Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — UNKNOWN

CHAIRPERSON: The Committee will adjourn.
COMMITTEE ADJOURNS
COMMITTEE ADJOURNS TO 22.1.1997 AT 09:30
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ON RESUMPTION ON 22.1.1997 AT 09:30

MR MARAIS: Thank you, Mr Chairman, the next incident that we will be dealing with will be the case of Japie Maponya, and I call the applicant, Almond Nofomela in this regard.

ALMOND NOFOMELA: s s
EXAMINATION BY MR MARAIS
	Mr Chairman, you will notice on the typed page 11 that the application is for amnesty with regard to the offence of murder.  That is incorrect in the case of this applicant, and amnesty is sought with regard to the offence of kidnapping.
	I will also at a later stage in these proceedings come to an explanation on how this affidavit was drafted and why there are certain matters like this specific instance which is not correct.  But at this stage the witness will give his evidence with regard to the Maponya incident. 
	Mr Nofomela, how did you get involved in the kidnapping of a person by the name of Japie Maponya?

MR NOFOMELA: I was at Vlakplaas at the time under the command of Eugene de Kock and he was my commander.  He called Johannes Mbelo and I and said to us that there was someone whom we should go and abduct in Krugersdorp.  He even called Moses Nzimande and we were three altogether, and he told us there was someone whose brother was Derulem Maponya who was being looked for at De Wet in connection with the murder of a policeman, a certain Warrant Officer Tswale.  Hence they were looking for Japie Maponya in order to question him about his brother, Derulem Maponya, who was a member of the ANC.  He then said to us that we should go and abduct him and he also gave us a photograph of him and a vehicle as well.
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MR MARAIS: (Inaudible)

MR NOFOMELA: Captain Eugene de Kock.

MR MARAIS: How did you go about the abduction?

MR NOFOMELA: We abducted him in a cream Jetta, myself, Moses Mzimande and Johannes Mbele and we went to Krugersdorp.  When we got to the building society where Japie was working we parked the vehicle on a road in the direction of Pretoria and got out and we were also told what time he left work and it was - we left Vlakplaas after lunch and we were told that he travels by public transport.  When we got out of the car Mbelo was standing near the vehicle, if I remember correctly.  Moses went towards the post office because there were two roads he could take.  He could either pass the police station or he could pass where we were parked and I stood near the vehicle as well.  When he came out we went ...

MR MARAIS: How did you recognise Mr Maponya?

MR NOFOMELA: As I had said, Sir, we had a photo of him.  The first time I saw him he was inside and I was outside near where he worked.  I was standing outside where he worked.  When he came out he went in the direction of the post office and I followed him because I could see him and Nzimande turned around and spoke to him because he had been told which one it was.  While he was talking to him I arrived and I was interrupted by talking - I interrupted them by talking to Japie.  He looked at me, I had a pocketbook inside which I had put my police appointment certificate and I showed it to him saying to him I was a policeman investigating fraud against him.  He was surprised and I asked him to accompany us to the vehicle and to the police station.  He did not refuse, came back and we got
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into the car and he got into the back seat of the vehicle.  I cannot remember correctly, but I think Mbele was driving.  He knew where Krugersdorp Police Station was but he saw us driving in the direction of Pretoria and he wanted to know why were weren't going to the police station.  I told him to shut up and took out a firearm and made him to lie flat in the car, on the floor of the car, and that is when we took him to Vlakplaas.

MR MARAIS: Was he interrogated at Vlakplaas?

MR NOFOMELA: When we got to Vlakplaas we met Mr De Kock who was there and other whites.  They questioned him intensively about his brother and he continuously denied his whereabouts. De Kock was angry and was shouting and assaulting him until he said to us he is not telling the truth, hit him.  We assaulted him, all of us, myself, Johannes Mbelo, Moses Nzimande and other whites, whose names I cannot remember, who were also present there.  They also assaulted him.  At some stage he spoke about his relatives saying that some of his relatives lived at a certain place and at that stage De Kock said that I should start writing down what he was saying.  He was speaking Afrikaans.  When he was being assaulted he was speaking in Setswana and between Mbelo and myself one of us had to interpret what he was saying.  I started interpreting and I was told to stop and start recording what was being said.  De Kock said I must stop interpreting and start writing down and Mbelo started interpreting.  At that stage he was being assaulted by De Kock and the other whites.  While I was writing there came a time where De Kock wanted a canister of teargas.  I think he went to fetch it from the back of his car and he brought it and he said that we should tie Japie Maponya
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round his eyes and we blindfolded him, myself and Johannes Mbelo.  I cannot remember too well if we tied his hands as well.  There was a kombi similar to these that sell ice-cream which we called the A-team, because it didn't have any windows, which was also there.  Mbelo was told to fetch it when we got there.  He was instructed by  De Kock.  We then put him into this kombi and he took his canister of teargas and sprayed it on  his nose and closed his nose and he remained inside coughing in the kombi.  I cannot say how long that went on for, but it was quite a while.  After a while he opened up the kombi and let him out, dragging him out and  threw him on the ground.  He was not talking at that stage while he was lying on the ground.  There came a time where he asked me whether this person would be able to - Major De Kock asked me if this person would be able to recognise me at a future stage and I said yes, and he told me do not worry my China he won't see you again.  He said that in Afrikaans.  And then he said to us we should go, myself and Moses Nzimande and Johannes Mbelo, he said we should go and I then went with him and we left him there with those whites and Japie.  After a while I heard from Willem Nortje that Japie was killed by De Kock and company in Swaziland.

MR MARAIS: You were not present when Mr Maponya was killed.

MR NOFOMELA: I was not there, Sir.

MR MARAIS: You testified at Eugene de Kock's trial, did you hear that Mr Nortje gave this evidence about the eventual killing of Mr Maponya at that same trial?

MR NOFOMELA: Yes.

MR MARAIS: During your evidence before the Harms Commission you testified that you were present when Mr Maponya was
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killed at Vlakplaas by Eugene de Kock.  Why did you give that evidence?

MR NOFOMELA: I even said at the Eugene de Kock trial that the evidence which I gave was because De Kock promised me that he would assist me in the case with which I was charged if I should - if I lied about him it was because I was angry about everything he had done to me because he had not fulfilled his promises to me and that was where I lied about him having killed Japie because I knew that he would never have survived, because of the way he said to me I would never see him again.

MR MARAIS: When you say that you lied about him having killed Japie, do you refer to the fact that you gave evidence that he killed him in your presence?

MR NOFOMELA: I gave false evidence saying that I was present when he killed him and that was not true.