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

WITNESS:   He is at Pentak (?) in Cape Town.  He's doing engineering.  He is also doing course 3.  The third one is Nolundi Feluleko.  She was born in 1978.  She is doing standard 10 at Cambridge College in Durban.  The last one it's Yena Nomhle. She's 11 years old.  She's doing standard 4 at St Patrick College, Empangeni.  She was born in 1975 - 1985.  I made a mistake.

MRS GCABASHE:  What standard is she?

WITNESS:   She's in standard 4 at St Patrick at Empangeni.

MRS GCABASHE:  Do you still have parents?

WITNESS:   My mother died.  After this happened she suffered heart disease and died of a heart attack.  My husband (father ?) was deceased a long time ago.  My father-in-law died immediately after this incident.

MRS GCABASHE:  Are you working or not?

WITNESS:   Yes, I am working at the University of KwaZulu.

MRS GCABASHE:  Now, you may start relating your story and tell us what the situation was at Esikhaweni before all this happened.

WITNESS:   There was some violence and people were being killed and shot.  There were people who were already being killed, but it was not so rife and the cars would be burnt, as well as neighbours' houses, but this terrified us and it scared us because we were a quiet community. That was in 1990.

MRS GCABASHE:  When you say there were shootings as well as burning of the houses, could you perhaps tell us as to who were killing other people and who were burning other people's cars?  Do you have any knowledge as to who the perpetrators were?

WITNESS:   For instance, my neighbour's place was Professor Ndlovu's house.  They were quite close to us and that was the first experience we had of this type of violence.  Professor Ndlovu was my neighbour and the following day I went to Professor Ndlovu's place.  My husband was overseas.

MRS GCABASHE:  Now, according to rumours or your suspicions, what led to this violence or what led to the attack on the part of the Professor?

WITNESS:   I wouldn't know what happened, because even the reports that appeared in newspapers were different and we could not actually pinpoint as to what the actual problem was and I wouldn't vouch and say I know what they were fighting for, but I knew him to be a member of the ANC and he was a staunch member.  He was also a prominent member of the UDF.

MRS GCABASHE:  Was there any violence at that time?

WITNESS:   Yes, there was, but it was not very rife - as rife as it grew to be later on.  As well as Mr Mlambo's story, who was killed in a very brutal - Mr Mdletshe, who was killed very brutally.  Mr Mdletshe was attacked by a certain group of people.  He was staying at the rural areas, and these were the most prominent people that we heard were killed at the time.

MRS GCABASHE:  Now, tell us about your own story as to what happened.  When was it, because, according to your statement the date is not mentioned?

WITNESS:   It was on the 2nd August 1990.  It was at about eight, when my husband was shot.  He arrived home at about half past seven, when he was coming from his main surgery and he told me that there were certain patients who were waiting for him at the consulting room at home and he told these patients that he was still hungry.  He asked them to wait for him.  He would see them at 8 o'clock.  At about a quarter to eight, it was at the time there was news of the Gulf War and we wanted to listen to the news.  I went into the shower to take a shower.  Whilst I was inside the shower I heard him passing at the passage and he said to me he was coming and he ran to the door.  After he had opened the door, when I think I heard a very loud and unusual noise.  This noise came three times and when I was in the shower there was quite a lot of noise from the water and I thought probably it was the geyser because we had just repaired our old geyser, but I was very scared and I came out of the shower running and I left the shower open.  I thought the shower would - the water would burn me.  And I went towards him to ask him what was happening.

MRS GCABASHE:  Just take your time, Mrs Luthuli.  We know this is a very painful moment of having to relive the ordeal that took place on that day.  Take your time and relax.  We shall wait for you.

WITNESS:   When I got there he was curved (?) and the computer was on.  Because I was wet and I was naked I thought probably he had been electrocuted by the computer whilst he was trying to connect the wires and I was scared to touch him because my whole body was wet and I tried to dry myself quickly.   And Nolundi came and saw the cartridges and she said, "My Dad had been shot", and when I tried to do mouth to mouth resuscitation, when I pressed his chest, trying to make him breathe, the blood spurted out of the wounds and he gasped in my hands and he died right in my arms.  That was how it happened.

MRS GCABASHE:  Let me just ask you a question.  You said you thought he was electrocuted by the computer.  Was he inside the house and was he at the surgery or inside the house - the main house?  Where was it?

WITNESS:   His consulting room is in the main house.  We converted the house into - another wing of the house was converted into the consulting room.  He didn't go outside the house, but he had gone into the consulting room, which was within the main house itself.

MRS GCABASHE:  Did you see anyone running away from the scene or anyone looking suspicious?

WITNESS:   When we went out, trying to look, there was absolutely no one.  I could not even see a car nor a person who was running away from the scene.

MRS GCABASHE:  What did you do then?

WITNESS:   Then I phoned the police and the phone was never answered.  When I realised that the phone wasn't answered I phoned my neighbour's place - that is Mr Mkhize - and Mr Mkhize went to fetch the police personally from the police station and brought them with.

MRS GCABASHE:  And what happened thereafter?

WITNESS:   When the police arrived, they took my husband and I told them that he had no pulse and he had died.  He was taken to the mortuary, that is to the Government mortuary.

MRS GCABASHE:  Did they ever take a statement from you?

WITNESS:   No, they never took a statement from me.  They took it from Nolundi.  They never took my statement.

MRS GCABASHE:  Where were the police coming from?

WITNESS:   Esikhaweni Police Station.

MRS GCABASHE:  Was it SAP or ZP?

WITNESS:   It was ZP Police.

MRS GCABASHE:  Was there any inquest held with regard to your husband's death?

WITNESS:   It only started this year and it's still continuing.  The hearings are going to be held in December.  It has just started now in 1996.

MRS GCABASHE:  What about the cartridges?  What did you do with them?

WITNESS:   They were taken by the police.

MRS GCABASHE:  According to your own opinion, why is it that a case or a murder that took place in 1990 is being investigated now in 1996?

WITNESS:   I thought there wasn't a proper investigation.  The police were dragging their feet.  At times they would come and tell me it's very difficult.  They have problems.  They can't go on, but they wouldn't really tell me as to why what sort of problems they had and I wrote a letter to the State President.  It was State President De Klerk, the former State President.  I wrote a letter to him, asking as to where my husband was.  He said he was going to send a Commissioner of Police to come and investigate the matter personally.  I think it was Mr Kriel who was in charge.

MRS GCABASHE:  Was there a commission that was held?