Human Rights Violation Hearings — East London — 1996-04-17

MRS ZOKWE: It was past twelve midnight.  I went to the garage, I forgot something, when I went to my car, Mluleki, my next door neighbour, jumped, this Mr Damoi who witnessed the killing, he came in, we went to the garage together. I came around again, we waited and waited and waited at home but I felt that we should go and go to Mr Sangoni and check if our children are there, Sangoni and my son Sithembile.  When I got there Sangoni's wife was there and she said, Temba was at Umtata.  I told them that Temba is dead and I said they must inform the lawyer, Dumisane.
 When we went to the hospital, we went there and we were told that there was nobody with that name.  We went back again to Sangoni's place and I was informed that I should talk top Zilindile.  They told me to go back home.  I said we want to talk to the police.  At my place I also have a policeman who is a lieutenant.  We knew that each time we have a problem we'll consult with this person.

MR NTSEBEZA: Are you referring to Lieutenant Zokwe?

MRS ZOKWE: Yes i'm referring to him because I wanted him to be aware of what was happening, and then he said that he is coming in the morning and told me that he has learned about what has happened.
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MR NTSEBEZA: Did you go back home?

MRS ZOKWE: Yes I did.

MR NTSEBEZA: Did you go into the house in which Sithembile went to and in which he was arrested?

MR NTSEBEZA: No I didn't go that same, I don't want to tell lies, I didn't go the same day, there was something, I was weak and unable to do anything.  The people who were around me were giving me support and they tried to give me whatever I needed. There was nobody to support me, because usually the community traditionally supports the family when it's happening. I was with my grandchildren.

MR NTSEBEZA: Did you go the following day?

MRS ZOKWE: Yes I did go the following day.

MR NTSEBEZA: Can you tell us what happened there, just shortly please, explain what happened on that day.

MRS ZOKWE: The first time, there is a half door and then there's a passage.  I did not know what happened to the tiles, because there was supposed to be a coffee table.  But you could see that there was a struggle which had happened the day before.  We went to the passage. When we arrived there I could see a plastic and I could see that there was some burning which has taken place there. When we got inside, I could see it is where Sithembile  and the other one were taken.I could see that they were taken there in that room.  There was wardrobe just behind the door, there were also suitcases on top of this wardrobe, but when we came in, all these suitcases were all on the floor and they had bullet holes.  There were two suitcases, they are still there.  Everything was in tatters having been destroyed by the bullets that were shot at the suitcases.
 Underneath this wardrobe, as it was very close to the 
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bed, there was what looked like blood. It was just a big dot and would need a lot of water to be washed away. Now on the other side, there was a hole in the concrete or just dust from the concrete.  There was a leather jacket and a few things in the wardrobe that I cannot remember any more in that wardrobe.  They were all burned close to ash.  Now we entered into the house there were mugs close to the door.  I don't know why they were there.  There was another spot on the wall, you know the curtain is still there even today, it was really torn apart.  There's a built in wardrobe from the bathroom into the passage.  There were holes and holes, spots and spots, we don't know what really happened, even the handles were broken.

MR NTSEBEZA: When you estimate, how many were there given in the report by the people who were investigating this?

MRS ZOKWE: I have forgotten about the number of the bullet holes, but what I can remember is that when the experts came in, they looked around and tried to see any clues and we could find five bullet shells.

MR NTSEBEZA: Was it the bullets of the small revolvers or the big rifles?

MRS ZOKWE: Yes it was bullets from rifles.

MR NTSEBEZA: There was a report from the doctor, we want to rush through now.

MRS ZOKWE: Can I please take a few minutes and say something? The lawyers came in on the following day, Zaluba and Vabasa, they came in.  One of the children who was there cried a lot because he was there when this happened. He gave the statement over.  When we got there at the lawyers' offices, Schoolboy, in other words Tamsanga, who was a friend to my son, cried bitterly and said, "I have come".
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They said that he must come and explained what has happene
d, because he wanted to give an account of what has taken place because he learned it from the people in the taxi.
 The lawyers wanted to phone the security officers. Tamsanga was the one who was called in by the security, so the lawyers said they must come and tell why they wanted him. A statement was taken from the schoolboy, there was also a reporter from one of the newspapers.  the journalist took the schoolboy and they went to my daughter at the hair saloon.  At the same time there was a call from London, and they were taking statements of what has happened, and that when he came back this journalist, we could find that they have taken a lot of information from us.

MR NTSEBEZA: Let's go back to where we started again. We want to hear what your grandchild had witnessed on that fateful day. When did you see your late son?

MRS ZOKWE: I tried my best together with my lawyers that we should go and see where the child was.  The security officers were questioned by the lawyers about this.  The all denied knowledge of anything. They also said we must wait, when they investigate they will find out what has happened.  There was a prosecutor who told us that there was a body which was found and at it was identified as that of Sithembile. It was in the mortuary.
 We went with my lawyers and family members to this mortuary and we saw and identified him as being my son. the child was on a stretcher at the time, he was all smiles in his death. The sermon which he used to preach to us, he would tell us that, you must never crumble the apartheid when you are angry.
 When I got there Sithembile's face was full of smiles, 
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although he was dead.  What i realised that part of the top of his shirt was torn off.  When we were still looking around there, we were trying to get information from the security officers again, I noticed something on the right side of his head and I realised that something was oozing from the wound.  When I came forward and tried to pull on this , it came out with part of the brain.  The person who was just behind me couldn't handle this and he broke down. You know I was proud because I knew why my child had died.

MR NTSEBEZA: This hole which was on the right hand side, is it the one that was referred to that when you looked you could see through this hole through the head?

MRS ZOKWE: Yes it is so.

MR NTSEBEZA: Was this also confirmed by the doctor who made the diagnosis about the child's death?
"It was apparently an exit wound in the middle of the dorsal, low down on the left side of the head in the tember or cubical region. Posterior and distal to the ear the ear there is a lacerated wound in which many tiny bone fragments and brain substance could be identified. This is related to a wound on the right side, about 10 cm proximal and slightly anterior to the right pinna. Probing these wounds, a definable track through the brain was readily determined."
Mama Zokwe, yes we know that this story can be related and it would take days and days trying to get what happened to your son.  These people who killed Sithembile, are they known.

MRS ZOKWE: Yes they are known.