Human Rights Violation Hearings — Empangeni — 1996-11-04

CHAIRPERSON:  And you say that that car was seen going to Myeni's house?

WITNESS:   Yes, correct.

CHAIRPERSON:  Now, in many other places where we have been to listen to stories like yours, like in Port Shepstone, Newcastle, we've come across this term, "Camping", where people say that people were camping and in those areas it seems to mean it's youth who will stay at somebody's house at night or they'll stay in the bush at night and then at night they walk around with guns and they make sure that it's only people from one political party who are living or walking around in that area.  Is that what you mean when you say that these boys were camping at Myeni's place?

WITNESS:   That is correct, that's what I mean.  Up until today I'm still receiving threats.  I receive calls, which are asking me as to where at Stanger am I staying.  I don't know why they are doing this, because they have finished with me.  They killed my mother.  We were Christian in that family.  We took care of the community.  My mother used to help other women from that area.  We used to take care of children.

CHAIRPERSON:  And why is it that you are living now in Stanger or near Stanger?

WITNESS:   After the funeral we were supposed to leave or to run away.  My mother came from Groutville and my uncle came and took us.  After the funeral - immediately after the funeral we took the furniture and we left other goods there.  My uncle died after a week from heart attack.

CHAIRPERSON:  Now, did you say that there was a case or an inquest?  Do you have documents relating to that?

WITNESS:   Yes, I went to Pretoria to Mr Mufamadi, because I could see that there was nothing that was being done with regard to the death of my mother.  Then I was referred to Natal. I received a letter from the superintendent and he said that he was following my case.  Last year I received the letter that the inquest had been conducted, but I had never been called to testify or to listen.  I was never contacted.  I know nothing about the inquest.

CHAIRPERSON:  Now, Mrs Xolo, you said that this car driven by this man, Nyawusa, was seen at Myeni's house.  Was this immediately before your house was attacked or was it generally seen going to Myeni's house?

WITNESS:   I cannot vote and say it used to go there, but the following day at about five it was seen driving to Myeni's place.  The following day after my mother was killed.  I don't know whether before the car would go there when we were asleep.

CHAIRPERSON:  And then you said that at a later stage you heard that Myeni had left Eshowe and gone to the Mlaba Camp to undergo training with other - because I know that the Mlaba Camp and the Mkuze Camp were camps where IFP youth were trained to use weapons.  Is that right?

WITNESS:   During that time that's exactly what happened, but by then I was staying at the nurse's home, because the matron said I should stay at the nurse's home, because it was not safe for me to stay outside and my children were staying all by themselves.  What I know is that Myeni went to Nyawusa's place and stayed there and he also took them in for protection and thereafter they were recruited to go to Mlaba Camp.  I don't know, but he was wearing ZP uniform.  That is Myeni that I'm talking about now.

CHAIRPERSON:  And the children who lived with you - the children who you were going to be registered as the foster parent of, what happened to them?  Did you take them with you to Stanger or are they still in Eshowe?

WITNESS:   I could not even take the children.  Even now I would like to know what happened to those poor kids, because their father was working at a firm, so he took them.  I don't even know their whereabouts at the present moment.  They were still very young at that stage.  The other one was 2 years old.  The other one was 4 and 5.

CHAIRPERSON:  Just, finally, I may have missed this when you were talking earlier on.  Did you get death certificates with regard to your mother and your son?

WITNESS:   Yes, I did.

CHAIRPERSON:  And what does that record as the cause of death?

WITNESS:   My mother's death certificate is written ... (inaudible) ... widow, gunshot wounds of left lung, right kidney and small bowel.  That's my mother's death certificate.  I don't know what happened to my son's death certificate.  He had one wound on the chest.  The other one had a gunshot on the skull.

CHAIRPERSON:  So your mother they shot with a shotgun in the chest, the left lung?

WITNESS:   My mother was shot in the kidney - the right kidney, as well as the left lung and the small bowel.

CHAIRPERSON:  And the person who you said was working for you, was that a man or a woman?  You said there was a young person who was working for your mother who was pregnant?

WITNESS:   It was a young girl who was pregnant.  She was 18 years old.

CHAIRPERSON:  Is she the one who died as well?

WITNESS:   No, no, the one who died was a small boy.

CHAIRPERSON:  And how did he die - the boy - the cattle herder?

WITNESS:   He was also shot on the very same day when my mother was killed.  The three of them died on the same day.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  Are there any other questions?

CHAIRPERSON: /PROFESSOR MAGWAZA

PROF MAGWAZA: Can you please help us to clarify this issue?  Firstly, you said they got to your place and they violated you but your mother didn't die on the very same day, but you waited for the police to come.  Were there any means that you employed like calling an ambulance to come and fetch them?

WITNESS:   No, what happened was at the time that we were attacked my parents were all by themselves.  That is my mother as well as my son.  We had run away by that time and when my daughter-in-law had gone to her place to phone the police, she went there before she came to us.  She went to her place to report to the police.  When I got to the police station and told them what had happened they said the van had gone there and they turned away because the house was dark.  It's not true, because we had electricity at my place and the road is quite clear.

PROF MAGWAZA:  You also spoke about your son's girlfriend.  You said she was also shot.

WITNESS:   Yes, she was shot in the elbow.  She was actually grazed by the bullet.  She also submitted a statement.

PROF MAGWAZA:  Who is this girlfriend?

WITNESS:   It's Eleanora Ngema.  She is staying with me.  They are staying with me at Stanger and she's still attending school.

PROF MAGWAZA:  I'd like to ask you one more question with regard to your family.  You said your sister was mentally disturbed thereafter.  Just tell us briefly about your sister.  Where was she when this happened?

WITNESS:   She was working at Westville and she would come during holidays or at Christmas time, and when we first - we did not tell her that my mother had died.  We said it was my son only who had been shot and she came in a car, knowing that my son was in hospital.  We did not tell her that my son had died.  And when we got home we had to tell her that.  Even since then she has been mentally disturbed.  She is not stable.  She is not violent, but at times she would talk to herself and she wouldn't make any sense when she talked, and she is no longer working.  I had to go and fetch her where she was working.  That is at Westville.

PROF MAGWAZA:  Does she have a child?

WITNESS:   Yes, she has a 16-year old child, who is also staying with me and I'm also helping to put her through school.

PROF MAGWAZA:  One other thing that we would like to find out is with regard to your grandchild.  How old is your grandchild?

WITNESS:   The grandchild is 5 years old and she's doing class 1 at an Indian school and they are all at an Indian school and one is at a white school, because they are still scared.  They fear for their lives.

PROF MAGWAZA:  My last question.  How many children are under your care?