Human Rights Violation Hearings — Queenstown — 1996-07-24

MN NUKANI: I felt very bad because we were instructed not to talk, but just to accept whatever we were instructed to do.
 Then on the day of the funeral, we brought the body home.  I had to wash the body and I saw that here in front of the chest, there was a bullet wound and the bullet had pierced through the body to the back.
 Then the football players asked for permission to go to the funeral and attend the funeral.  So it was only the family who had to bury.

MR SANDI: Before you buried him, did you ever go to any attorney?

MN NUKANI: Yes, we did go to Mr Klaas of Queenstown and he was not there on the day when we had to go to court.

MR SANDI: We shall come back to that.  Let us now go back to the day of the funeral.

MN NUKANI: There were hippo's around, they were blocking the way.  There were also some sedan cars next to the cemetery, all these policemen were heavily, they had firearms.
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MR SANDI: ; Are there any other incidents on the day of the funeral?

MN NUKANI: No, except there were these policemen who were armed, who were moving up and down.  So I buried.

MR SANDI: How did you feel at home when you had to bury your son who had been killed by the police and you had been surrounded by policemen?

MN NUKANI: We felt bad, but the policemen told us we were the source of all that was happening.

MR SANDI: By the way what happened with this case and the attorney?

MN NUKANI: We went to the lawyer, then we were given a date for going to court, but our lawyer did not turn up on the day of the case and then they forced matters, despite that we told them that our lawyer was not present.

MR SANDI: Who told you that you were going to court on that day?

MN NUKANI: We were told and the lawyer was supposed to be there in court.  That's why we went there.

MR SANDI: Adv Wessels is mentioned here in this statement.  Do you know that one?

MN NUKANI: Yes, we know him because he had been engaged by Klaas.

MR SANDI: What did he say to you about this case?

MN NUKANI: Who?

MR SANDI: Advocate Wessels, did he say anything to you about the case?

MN NUKANI: We went in person to all those places.  From Sterkstroom we went to Stutterheim and then we went to the Supreme Court in East London and we were there and there was a court case for the whole week in East London.
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MR SANDI: What was the outcome or the verdict of the case?  Who was found guilty?

MN NUKANI: It was in Port Elizabeth that we - this case was concluded on a particular day.  And then the verdict was that the policemen of Sterkspruit were liars.

MR SANDI: Did they find Thembisile Dyantyi guilty?

MN NUKANI: No, they just said policemen were liars, that's all they said.

MR SANDI: Is that all you have to say in connection with this matter?

MN NUKANI: Yes.  Unless I've left out some information and my wife can perhaps help if there is any information I have left out.

MN NUKANI: Nkosana Nukani was a member of the UDF.  At home we had great loss caused by the policemen.  Only female children were left behind.  The policemen tortured them and they covered her face and they held her roughly, pushing her and pulling her outside, forcing her to tell them where Matana was and they were threatening that she should not cry.

MR SANDI: Is that the wife to Nkosana?

MN NUKANI: No, it is the wife to the eldest brother of Nkosana who once was detained for 28 days, but that wife died two years ago and he has left behind three children.

MR SANDI: That niece of Nkosana who was also arrested whilst the policemen were demanding Nkosana, do you have anything to say about her?

MN NUKANI: No, that was Nkosana's girlfriend who was taken and arrested and she was taken to the old jail.  They tied her feet together to - they administered some electric shock inside her vagina and the person who was responsible
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for that, was Lennox Thembisile Dyantyi, that is on record.

MR SANDI: Has Nkosana left behind a 16 year old child?

MN NUKANI: Yes.  She is in standard 6 at Siaqapana and she is a girl.

MR SANDI: Who is staying with this child?

MN NUKANI: She is with her grandmother, but she visits us too.

MR SANDI: If we could move on and conclude.  Do you mean that - what is actually your request to this Commission?

MN NUKANI: Our request is that we were not happy with the manner we had to bury our son, Matana.  We were not happy with the way the case was handled, because Dyantyi did admit at home in the absence of a lawyer that he had shot Matana, but he did not admit that he had shot him on the chest.

MR SANDI: Is that all you have to say to us before I hand you over to the Chairperson?

MN NUKANI: When they were taking down the statement, there are some other people who later came and they said they had been sent by this Commission and I got confused when a certain girl from the Commission came later, I told them that no, some people had come earlier on to take a statement.
 So that statement was written down by the Mayor of Sterkstroom.  Now we don't understand what the Mayor is going to do with this statement and when we there to demand for the statement, the Mayor said they had burnt it.
 Now we feel he is working in collaboration with the policemen.

MR SANDI: I'm not sure Mrs Nukani, whether I follow what you are saying.  Perhaps the Chairperson follows what you are
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saying.  Is that all you want to say to this Commission.  Thank you Mr Nukani.

BONGANI FINCA: Thank you, are there any questions?  Revd Xundu.

REV XUNDU: I would like to know what is the name of the Nkosana's girlfriend?

MN NUKANI: The name of that girlfriend is Nokomulekwa Mbala.

REV XUNDU: Is she still there as a resident of the place?

MN NUKANI: No, she went to Johannesburg.

REV XUNDU: The Mayor you mentioned, is it a newly elected Mayor?

MN NUKANI: Yes.

REV XUNDU: Is he a member of this organisation?

MN NUKANI: He is a member of the ANC.

REV XUNDU: Do you feel perhaps he works with the policemen?

MN NUKANI: Yes, because I feel why did he say he had been instructed by the  TRC?  Where did he take the statement to and when we go back to demand for the statement, he wouldn't give it back to us?  That is what makes me suspicious.

BONGANI FINCA: Over to you Ms Tiny Maya.

MS MAYA: Mrs Nukani, do you know the name of the Mayor?

MN NUKANI: It was Snowabile, Snowabile Sobandle is the full name.

MS MAYA: Thank you.

BONGANI FINCA: Mama, Mrs Nukani and Mr Nukani, we thank you that you have given your evidence to this Commission which is very clear to us about the painful way in which Nkosana
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was murdered. 
 And even the way you were tortured as the Nukani family.  I don't know when this happened when people, females were tortured like that with electric shock, but if this happened these latest years when we are investigating about these atrocities, we would like that one of the staff members should talk to you and find out when did this actually happened, so that if there is need for us to investigate, we would do so.
 We thank you for your explanation which is very clear.
 We wish to tell you that we are going to make a follow up and we are also going to look into this matter of a statement that was taken from you in a suspicious way.
 Our investigators are going to make a follow up.  We thank you.