Human Rights Violation Hearings — Newcastle — 1996-09-11

WITNESS:   Yes, I will be very much happy if the Commission can do so.  And another thing as well is that people used to come and break our windows, harass us.  In 1994 as well our house was attacked.  ANC attacked our house.  At home there was no one who was active, who was an Inkatha member who was active, except for me.  My brothers aren't like that.  Even now I can't walk alone at street.  I am scared.  Even though I know I have never fought with anyone, but I am scared walking alone in the street.  Even now I don't know what to do.

MR DLAMINI: Mrs Nkabini, it's so sad to hear that even though we have passed that era you are still scared and being harassed.

WITNESS:   Yes.  Even though I have never quarrelled with anyone, but I am still scared, and these people aren't coming forward to face me.  I want to find the truth.

MR DLAMINI: This harassment that you are receiving, is it words people are swearing at you, or people are breaking something?

WITNESS:   No, people are harassing me, swearing at me.

MR DLAMINI: These people who are doing this thing to you, do you see them, do you know them, can you identify them?

WITNESS:  Yes, I can.

MR DLAMINI: Do you have their names?  Do you want to give us their names now, or you want to give us their names afterwards?

WITNESS:   Yes, I can give you the names.

MR DLAMINI: Mrs Nkabini, it is children who were with you when the house was set alight.  How are they?

WITNESS:   Thoko is not well.  She is always having headaches because she was hurt at her head.  She is the one who is always sick.

MR DLAMINI: This house - I mean your house, is it now okay?  Did you fix the house, renovate?

WITNESS:   It was only my part of the house which was burnt, not the whole house, because they knew I was the one who was Inkatha.  I only painted this darkness from the smoke and nothing else.

MR DLAMINI: I know that your other request will be that you are asking the Commission to help you that you renovate your house.  As we have told other witnesses as well we don't have the powers to promise or to do that for everyone.  What we can do is that we give the recommendation to the State President and tell him, and he is the one who is going to decide what to do.  We as the Commission we can't finalise that.  We will do the report and we will give it to the State President, and we will also try to check with the police who were handling this case and find out if the evidence which was put forward was satisfactory or not.  It is also sad that people - more especially if a woman is being harassed.  It's very sad.  I also agree with you that if people do not agree with you it's a good thing that they must come forward and talk with you.  This is how things can be sorted out.  Again I will also like to say from all these places where we've been in most cases ANC people are the ones who are coming forward to give evidence, and that thing makes it difficult to find evidence, and I'll also like to thank you for your courage as an IFP member to come forward and give evidence so that we can see that it wasn't just IFP fighting alone, they were fighting with someone.  It's not just IFP, it was IFP/ANC.  No one came out innocent.  ANC people thought they were the ones who were just being killed and no one else, and women and children died.  This picture that you just gave us, I am sure that even the ANC will realise that they were not the ones who just lost children and wives, but also Inkatha people.  In the name of the Commission then I will like to say this kind of pain we would like to see it end.  Before I'll give it to the Chairperson is there anything that you would like the Commission to know?

WITNESS:   Yes.  Most IFP members ran away from Osizweni because their houses were being burnt by ANC people, so people ran away.  And I also like to thank the Commission that I didn't know I would come forward in my life and tell someone, because this thing has been eating me alone.  Today I have a chance of telling everyone how I feel.

MR DLAMINI: You didn't explain more about your mother.  How is she now?

WITNESS:   This is a new experience for old people.  My mother was very, very worried and she got ill afterwards, and now she is doing nothing.  My father got injured.  It's not because of politics, he was at work.

MR DLAMINI: We will also like you to pass these words to your parents at home.

WITNESS:   Thank you.

COMMISSIONER: Mrs Nkabini, thank you for coming here today.  We are very glad that you feel that by coming here and telling your story you have got something out of you, and we're glad that the Commission could provide you with that opportunity.  You heard - you must have heard the evidence of the lady before you, Mrs Khumalo.  She told a similar story to you about being attacked in her own house, the house being set alight, and in her case she said it was members of the IFP who did that.  In your case you said it was members of the ANC.  And our view is that from wherever this violence comes it's wrong, and that you and Mrs Khumalo are sitting here together, you are members of different parties, but you have both been victims of violence.  And what has that violence brought to you?  Nothing except sadness, fear, misery.  And we hope that the message will go out from this Commission that violence doesn't help anything.  It makes - it drives people
 /more
further apart, and makes the job of reconciliation even more difficult in our country.
So, as Mr Dlamini has said, you have given us another side of the picture.  We know it was not only the ANC people who suffered in Madadeni and Osizweni, we know that some IFP people also suffered, and you are one of those people, and we will be making recommendations to the Government as to how people like you can be helped.
So we thank you again very, very much for having the courage to come here and tell us your story today.  Thank you very much.
SAMUEL SOTSHA NKOSI

MR LAX: Good morning, Mr Nkosi, welcome.  Thank you for coming to us.  Before we go into your story, and the sad death of your son, there's just some background details we would like to ask you about your family, about yourself, and so on, and maybe about your son as well.  Firstly, what is your date of birth please?

WITNESS:   I have a wife.  I was born in 1947.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... your family.  You have a wife you were saying.

WITNESS:   I have a wife as well as six children.  I had seven initially.  One died.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... picture.

WITNESS:   I know the one who died.  I don't know the other ones' ages.  I know the one who died as to how old he was when he died, but the eldest one was born in 1970.

MR LAX: Now, how old was Stephen when he died?

WITNESS:   He was 14 years old.

MR LAX: And I take it he was at school at that time?

WITNESS:  Yes, he was at school.

MR LAX: Now, the other children of yours, the six remaining children, what are they doing?

WITNESS:   One is working and one is at school.  The others are not at school and they are not working because of financial problems and the harassment that used to take place.

MR LAX: Thank you.  What do you do yourself please?

WITNESS:   I am working at a certain garage.

MR LAX: Thank you.  Now, the story you will be telling us about took place on the 29th of May 1993, is that correct?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

MR LAX: At that time you were living in Osizweni.

WITNESS:   That is correct. And you're still living there?   ---   Yes, I am.

MR LAX: Please tell us what - before we start, what was going on in the area at that time?  Was there violence, was it calm, just so we can get a picture of what was happening?