Human Rights Violation Hearings — Port Elizabeth — 1996-06-27

MRS TSHANGA: No, I don't remember because I was very nervous at that time, I was very worried.  But what happened before my husband was buried, we had frequent visits from the police and they were telling us that they didn't want more than 200 at the funeral.
 Just before the funeral, during the vigils they didn't want political vigils, they just wanted the ordinary prayers and even at his funeral at the cemetery there were hippo's and rovers and he was buried and after his burials, after three days, police came they wanted the death certificate and without thinking I just gave it to them.

PANEL MEMBER: Did you ever get that certificate back?

MRS TSHANGA: Yes, they did return it, they did and then I was called at eight after that, at the police station at eight.  And at the police station the doctor ...

INTERPRETER: The interpreter can't hear properly.

MRS TSHANGA: I don't know if you said that at the post-mortem, because the person that told me that was a Detective from A and in the statement his name is, Johnny Macqwevani, he was a Detective then, he said the Doctor found that there was some alcohol content in his blood and then I said I don't know about that because my husband doesn't drink any more, he uses some tablets because of his health condition.

PANEL MEMBER: If we were to ask you how many children?

MRS TSHANGA: Four children, we had four children at the time.

PANEL MEMBER: Where are these kids?

MRS TSHANGA: The two older ones are not working because I
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pay for the younger one, for whom I pay R120-00 from my old pension.

PANEL MEMBER: What would you like the Commission to do if you were to make a request to the Commission?

MRS TSHANGA: I would like the Commission to find out about how my husband died because I never got a clear explanation about his death.  Even at court I wasn't called.  My brother-in-law was called and he was told that my husband had killed himself and he was shown the photo.
 I would like the Commission also to assist me with the education of the children because I struggle, I depend solely on my old age pension.

PANEL MEMBER: Any other thing you would like to say to the Commission?

MRS TSHANGA: I would like my sister to say something as well, my sister-in-law to say something as well, to add.

PANEL MEMBER: Give us your names, your full names please.

MRS R TSHANGA: I greet you to the Commission, the Truth Commission.  It is a long, long story.

PANEL MEMBER: Can I get your names first?

MRS R TSHANGA: My name is Rosie (indistinct) Tshanga.  I am married to the Tswanjane clan at Gamtoos area.  My maiden home is at Walmer.

PANEL MEMBER: Go on.

MRS T TSHANGA: There is so many things to say because there are so many things that were happening.  Some of the things we don't remember because of the manner in which we were being harassed at Walmer in 1985.  We were being harassed by the police with ...   The police would come out and the children would run to the bushes.
 When they got to the bushes, the AZAPO members would be
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there and they would assist the police.  The people whom we called amaTshaka, they always carried sjamboks in their hands and they would get in from door to door and from house to house attacking people.
 This went on for quite a long time and we couldn't do anything about it.  In 1985 my brother, there were 43 children who were coming from Walmer.  There were few of them who were left behind and they were all UDF members.
 A police van came in during the night and they were with the AZAPO members.  They went to my house.

PANEL MEMBER: Please take your time Mama, because we want to listen properly and attentively to your story.

MRS R TSHANGA: They started to harass me and went to the extent of asking me time and again where my brother's were, I kept on saying I did not know where they were.  They left me. Even not far from my birth place I could hear cries from some of the houses.

PANEL MEMBER: You can take your time Mama, we will just take a pause.