Amnesty Hearings — Richards Bay — 1998-04-14

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: On arrival at the Brickfield where Nathi used to reside in Durban, Andile Xele pointed out the place to us and we went in, myself.  If I still remember very well, Zweli Dhlamini was with me, Romeo as well.
	Romeo and Israel stayed behind in the car, that was at night.  I spoke to Indians who were owners of the place and I indicated to them that I was a Police and I produced my appointment certificate, and they gave me permission to proceed into his house.
	I found him in the house and he was in the company of someone.  I spoke to him, explaining to him that I am detaining him because I want to investigate him and his implication in a certain case, and he agreed.  He put on his clothes and we left.
	As he was just about to get into the car, he saw Romeo in the car.  On seeing Romeo in the car, he screamed and he started refusing to get into the car.  We realised that now that he is screaming, this might lead to our arrest and we pushed him forcefully into the car.
	Andile took the steering wheel and we drove off, and we brought him back to eSikhawini.  We were trying along the way to plead with him to tell us the truth as to people who were involved in planning everything and why they did it.
	He kept on refusing and denying everything, saying he knows nothing and when we were near Mandeni, he started owning up, indicating that there was nothing he could do himself as well, because he would be killed if he refused to be part of the plot.
	We proceeded and we had not indicated to him that he might die.  We just told him that we are going to investigate him because we want to arrest everybody who is implicated in the plot against Romeo.
	Then we drove on to eSikhawini.  Here at eSikhawini we took the road that headed for Port Dunfort.  The one that proceeds straight to the sea.  There are bushes around that area.
	On arrival at the bush, we took him out of the car and Nathi realised that there was no substance to the detaining story and he started fighting back.  He beat us and we beat him back.  He was fighting such that if he had found a chance to slip, he would flee and that would be attempted murder.
	We outnumbered him, it was myself, Zweli, Israel Hlongwane and Romeo and Andile Xele.  We tried to surround him until we got a full grip of him and we were at this Port Dunfort bush towards the sea.
	As we were struggling, we all fell down.  Israel drew a .38 pistol and on attempting to shoot him, the pistol jammed.  Nathi prayed at the time and the second attempt at shooting him, resulted in nothing happening.
	Nathi also continued praying, calling upon his ancestors.  We quickly fixed the pistol, Nathi still under our firm grip, myself and Romeo.
	We managed to get the pistol fixed, we were forced to use that pistol because it doesn't leave a cartridge behind, which cartridge would be used to trace us.  The gun, the pistol finally worked and Israel shot him whilst we were still holding him.  Two shots were fired.
	We then left.  On getting into the car, we thought that the ANC has a tendency to burning IFP members on killing them, that was a common practice, because it was a common ANC practice to burn these people on killing them.  The UDF would equally necklace people, this was not a common Inkatha practice, it was mainly the practice within the ANC, to necklace people.
	We thought that so that we can mislead evidence and any track of information, let us do exactly as the ANC does.  Let us also burn this one so that the investigation can direct itself to the ANC and not the IFP, because it was the ANC that was popularly known at the time, to have a slogan to the effect that they will liberate the country with matches.
	If a person was found dead, this would have to be associated with the ANC, because they believed in liberating the country through the tyre and a match.  We did this trusting that we would mislead investigation and we wanted the ANC to feel exactly how it feels like to burn our people.
	We were at war with the ANC.  We did barbaric things because we were at war.  We wanted them to go through the same pain as we did.  We drained petrol from the car, we came back and we burnt him.  We left.  Because we had difficulty siphoning the petrol from the small petrol pump in the engine, we realised that it would not succeed because we didn't have enough petrol from the small petrol pump in the engine.
	That was for the first time that we burnt a person, and we never did it again.  We realised that because there were not enough fumes to really burn him, we just left.  I later learnt that there are certain things that one would have to do to ensure that a body burns completely, like throwing soil over the body.  This I had not known about and I did not even know or learn about it during my training at the Caprivi.
	We left him there and we left.  After some time, I was arrested for the same murder.  Romeo was the first to be arrested and after a month, or within a month, I too was arrested.  That was the first case that took us to jail, not the others.
	I suppose everybody knows the details of the case, and we were sentenced for that murder because we took Nathi from Brickfield and brought him here against his will.  We were charged for kidnapping and I was sentenced for five years for kidnapping, and for killing him, I was then sentenced to 25 years.
	But it was indicated that I would serve me term concurrently, that simply means the five years was included within the 25 years, and it would therefore become 25 years for killing Nathi.
	I am still serving the sentence at the Westville prison.

MR WILLS: Yes, Mr Mkhize, is it not so that your prosecution followed again from an investigation that was conducted by South African Police at that time, under the command and control of a Brigadier Eric du Preez and a Major Scholtz, and not as a result of investigations emanating from the kwaZulu Police?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Yes, that is correct.

MR WILLS: Why did you take Nathi back to eSikhawini before you killed him, why didn't you just kill him, if it was your intention to do so, closer to his home, closer to Durban?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: The reason was that if we killed him around Durban, if he should be found dead, the case would be investigated in Durban and therefore would be investigated by the SAP, which Police Force we did not have influence upon.
	We tried to bring him back to Durban and kill him within our jurisdiction, so that on finding him dead, the case would be investigated by the kwaZulu Police.

MR WILLS: Mr Mkhize, I am going to now refer you to the next incident, which commences at page 112 of the record, your paragraph 76 and that is the murder of Sergeant Dhlamini and other incidents of the 19th of June 1993.
	Is it not so that you are able to be specific about the dates in the matter, simply because of the fact that there has been a Supreme Court trial in this matter and the exact dates were established in evidence, and you are not in fact relying on your memory in regard to those dates, you are relying on the fact that the Supreme Court did establish that these incidents did occur on these dates?

BRIAN QUNA MKHIZE: Would you please repeat the question?

MR WILLS: Throughout your affidavit, you haven't been specific about the dates of the incidents that you have been involved in, you have said about 1992 and late or early in 1992, but for these incidents you have specifically mentioned the date, ie the 19th of June 1993.
	I am trying to explain and ask your confirmation that the reason for you knowing this exact date, is simply because this has been established through a Supreme Court trial?