Human Rights Violation Hearings — Port Elizabeth — 1996-06-26

MRS MTIMKHULU: Yes.  Yes Commissioner, he was still in a wheelchair.  We could see that his condition was improving.  The fallen hair was growing out, but he was still having a lot of loss of appetite.  He was very selective to what he
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was eating.
 I'd like to go back a little bit, there is a very important issue that I forgot to talk about.  Whilst he was detained, before he was released, he had some food which was well prepared, which was prepared by the master.  It was brought by the master which was prepared by a madam.
 He is the one who says that whilst he was detained there, somebody brought this food.  He made this enquiries and wanted to find out why do you bring food for me?  I cannot remember who was the person who brought the food.  Maybe in these documents you can find his name.
 He said this gentleman said my wife has just offered you this dish.  He ate the food because it was well prepared, it was appetizing.
 Before he was released from detention, he was allowed to stand for 24 hours.  He was standing day and night and he was not allowed to sit down.  He stated that they used to throw him with very cold ice water because they could realise that he was not in his senses.
 He would stand on a brick, I do not understand what he meant about that.  I was never been arrested, but he used to give me a picture of what was happening to him.  He stated that that was the most painful experience that he had ever experienced.
 He stated that he felt that he was deteriorating after the fact that he was allowed for 24 hours.  When he wanted to go to the toilet, they would pick him up and take him to the toilet and also bring him back, because he was unable to walk.
 I forgot to mention that because I think that was one of the important points that I could mention.  I'd like to 
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continue now and state that as he was recovering, we could see that he was also beginning to be resuming or regaining everything that he had lost.
 I think it was on the 31st of March when he had to go for a check up in Cape Town.  He missed the date and said he would go the other day.  He did go, it was the 14th of April in 1982, he went to Livingstone Hospital.  It was very early in the morning. 
 And he was accompanied by Topsy Madaka.  He was the person who used to visit him frequently.  He used to take him with his car and transport him to and fro the hospital.
 On this day he did the same so that he can be accommodated and admitted there before he can be transferred to Cape Town.  I would like to mention that Commissioner, they went to Livingstone as arranged.
 It is said he did reach his destination.  He met Dr Brown and nobody knows what happened thereafter.  But somebody said there was a folder that he was supposed to have gone to fetch in the hospital.  But I couldn't understand this because he was unable to walk.
 Because he had left the wheelchair at home because he was using a walking stick with the support of his colleague.
 It is said he went to fetch the folder, I do not know whether he got the folder or not.  The only thing that I know is that in the afternoon Moli Bloban phoned.  He even came personally to find out if Siphiwo had arrived, because he said Siphiwo had tried to contact him telephonically but he didn't find him.

MR NTSEBEZA: Why did Siphiwo phone him?

MRS MTIMKHULU: He said - Moli reports that Siphiwo was requesting Moli to transport him home because Topsy had
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disappeared.  He phoned again to find out if Topsy was there, but he found that there was nobody.
 The story goes that Siphiwo at last, because we didn't receive any telephone call from him, it is reported that he was taken by somebody from Livingstone Hospital because I do not know this person, because he didn't bring the child to 
me.
 This person took Siphiwo to wherever he knows, but that was the last time that I saw Siphiwo when he was going to the hospital.   On the same day, Commissioner, Topsy came back in the evening.
 It was about eight in the evening.  We were in the kitchen having supper.  He greeted us and I looked behind him thinking that Siphiwo would be coming along, but Topsy said to me, he was asking if Siphiwo has come back home.  I was surprised.  
 I informed him that it is very strange because you are the person who took Siphiwo to the hospital, why do you come and ask him from me.
 As I say this, I didn't bother much.  I was not panicking because I thought he might have gone to some of his friends.  But I was surprised why did he leave him and then he would come in the evening and ask me.
 I informed him, I gave him Siphiwo's tracksuit because it was a bit cold in the evening.  Topsy took this tracksuit top and left.  We slept, Topsy and Siphiwo never came back.
 The following day Moli contacted us telephonically.  We informed her that Siphiwo is not yet back.  Moli promised to assist us so that we can find out if we cannot find him.  He was asking did I hear anybody who has collected him, I said no.
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 Nobody fetched him from hospital as far as I know.  I think it was the third day when we searched again.  Moli promised to make the search again and he promised to go personally to the places or the comrades with whom he used to communicate.
 I believed (tape ends) ... by days passed, weeks passed
and we felt that this is now a problem.  We tried to find out, we communicated with all our relatives in the Transkei, in East London, all over the places where we had relatives but nobody ever said they had seen Siphiwo. 
 Briefly we took further steps and we went to Lesotho.  We didn't suspect that Siphiwo could go to Lesotho especially in his condition.  But we had a clue that he might have gone to Lesotho, we got this through the newspapers because the newspapers publicised that they have seen Topsy's car and that is why we tried to trace this clue.
 I went together with my husband.  We made enquiries to the boarders, people helped us to search.  We went to the churches, we went everywhere.  We wanted to find out probably some people might have taken him to nurse him.  We searched for three days, but to no avail.
 When we came back, one of the special branch officers came to my place.  We didn't report to the police that Siphiwo has disappeared, the reason being that we didn't trust them.  Although the lawyer, Fisher tried to locate him from the cells, that is why we didn't go to the police, because we suspected that they might be also responsible for his disappearance.
 And we feared that we might be exposing that we are looking for him.
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MR NTSEBEZA: In other words the police could not be trusted at the time as they were supposed to be protecting the community?