Amnesty Hearings — Welkom — 1998-11-17

ISAAC MOHOMANE: I did not have an opportunity to meet with my commander as I've already explained.  I was detained and therefore we were not given bail to get outside but he knew that we were responsible for that incident.  I did not have an opportunity to meet him until we were convicted and imprisoned, whilst I was in prison.
	We were convicted in 1994 on the 9th of March.  If I remember well it was around June/July when I phoned the office asking the whereabouts of commander Craig.  I found information that Craig was detained in the same year, in 1994 in August or September.

MR MHLABA: You're telling us about Craig, is this Craig one and the same person as Mofokeng or Khumalo?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: His name is Simon Mofokeng, as I've already explained earlier.  Craig Khumalo is a combat name.  As he was a well trained cadre of the MK he did his military training abroad.  He gave us this name so that at all times I should call him Craig Khumalo because it was his combat name, and that is why I mentioned them both.

MR MHLABA: Taking you back to the incident of the shooting, how were you dressed when you were there, did you put some balaclavas on or you did not disguise at all?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: People who put on balaclavas was myself and Jack Mofokeng as my deputy commander.  We were the only two who had balaclavas so that we should not be identified.  We were the only two who hid our faces.

MR MHLABA: Other than shooting the two deceased, or rather to put it differently, after shooting the two deceased did you take anything from them?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: No, Sir, we did not take anything from their person because the order was given that we should not take anything, we should not take their guns or anything from them so that anybody would see this attack as a political activity.  That is why we did not take anything from their persons.

MR MHLABA: And in attacking them as you did your intention was to kill them, is that correct?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: Yes, that's correct.  As I've already explained, the order was to kill and that we should not disarm them.

MR MHLABA: Do you have anything to add in support of your application other than what you've already indicated to the Committee?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: What I want to add is that it is well known what the police did in that particular area.  During the unrest from 1991 negotiations had already started.  There were reports that the police were encouraging unrest and that they were killing people and then again they were instruments which were used in violence.  As the Commission has called me here to come and explain as to why did we kill them and then again about the background, on top of that I want to thank this Commission to give me this opportunity to come and appear before it and I regret for the loss of life.

MR MHLABA: Thank you, Chair, that concludes the evidence-in-chief.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR MHLABA

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr Mhlaba.  Mr Sesele, do you have any questions to ask the witness?

MR SESELE: Thank you, Mr Chair.
	Mr Mohomane, you say you were a member of COSAS at high school, what standard did you attain there?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: I was just an ordinary member of Cosas as it was meant for students.  I left COSAS after finishing my school, then I became a card carrying member of the ANC.  After that I was recruited to the SDU.

MR SESELE: Excuse me please, what standard did you attain at school?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: That is standard 10.

MR SESELE: And then you became a member of the African National Congress.

ISAAC MOHOMANE: That is correct.

MR SESELE: Did you attend meetings of the African National Congress during that time, say branch meetings?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: Yes, I did.  I attended most of the meetings in Phuthaditjhaba and they were run by comrade Steve Potlela, and together with the rallies of the ANC.

MR SESELE: And the ANC was an unbanned organisation at that time?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: That is correct.

MR SESELE: It could engage in political activities?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: May you please repeat your question, Sir.

MR SESELE: And it could engage in free political activity?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: That is correct.

MR SESELE: Would I be right if I say, at these branch meetings of the African National Congress reports were made about the state of the political situation in the country?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: That is correct.

MR SESELE: Did you know that there were negotiations between the African National Congress and the then government?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: That's what I knew, that negotiations were going on between the ANC and the government of the day.

MR SESELE: Were you also aware that the armed struggle was then suspended?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: Yes, I know that.  I knew that fully, that the armed struggle was suspended.

MR SESELE: As a member of the ANC then, were you not bound by the decisions of the ANC?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: May you please repeat your question?

MR SESELE: As a member of the ANC then, were you not bound by the decisions of the organisation?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: Yes, I was informed that I should be a disciplined member of the ANC and that I should be bound by decisions taken by the ANC.

MR SESELE: Now that the ANC had suspended the armed struggle, were you not obliged to adhere to that?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: In regard to the suspension of the armed struggle by the Executive Committee, there was a misunderstanding because of the unrest which reigned within our areas and that the police were the major role-players.  That is what has contributed that the ANC should form the SDUs to protect and defend the community against the actions of the police because the police were regarded as the instruments in the unrest.

MR SESELE: Mr Mohomane, you say there was confusion, now you personally, what did you understand by that, the suspension of the armed struggle?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: I was talking about the misunderstanding within the members of the ANC because others did not agree with the suspension of the armed struggle.  Those who supported that the armed struggle should be suspended were those who were not involved or nearer to the violence which was prevailing in various communities.

MR SESELE: Are you then saying that some members of the ANC did not support the suspension of the armed struggle?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: That is correct, because people were dying at that time during that unrest and the police were playing a major role in that unrest and in the killings of our people.  So I did not support the suspension of the armed struggle because the government was not willing to accept change.  That is why I did not support the suspension of the armed struggle.

MR SESELE: So you acted outside the policy of the organisation?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: When returning back to the issue of the armed struggle, as I've already said I did not support the armed struggle because of the unrest which prevailed in our community.  I wanted to continue with the missions of protecting the community.  Our tasks as the SDU, we were not just attacking ordinary people, we were only responding to the unrest in terms of protecting the community.

MR SESELE: Precisely where do you come from in Qwa Qwa?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: I come from Phuthaditjhaba.

MR SESELE: And your commander, Simon Mofokeng?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: He comes from Welkom.  He was Chief of Staff of the SDU within Free State, that is within these areas like Kroonstad, Welkom, Phuthaditjhaba.  He was not staying in one place because he was motoring various SDUs within Free State.  He was always on the way monitoring various places within Free State.

MR SESELE: Are you also saying that commander Simon Mofokeng like you, were operating outside the policy of the ANC?

ISAAC MOHOMANE: We were not operating outside the policy of the ANC, we were always within, in line with the ANC policy because he was working within the ANC offices in Phuthaditjhaba.