Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1998-11-04

MR MBANDAZAYO: Thank you Mr Chairperson.  Mr Chairperson, I will start to read for the benefit of the Committee, the affidavit.  The affidavit reads as
"I, the undersigned, Mosuiwa Isiah Khotle, do hereby make an oath and say that I'm the applicant in the above matter, having submitted my application whilst being held at Grootvlei Maximum Prison, Bloemfontein.  The facts to which I depose herein are true and correct and within my personable knowledge unless the contents indicates otherwise.  I was born on the 4th October 1969 at Rocklands Location, Bloemfontein.  I grew up at Dillsvale, Free State up until 1983.  I left Dillsvale when I was doing Standard 3.  In December 1983 my family moved to Botsebelo near Tbanchu where I left school at Standard 10 in 1990 due to financial problems.  I joined PAC in 1988 through Azanyo.  I was recruited to PAC by Sediso Ralatabo.  I joined APLA in 1991 in Transkei where I underwent military training.  I was involved in about three operations and I have applied for amnesty for all of them.  As APLA operative, my general instruction from APLA high command was to persecute the armed struggle with all means against the then racist minority regime which was undemocratic and oppressive.  The said armed struggle was in essence a guerilla warfare during which we as APLA cadres had to seek and attack the bastions and minions of the then aforesaid regime.  The ultimate objective of PAC and APLA was not only to topple the then racist minority regime but to eventually return the land to the majority of the African people.  The bastions and minions of the then erstwhile regime were in terms of APLA perspective, the members of the South African Defence Force, the members of the South African Police and reservists in general, the farmers, as they belonged to commando structures over and above the fact that they occupied the farms which we have to drive them away from so as to widen our territorial operational base which was aimed at eventually consolidating the liberated and repossessed land.  The white homes which we regard as a ...(indistinct).  My general instruction was to seek, identify and attack the enemy who was seen in the context of the above bastions and minions of the regime and also to train other cadres and command them in whatever operation that is being embarked upon.  Vanderbijlpark Attack:  In consequence of and in pursuit of the above stated objective, during March 1992 I was part of APLA unit which ambushed a motor vehicle near Boipatong whose occupants were settlers which resulted in one of them losing his life and apparently others were injured.  The unit comprised of myself, Solly, the commander and Boysi.  We were staying in Sharpeville at the time.  We were deployed in the area by the director of special operations Sipho Bulalani Kloma who was also deputy director of operations.  I was armed with AK47 and I do not remember exactly what type of weapons others were armed with, whether AK47 or R4 or R5 rifles.  We had two targets on the day in question.  That is either police vehicle ambush or vehicle whose occupants were settlers.  The reconnaissance was already made by the commander.  On the 22 March 1992 it was decided that we should ambush the police vehicle and the other one be carried out on another day.  We left ...(indistinct) around 5 a.m. in the morning.  When we arrived at the spot of the ambush we saw South African Defence Force patrolling the area.  The commander, Solly, decided that we must abandon the operation and that we must carry on with the one of ambushing the vehicle whose occupants were settlers.  We went to the area of Boipatong where we laid ambush on the curve.  The commander instructed us to shoot any vehicle whose occupants were settlers.  A motor vehicle whose occupants were settlers approached and we shot at it.  We later learned that one settler died and others were injured.  APLA's mode of thinking in that operation did not distinguish between soft and hard targets nor indeed between military and civilian targets.  We were simply fighting against criminals who sustained the apartheid system.  Criminals because apartheid was declared by the international community represented by  United Nations as a crime against humanity.  Anybody who was a driver moving apartheid forward and those that supported it were therefore criminals.  The whole system of apartheid was run by people who chose to separate themselves from the rest of the humanity and call themselves white.  It is these people therefore who we had to tackle in the fight against the system.  There is nothing racist about it, if the driver of the apartheid had been Chinese and not Europeans, we would have targeted them.  This was the mood of thinking in the APLA code during the struggle.
	Heilbron Police Attack:  This operation took place between May and June."
Mr Chairperson, if I may correct it, it happened in July, just correct it in July, Mr Chairperson.
"We were a unit of four, it was myself, Solly the commander, Boysi and Maloma.  The target was a police vehicle which we were going to ambush.  The reconnaissance was done by Solly and Maloma.  We travelled from Sharpeville to Heilbron by taxi.  The weapons were in a suitcase and consisted of two M26 grenades, two AK47, one R4 rifle.  I was armed with M26 grenade.  This operation happened between 21h00 and 22h00.  We arrived at the spot where we were to ambush the vehicle.  It was next to the library at the Teritona Location.  At our arrival the target had already passed the spot.  We were about to abandon the operation.  A police motor vehicle came and when they saw us they made a u-turn.  The commander ordered that we must shoot and we commenced shooting but I never threw the grenades.  Maloma was shot whilst we were retreating and I later learnt that he was arrested in hospital.  We slept in different places and we met the following day and we took different taxis to Sharpeville.  I respectfully submit that my application complies with the requirements of the Act and that I've made full and proper disclosure of my involvement in the above operations and I accordingly humbly request my application for amnesty be granted."
Signed by the applicant.  Mr Chairperson, I'll only ask the applicant only one clarity, to give clarification and after that, that be his case.
	Mr Khotle, in the application of the other applicants, they mention a person by the name Jan.  Do you know any person by the name Jan and if you know him, how do you know him?

MOSUIWA ISIAH KHOTLE: In our unit we had a certain person called Jan, his name is Boysi.  The commander called him Jan because he wanted him to be the commander then that Jan is Sipho who is Kuma.

CHAIRPERSON: So are you saying there were two Jans?

MOSUIWA ISIAH KHOTLE: That is correct, in the unit we had only one Jan.   Welaleni Kuma, his other name was Jan.  Within our unit Boysi called the commander Jan.

CHAIRPERSON: So is that Solly?

MOSUIWA ISIAH KHOTLE: That is Boysi.

CHAIRPERSON: Because you see in the other application, Mr Khotle, the other applicants say that the commander was Jan, am I wrong?  I think if you look at page 6, "Comrade Jan gave the order."  If you look at page 6, paragraph 11(b) and then you take a look at page 11, again it says "Comrade Jan gave the order"

MR MBANDAZAYO: Yes Mr Chairperson, that's the question he was trying to explain that there were two Jans, the one is the commander who gave the order, that is Sipho Bulalani Kuma.

CHAIRPERSON: But then who is Solly?

MR MBANDAZAYO: Then Solly was the commander of the unit.

CHAIRPERSON: Oh, okay.  Yes?

MR MBANDAZAYO: Mr Chairperson, that's all I wanted from the applicant and that's his evidence up to this stage.  Thank you Mr Chairperson.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR MBANDAZAYO

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Mpshe?

MOKOTEDI MPSHE: Thank you Mr Chairperson, I have no questions.
NO QUESTIONS BY ADV MPSHE