Human Rights Violation Hearings — Sebokeng — 1996-08-07

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: The authorities at the offices didn't take any initiative to consult us.  We were actually following them.  They continually gave us dates to go and consult with them.  And they said to us they will need an amount of R6 000 to transport the corpse to South Africa.  That is true.  We tried to gather the money.  Once more we went to the offices requesting just one thing our son to be brought back home.  We told them that we have been looking all over for him.  Today you tell us that he is dead.  We have been here many times but you kept on telling us that you do not know him.  We do not believe that he is dead.  Now please we want to be sure.
 Now Mr Tulo explained that - he even left us his telephone numbers so that he can be contacted.  He said he was really scared to tell us that he had been sent by the office because the office would maybe harass him, or the 
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family would request the office to carry the expenses. We now had R6 000 in our hand and we went to the offices. I remember the final date was the 18th of March 1994 and they said to us it is impossible to bring the corpse back home because the child was buried on the 11th.  In the previous requests we told them that we want our corpse so that we can bury it ourselves.  The second point that we requested from them was can we send two of the family members so that they can go to Dar es Salaam and witness the burial.  But still they said no it's impossible. 
 That puzzled us as a family, we didn't know what to do, until on the final date when another gentleman came and they said he was from Dar es Salaam, his name was William Nkonyane.  They said they will ask him to come over to explain to us exactly what happened.  According to the Sotho tradition I do not believe that my son is dead because I never saw his body, and I don't believe it because every day they brought different statements.  They never told us one story right through.  Every time they would tell us different stories.
 I have a request to make to the Commission, can I please be helped with the remains of my child so that they can be buried in South Africa?  I still do not believe, even if I am making this request, I do not believe that we will be bringing back my child.   He didn't leave alone.  He left with his friend, I know him as Juwel and I had hoped that when they come back you know one of them would come to me and tell me what actually took place, but up to this day nothing.  I only got an album from Juwel.  I was expecting maybe to get his clothes so that I can believe or just his one photo taken where he was in Dar es Salaam so that I
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could believe that it's true my son had been to Dar es Salaam.  The album that I got was ordinary photos that he took while he was here in South Africa and Juwel didn't bring those photos to me personally he sent them via another person because they didn't want to meet the family.

PROF MEIRING: Mrs Matseletsele thank you ever so much for telling your story.  Is there anything else you want to add before I ask some of the Commissioners whether they want to ask another question to you?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: I think I have mentioned the most important part of the story.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you very much.  Dr Randera has a question or two.

DR RANDERA: Mrs Matseletsele I just want to please go back to 1991 when your son disappeared, how old was he when he disappeared?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: He was 18 years.

DR RANDERA: And do you have any other children?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: Yes, I have three children, his sister and he was the middle and then there is another girl Sophie who is at school.

DR RANDERA: Now you mentioned this young friend of Papiki, Juwel, did he leave at the same time as Papiki?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: According to the information that I got they left together.  It's one of the things that I forgot to tell you.  Together with my mum we used to go to Juwel's mother, that's where our hope lay because we thought she would tell us any information with regard to the children, but she told us that she hadn't received anything.   And we have been asking the PAC people of the possibility, especially during those years in 1994 even if we were stupid HRV/799 enough/...
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enough but we knew that the organisations had been unbanned and we requested her whether there was a possibility of him writing to us because his uncle had information and he helped a lot of people.  He was working at the Red Cross at that time. Not the South African Red Cross, it was the Red Cross in other countries. But the answer that we got from Juwel's mother was that no I haven't heard anything from my son.  I haven't received even a letter.  I remember last year but Juwel's grandmother's name has skipped my mind but as we were just conversing, you know just talking generally I was deeply hurt by this issue and she said she was Juwel's grandmother and Juwel's letter used to be posted to her house and I told her that I haven't received anything from my son since the last day I saw him that was in March 1991.  I miss my son a lot. I still miss him.  I still am not satisfied.

DR RANDERA: Mrs Matseletsele just one last question.  Did I hear you say that Juwel is back inside the country and is he living in the Vaal now, or is he still outside the country?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: They came back Sir, they came back.

DR RANDERA: Is he living in the Vaal?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: Yes he is staying in Zone 11.

DR RANDERA: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Seroke and then Dr Boraine.

MS SEROKE: I your statement you say you put together the money to the value of R6 000, did you give it to the PAC people or what happened?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: This money, they said to us for the corpse to be transported they will need the money to the value of R6 000.  Now because we so dearly wanted to bury
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our son if it was true that he was dead we deemed it fit to collect the R6 000.  But on the final day they said no there was nothing they could do further because the body had already been buried on the 11th. And when we look at their medical report the date that is referred to as the date of the burial is the date on which the medical report was written.

MS SEROKE: In other words they gave you the medical report and the death certificate?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: I don't know whether was it a death certificate or a medical report.

MS SEROKE: You said in your explanation they said Papiki was killed in a car accident, now what did the medical report say?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: The medical report was giving the same story that he died in a car accident.  Now we do not agree with their report because of the different statements that they put forward to us.  We asked them with whom was he at the time of his death?  Or just tell us the names of the people who were injured.  They said no, he died with one person who stayed in Dar es Salaam.

MS SEROKE: In other words you are suspicious, you are still not satisfied?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: Yes I am not satisfied at all.  Why if he belonged to the PAC, why couldn't they just confirm that they knew him and he appeared in their papers?  Even their statements had different hidden stories.

MS SEROKE: You are deeply hurt for the fact that Juwel and them didn't tell you the truth.  You said earlier on you used to meet Juwel's mother, now after his return what kind of a relationship do you have with Juwel's mother so that
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she be the one to assist you about the information in Dar es Salaam?

MAMOTAKE VALENTINA MATSELETSELE: I have never been to his mother.

MS SEROKE: Don't you see it important to go and meet her because Juwel is not coming to you?