Human Rights Violation Hearings — Empangeni — 1996-11-04

WITNESS:   Tedius was at school, at Mlamfe School.  He was belonging to an organization which other people didn't approve of and they told him he wasn't allowed to be at Mlamfe because he was belonging to this organization.  Sometimes he would stay home and not go to school and some days they would come at home to fetch him.  My father one day went to school to find out as to what was going.  The headmaster told my father that this is the life that they are living at school and he was fearing for his life.  In 1990 my brother left school.  He stayed at home from 1990 to 1991 and people used to come to attack at home.  Even though I don't remember that date, but one day they came to my house during the day to attack us and it wasn't just our home which was attacked, other homes as well.  We ran away and then we came back.  We stayed like that for a long time.  We didn't predict what was going to happen.  On the 5th January 1992 the attackers came and threw petrol bombs.  I was staying with my boyfriend at the time.  We had built a back room.  I heard the noise coming from the main house and I opened the door and I realised that my father's house was on fire.  I went to the tap and that's when I got shot and I kept on trying to put down the fire and the people who were inside the house - my father and my siblings - they didn't know that I was outside.  They came out and they asked me if I wasn't hurt.  I told them that I was but it wasn't so bad.  My neighbours made a call to the police and police arrived.  They took me to the clinic.  There was an old man who was from Durban, who came to visit.  And my father's furniture got damaged.  Everything in his bedroom was damaged.  They tried to remove the furniture from the house and we tried to extinguish the fire.  Before end of January we heard that people were going to come and attack J2 section and one old lady came and asked for my father and she told me that my father should wake up, because it's really dangerous outside, and I woke my father up.  I told him that this lady is telling me that we are in danger and I told my father that I was running away.  My father said it's okay, he wasn't going to run away, and then I ran away.  It was at about 7pm.  At that time, because we were hearing guns all over the place, we were scared and I heard that people came and asked where was my father's house and they also asked where was Fundi's home.  Fundi is my kid brother.  And when these things happened I had taken Fundi away.  I told my father that he must leave that area and go to Esikhaweni and we took him to Ulundi.  After two weeks he was at Ulundi.  That's when my father got killed.  What I didn't see is that how they shot him, because it was at about seven and there were a lot of people and I couldn't see a single person or identify anyone, because I also ran away and my father also tried to run to a neighbour's house.  That's where we found his body the next morning.

CHAIRPERSON:  And how did he die?  Was he shot or was he stabbed?

WITNESS:   He was shot.  I found out that he was shot when I went to Avbob Mortuary.  That's when I found out that he was shot.

CHAIRPERSON:  And what do you know about the identity of the people who shot him?  Who were they?  Which organization did they belong to?  Why did they shoot him?  Do you have any idea?

WITNESS:   We were Inkatha members.  Those who shot my father were ANC members.  My father was old and he wasn't working.  What he was doing, he was making spears for Inkatha members.  So ANC people got mad that he was making these spears, but he wasn't doing this for just Inkatha, he was doing it for anyone who wanted to buy a spear, and some of the ANC members were still owing him his money and they claimed that they were destroying his spear firm and we only heard that - we only found out that they were destroying the company after they had killed him and this was true, because after he died that company finished.  I was scared of leaving my father's house, because I was scared of ANC people, so I ended up staying at home and not working and I just couldn't go back and ask the firm that they can take me now, now that the violence is over.  What I'm doing now, I'm making clothes or I'm sewing ... (inaudible) ... and I'm selling them.  We don't have money to take our kids to school.

CHAIRPERSON:  Did you say your husband was making these spears at his house or was he working for a firm that was making these spears - your father, sorry?

WITNESS:   My father was making the spears, not my husband.

CHAIRPERSON:  Yes, sorry, not your husband.  I apologise.  Your father.  Was it at home that he was doing that or was he doing it at a ... (intervention)

WITNESS:   Yes, at home.

CHAIRPERSON:  And was he selling these to anybody who wished to buy them, not only to one side?

WITNESS:   Yes, he was selling these to anyone who wanted to buy a spear.

CHAIRPERSON:  And what happened after that?  Was anybody arrested?  Do you remember there being any case in a court of any sort?

WITNESS:   No one was arrested and there was no case. No one was arrested.  The police only came to my husband or my boyfriend and my husband kept on telling the police that he couldn't identify the people because it was at night and he was scared and when he asked them who they were they didn't give their identity.  He couldn't see who they were.

CHAIRPERSON:  And at that stage was your father supporting your younger brothers and sisters?  Were they still schooling?  Were they working?

WITNESS:   Yes.

CHAIRPERSON:  They were schooling?  Was your father supporting them - your brothers and sisters?

WITNESS:   Two of them were still at school.  The one after me was at home.

CHAIRPERSON:  Now, you mentioned in your statement that someone told you that your father should leave the house, because he was going to be attacked.  That person was Mangazi.  You mentioned that in your statement - a security guard.  Who was that person?

WITNESS:   It was on Saturday.  Mr Mangazi came and he said to my father, "I am told that I should tell you by Monday you shouldn't be at Esikhaweni", and my father asked him, "Who said so?", and he said, "Mr Khumalo sent me to tell you that", and my father said, "I'm not an enemy of anyone and no one will come and kill me", and truly these people who came to kill my father came from Khumalo's house.

CHAIRPERSON:  And who was Khumalo?

WITNESS:   He's been called by Mumzabalazo Khumalo.  That's how they call him, Mumzabalazo Khumalo.

CHAIRPERSON:  And then you said the following day Elizabeth Mkhwanazi came to your house and said that you should all run away because you were going to be attacked by hostel dwellers?

WITNESS:   It was on Sunday and Mrs Mkhwanazi came to my house to check if we were there and she asked for my father.  I told her that my father is asleep and Mrs Mkhwanazi said I must tell my father to wake up because it's bad outside, attackers are coming.  After Mrs Mkhwanazi left we heard gunshots and that's when I ran out and I discovered my father's body the next morning.

CHAIRPERSON:  And did you give the information to the police about Khumalo and Mangazi?

WITNESS:   Yes, I did.

CHAIRPERSON:  Which police was that?  Which station?

WITNESS:   Esikhaweni Police Station.  It was Mr Khumalo and Mr Gumede.

CHAIRPERSON: I will just see if there are any questions from the other panel members.

KHOZA MGOJO: In your statement you mentioned about your father running from his house to the neighbour's house.  We want to know this neighbour's name and that's where he was attacked.

WITNESS:   I don't know his name, but the surname is Mahlase.

KHOZA MGOJO:  Mahlase?

WITNESS:   Mahlase Sibisi.

KHOZA MGOJO:  Is he still alive?

WITNESS:   Yes, he is.

KHOZA MGOJO:  Where is he staying?