoint and dump the body in the veld.  It really is a shocking, shocking story and we will certainly, through our investigative units, try and understand what happened and why it happened and try and see whether those people who are responsible cannot be brought to justice in some way.  So thank you for coming in, telling us that.  We know that it's difficult to go through that.  We can see that you are upset about it and we hope that coming here and telling your story in front of all these people, in front of the television, has helped you to get some of that pain off your chest.  Thank you very much, Mr Khumalo.