Human Rights Violation Hearings — Alexandra — 1996-10-28

YASMINE SOOKA: Jessie, we would like to welcome you to the Commission.  We know that it has been quite a long day and that you have waited quite a long time before you have come before us.

JESSIE BUSISIWE MOQUAE: (s.s.)

YASMINE SOOKA: We will ask Mr Hugh Lewin on my right-hand side to lead you through your statement.

MR LEWIN: Thank you Madam Chair and thank you Jessie.  Before you tell us your story could you just explain to us, we have just had - was that your father?

JESSIE BUSISIWE MOQUAE: You mean who was ....

MR LEWIN: Mabisane.

JESSIE BUSISIWE MOQUAE: Yes.

MR LEWIN: So you were in that house that night when it was burnt?

JESSIE BUSISIWE MOQUAE: No, I wasn't in the house.

MR LEWIN: You have made a separate statement and you are going to be telling us about an incident which took place in June 1986.  If you would like to, in your own time and your own words please tell us that story. Thank you.  Take your time and feel relaxed.  Drink water if it is hot.

JESSIE BUSISIWE MOQUAE: I would like to ask if I have to start at the statement that I have given first.   The statement that I wrote about it of Jingles Manana.   It was on 1986, I have got a problem I don't remember when was it but it is written ALEXANDRA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
2 MOQUAE
in...

MR LEWIN: You wrote the 12th June 1986.

JESSIE BUSISIWE MOQUAE: Thank you.  Ja.   At that time and it was the time of the state of emergency, Jo Manana was arrested with other activists.  Mr Babele Constance Dlaweyo, Ernest Ndlovo and many others.  One night at that time, it was about eight o'clock, we heard about the death of Jingles.  There was this young man who had just closed his butcher and he asked the man that he went to see him outside.   After we got the message that a white Mazda passed the place three times and this boy who was standing with Jingles, at the same time people passed and they shot Jingles.  The next morning Manana's wife came.  When she arrived at home to tell us about the incidents about Jingles' death she couldn't tell us exactly as who did it.  I, together with my Mom, went to where Jingles was shot and we discovered that they took him to the clinic where he died.  While we were still there in the butchery, Mr Manana's butchery, police came and they asked where Mr Manana was.  Mr Maketsie explained that Mr Manana was arrested the previous day so he wasn't there and they asked who was a member of Jingles' family.  They came in and they found that it was me and Jingles' mother inside the butchery.  Then they asked why were you crying as we were crying.  They said when your children kill police you don't cry but when they kill some of the members you cry and they said it laughing.  It wasn't clear as to who killed Jingles from there.  After that we went to the police station and when we arrived together with Jingles' mother we gave a statement about his death.  They asked us if we don't know exactly who killed him.  It was strange because normally when the police is dead we know that he has been
ALEXANDRA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
3 MOQUAE
killed by comrades.  If I remember well, after that we have to go on with funeral arrangements.   While we were busy doing that it was the time to bury him.  The person who had to conduct the funeral service was one guy called Malusi.  They arrived and they took the deceased's body and we thought they would be bringing the body somewhere at four o'clock in the afternoon.  Unfortunately only Reverend Malusi came back, they said they took the body to conduct some investigations.  I was afraid because I don't know how you can communicate with a dead person.  From there we could clearly see that they knew something about the death of Jingles.  So we didn't know what to do, we started calling Chris Naidoo and he himself called Priscilla Jana and Priscilla Jana called the police station so that they can give us the body so that we can go on with arrangements for the funeral.  They said the person who is working with the bodies is out of work and they can come the next day.  So we went to Khotso house the next day and we went to Priscilla Jana together with Jingles' mother.  When we arrived at Priscilla Jana we were told that they have taken the body back and we started making some funeral arrangements again and some comrades was angry because so many things had been destroyed because we made preparations before and nothing happened and in the second week they did the same thing, they came and collected the body.  They didn't care as to what they were doing.  While we were sitting in the house police arrived.  Those were known to the community and they used to be known as people who were harassing the Jingles' family.  They arrived at 19th Avenue, we were together with Jingles' sister and they wanted to find out where was Jingles' wife and I could see that they were looking for a
ALEXANDRA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
4 MOQUAE
person whom they don't know and they said to us if you see  this person tell the person that we are looking for him and tell him that we are going to find him, we are going to shoot him.  After that then the week for the funeral arrived.  During the night vigil there were police, they tear-gassed the people, children, elderly people and women.  What was more painful was that on the day of the funeral it wasn't going well at all.  Even the reverend from Roman church when the time come for us to leave the cortege, to leave the house, some comrades and the white people started to clash.  The comrades wanted to take the cortege out of the house in their own manner.  However, the police didn't want them to do it that way so they took the corpse out of the peoples' hands and threw it into a hearse.  (Witness upset).  They stopped all the people, preventing them from going to the graveyard so it was only myself, Jingles' sister and Jingles' mother and the hearse was driven by police.  Behind us there were only private cars and Hippos.  However, I am proud of him because his enemies buried him because they thought they were conflicting pain on the community, however they were the ones who had to bury him because they had to do the work themselves.  When we arrived at the graveyard the time came for the reverend, all the people were not in the graveyard and I asked Patience as to how she was feeling at the time especially as a black person where we have to bury our family member in the absence of people.  And one of the policemen overheard us and asked us exactly and he said why doesn't she tell me that she doesn't care about baboons who come around and shouts in the graveyards.  We, together with Jingles' sister, we just looked at each other and we could see they
ALEXANDRA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
5 MOQUAE
didn't know what they were doing.  And there was one man who was passing by the road and they called him and asked him do you know how to pray and he said yes whatever we warned this man say don't take a chance and make a prayer in this funeral.    However, then we continued.  They took his body and just threw it like any rubbish and they put the soil over the body.  Everything, whatever was there.  This is something that I will never forget, especially our child, the child that I had with Jingles.  I wonder if I will ever forgive the white people.  I would also like the Commission to remind me if there is anything I have left out.

MR LEWIN: Thank you for that.  Could you just tell us a little bit about Jingles himself, who was he, how old was he.  You mentioned he was a poet.  You mentioned that he was a frequent victim of detention.  Can you just tell us a little bit about him and also your relationship with him.

JESSIE BUSISIWE MOQUAE: Thank you.  Jingles was Alexandra's poet.  During community events as an activist and a poet of Alexandra township they used to call him to render some poems to entertain the people and encourage them during meetings.  He was also an ANC member.