Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-05-10

MRS GCABASHE: 17B/11      "every day since 9 May 1987.  My soul is not at peace as I am still unaware to date of the full circumstances surrounding my husband's murder and why he was murdered.  I trust and pray that the Commission will unveil this tragic episode of my life in full for the sake of my family and the community, of whom Zazi Khuzwayo was a strong pillar.  On the 14th June 1986, during the height of political violence and the state of emergency my husband and I were woken up at about 3am by outrageous knocks and kicks on our house doors and windows.  I woke up and opened the door to a heavily-armed contingent of SAP and SADF members, one of whom pointed a gun at me, asking me where Zazi was and demanding to be taken to him.  I led them to the bedroom, where they woke him up at gunpoint.  The rest of them frantically raided and searched every patch of space in the house.  During the search one officer said to me, 'You must move fast, you fat bitch'.  I was engulfed by fear and felt tramped on.  My anger at this cruel treatment has not subsided.  On the following morning at about 11am, while going about our usual business, a heavily-armed contingent of SAP and SADF officers ... (inaudible) ... our complex.  Others were on the roof and in all the passages.  My husband paged me to come to his office and I found him besieged at gunpoint.  He was whisked away into a police

MRS GCABASHE: /"van and I

MRS GCABASHE: 17B/13      "van and I could not see him or know what had happened to him for three full days.  There is not a word to describe the torment of living for three full days without knowing where my husband was or whether he had died or what was happening to him, or at least whether he had had a meal that day.  I could not sleep.  My life came to a sudden standstill.  I felt utterly helpless against the system.  On the fourth day, however, our family lawyers informed us that my husband had been detained under the state of emergency regulations.  He was to stay in prison for three full months.  During this period his shop in Oqaqeni was reduced to ashes and a considerable portion of his 250 head of cattle mowed down by unknown people, armed with automatic assault rifles.  Upon his return from prison, his bedroom was petrol-bombed and the truck on the yard was set alight.  On another incident, shots were fired into the building.  It appears the focus was on Zazi's bedroom.  The attackers seemed to be well-informed of the house plan.  At this stage my husband expressed that he was being hunted down.  He said he knew that they would eventually close in on him.  He said he was ready for it any minute and that he would not budge to pressure to turn him into a fearful refugee in his own house and community.  On the 9th May 1987 two armed men walked into his office.  Two remained outside

MRS GCABASHE: /and two

MRS GCABASHE: 17B/15      "and two simultaneously fired a flood of shots into my husband.  As a result, he could not be seen during his funeral and a photograph was placed on his coffin instead.  During the time of the attack he was preparing wages for his workforce of about 50 at the time.  The attackers did not take any money.  I was on the first floor of the building during the shooting and I was called to the scene, where I found my husband in a pool of blood.  I fainted and lost consciousness and do not remember what happened thereafter.  My understanding is that the local police were called, but did not arrive for two hours, after which the C R Swart Police had arrived.  The police, on arrival, opened my husband's briefcase and safe, going through several documents and items.  I believe certain documents were seized and I call upon the Commission to ask the police to testify here.  My husband was buried on the 16th May, amidst an unusually heavy contingent of police and army officers, including a helicopter at the graveside, which rendered the service barely audible.  Many people, relatives and friends, who had come from far, were harassed and barred from attending the service by the police.  Prior to my husband's murder, two females had arrived to inform him that a certain KwaZulu MP had been spreading word and vowing that Zazi will not see the 10th, 11th

MRS GCABASHE: /and 12th May

MRS GCABASHE: 17B/17      "and 12th May of the same month.  On the 11th, or thereabouts, my husband was to attend a Supreme Court matter, in which he was a respondent.  The said MP was the applicant in the matter, and it centred around that my husband had proclaimed publicly that the Member of Parliament was running a hit squad group called the, "A Team", a notorious and heavily-armed group that terrorised and murdered the community, particularly youth activists.  As a member of the Clermont Advisory Board, my husband was at the forefront of a campaign to prevent Clermont from being put under KwaZulu Government.  My husband became unpopular with the KwaZulu Government and particularly the said Member of Parliament, as a result of his views and his support for the UDF.  In 1990 it emerged that a KwaZulu Member of Parliament had been responsible for the murder of my husband and other prominent Clermont leaders.  He was formally charged in the Supreme Court in Pietermaritzburg with a 22-year old accomplice, Msizi Hlophe.  I was a State witness during the trial and, as a result, I received numerous death threats.  I had to move from Clermont and could not effectively run the businesses my husband had owned.  I even had to disguise myself from time to time.  The situation was grave and the prospect of death did not seem remote.  The situation,

MRS GCABASHE: /"however, is

MRS GCABASHE: 17B/18      "however, is not better today, as this Member of Parliament was granted amnesty and released.  I still live in fear and the threats have not ceased.  I'm convinced that, as a result of my testimony in the Truth Commission the threat to me and my family is even greater and accordingly urge the Commission to do all it can to ensure our safety during this time.  In the current Makutha trial in the Durban Supreme Court a certain witness has uncovered details of how he and others executed my husband's murder.  He alleges that an undertaker's vehicle was used.  I urge the Commission to further uncover the whole truth about my husband's murder.  The loss of my husband, mentor and friend is beyond conception.  I shall not rest until I know the truth and what to say to my daughter, who was present during my husband's murder.  She was 5 years old at the time and to date she still asks me what happened to her father and why he was murdered."

MRS GCABASHE: I thank you, Hopewell, for relating this to us, but for us to get further clarification, there are a few questions that we are going to ask.  We are going to point these questions towards your mother, but since you are also under oath, you are also free to answer these questions where you feel it's relevant.  My first question that I would really like to ask, which you could start from is when you said they came - some time in June they came to raid.  If you could tell us, did they have a

MRS GCABASHE: /search warrant

MRS GCABASHE: 17B/21 search warrant and did they find anything when they were raiding?