Human Rights Violation Hearings — Moutse — 1996-12-02

CHAIRPERSON: Opening Prayer.  We welcome all of you with warm hands here in Mpumulanga.  We would like to welcome you all to this sitting of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  We welcome you all to this session of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  Guests and their families and those that were interested during those times of unrest.  We say we welcome the Premier of Mpumulanga, Mr Posa.  Let us clap hands for him.  We welcome even our Majesty King Mayisha the Second and the Chiefs and the Headmen.  We even welcome Mr George Mhlongmongyani who is an MP and the Treasurer for the ANC sub-region.  We also welcome the Deputy-Mayor Mrs Maklala.  Where is she?  Nozipho Masango, the Chairperson of the ANC.  Sorry, Mr Mahlango.  We welcome you also.  Piendile Madondo, we also welcome you and we welcome further Mr Douglas Reece from the UK.  The father in-law to Dr Randera here next to me.  We welcome you.
 Those who I do not mention by name, please do not feel left out.  We welcome you all.  If we have to call you by name we will never ever start with todays proceedings.  We want to say thank you, as well, to very many people.  We want to thank the Premier and the Committee that have helped to prepare for this sitting.  Sibong Rakula.  We want to welcome the Chief of this area and we want to thank his office for allowing us to use this area.  We want to thank 
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ANC local branch.  We want to thank the Council.  We want to thank POPCRU.  We thank the SACP.  We thank Father Gedo, James Mahlongu, Beauty and we thank the briefers.  
 The police, we use to dislike the police because we use to see them as our enemies, but they have changed since and they are the people who protect the people.  So we want to say thank you to the police inside, outside providing security.  Let us give them a hand to welcome them.  Then we want to say thank you very much to the hospital authorities and their staff for making these facilities available to us.  I then want to say a very big thank you to my colleagues the Commissioners and Committee members and our staff.  They work very, very hard.  I just appear as a nice decoration.  The people who do the work are all of these people next to me.  The people in the offices, the field workers.  They do a marvellous job of work.  We want to thank them all and I ask you if you can clap for them.  Let us clap hands for them please.

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you your Grace.  If we could call the first witness, King Mayisha the Second, to the witness stand.

CHAIRPERSON: Order please.  One of the things that I did not say is that this is not a Court of Law.  We are expected to behave ourselves.  We all know that we are going to behave ourselves.
 The second thing is we are not going to making a finding at this sitting.  We will making a finding about whether somebody is a victim or is a perpetrator much, much later and may I warn, again, that although I have said this is not a Court of Law, if someone comes here and deliberately misleads the Commission, then that person will be guilty of the same offence as would have happened in a 
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Court of Law.   If you come here to mislead and not tell the truth purposely then you are going to be in trouble.  We do not want that to happen.

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you your Grace.  Your Grace, King Mayisha is going to speak about his personal experiences.  He is also going to give us an overview of the period that this event hearing is going to cover.  This, as you know, we are looking at events that took place in Moutse, KwaNdebele between 1985 and 1988.  King Mayisha the Second was part of that process, part of the conflict around the incorporation of Moutse and the attempted move to give KwaNdebele independence.  Before I ask the King to go through his statement, I am going to ask if he can be sworn in and take the oath.

MR MALAN: King, will you please stand?

KING MAYISHA: (Duly sworn in, states).

MR MALAN: Thank you very much.  You may be seated.

RUSSELL ALLY: Your Majesty, I am going to assist you with your statement, but I am going to ask you now if you would please just go through your statement with us and explain what happened to you during this period and also the overview which you are going to provide, the conflict that took place in this area.  Thank you.