Special Hearings — Women's Hearings — 1997-07-29

LITA NOMBANGO MAZIBUKO: May name is Lita Nombango Mazibuko. Mazibuko   is my married surname, but my maiden surname is Gunene. The name Nombango, I   was born in a politically active home, my father was a politician and he also   liked helping people.
 Because of the political activity within my home my family   split and I was born at the Gunene family, and that husband did not believe   that girls should be educated, that is why I am not educated now. Then I grew   up at my stepfather's place. My mother died when I was three months old.
 Thereafter I was brought up by another woman, or I could   say my stepmother and they used to tell me that my father was a politician,   he was also helping people and he was also aspiring to the ideologies of freedom.   And Mr Gunene used to give me the nickname, Nombango, which means fighting for   what you believe in, and ultimately the name stuck with me as I grew up. And   when Mr Gunene used to come back from herding the cattle he would sing this   song using my name, and I used to dance to the song, and I believed that as   Africans we should fight for what we believed in.
 I am not educated but the contribution that I've put in   within the ANC structures is quite massive. I went to Swaziland, Maputo, Angola.   I travelled throughout the African continent. Then in 1962 I went to work in   Swaziland. It was very difficult for me in Swaziland because I used to bring   people in to Swaziland and I also used to help others to escape South Africa   through Swaziland. That was my task, and I was very assertive in doing that.
 At times I used to disguise as a Sangoma and go to forests   pretending that I was looking for some muti or medicine in the forests and I   knew that I was going to do my job as a politician. I fought very hard.
 But in 1988 I worked together with other youngsters who   were totally different to the people that I have been working with, throughout,   that is Nyanda, Jabu, and Jabu Mzima is late now. I cannot list a lot of   them. Then in 1988 they sent certain men to me to work for them and with them   to facilitate some escapes, and nine of my comrades were killed because they   were sent to a wrong place and thereafter we were taken to Zambia. But I was   not told that we were called to Zambia.
 When we got to Zambia some of our comrades were told that   I refused to go to Zambia and I was regarded as an enemy and as a spy and I   was kidnapped from my place in July. An accident occurred in June, that is before   the 16th of June. We were awaiting other people to come into Swaziland before   the 16th of June in order to conduct certain missions and I was kidnapped in   July. I was taken out of my place only in my clothing and nothing else to my   name. They told me that they were taking me to a certain meeting in Fairview   where they were going to discuss certain things with regard to what happened   before the 16th of June.
 When we got to Fairview I saw that there was absolutely   no meeting and I saw four comrades with briefcases. They escorted me and their   car drove to another comrades place at Fairview in Swaziland. The car stopped   at the gate. They went inside the house to take certain orders and when they   came back they still escorted us. They had guns with them. We drove off.
 We got to a certain place called Mbeklweni, which is just   beneath the mountain and there's a river by name Umkomasana. When we got to   the river the place was deserted. They tied my hands to my back, that is four   men. They also tied my feet. They took a large thick rope and they tied it around   my waist. They took me into some ditch and they immersed me into the water.   I stayed there from 08H00 until 21H00. I could not get any food at that time.   I could not get drink because my hands were tied to my back as well as my feet   and I suffered from mosquito bites.
 At nine I had news through the news that they were - they   took me back into the car, they put me into the trunk of the car. When they   opened up the trunk I saw that it was the Manzini golf course where they opened   up the car and they took me out. 
 I saw one comrade who was present at that time, that is   Rabbit Musheshwe. I asked Rabbit Musheshwe to untie my hands so that I can be   able to blow my nose and I was already having a headache at that time. He requested   them to untie me. I was able to blow my nose.  I was taken from that car   and the other car went to the filling station and I was put at the back of the   car with men on both sides, I was put in the middle and I was pointed with guns,   and they said I shouldn't make a mistake of trying any tricks because they would   not hesitate to kill me. 
 We got to the border gates at Kwanu Mahashe. We went along   the fence. There were some police houses there. When they got to the fence they   untied my feet. They said I should jump that fence and I told them that I was   not going to be able to do that, I would rather creep over the fence than go   over it. I lifted the fence and I put my head inside and I crept under the fence.   I went to the other side of the border.
 We got to Maputo. And when we got to Maputo the other comrade   who was with us told me that if I hear some gunshots I shouldn't scream. He   was going to talk to the Portuguese people on the other side of the border and   that I should keep quiet and not talk.
 We went to a certain place where there were Mozambican   soldiers. They spoke to these soldiers. They shared some cigarettes, they spoke   to each other and by then it was late at night. They asked me whether I wanted   to sleep. I said I would appreciate the opportunity to sleep.
 After the attack there were certain holes, they pointed   a hole at me and they said I should get into that hole and sleep. Even if I   hear gunfire or some gunshots I shouldn't get out of the hole. If I was hit   by one of the bullets then I would die inside that hole, that would be my grave. 
 I crept into that hole. I tried to sleep but I just couldn't   sleep because it was impossible under the circumstances. I was in that hole   for three days without food. I was drinking only water. Then on the fourth day   I was suffering from mosquito bites. I was getting very cold, I started shivering,   and then on the fourth day one of the soldiers said that I was going to die   so they should take me to the police so that the ANC people could come and pick   me up from the capital town.
They took me to the police station. That's where we were made   to sleep on the cement floor. 
 On the following day they only came then to take us to   Maputo. In Maputo I was put in a cell at the fourth floor. I stayed in Maputo   for three days, that's when I felt slightly better. I saw another comrade. He   treated my quite well. He even went out to get me a change of clothing. He gave   me some soap and he offered me food. I was able to sleep now because they had   given me a bed as well as blankets. So for the three days I was quite comfortable.
 Then on the Saturday following that week I was booked a   flight to Zambia. When I got to Zambia I was put in a military base for two   days. I was treated quite well there. They gave me a mattress to sleep on and   they also offered me food.
 On the fourth day, it was Wednesday the RC people took   me, that's when the problem started. When I got there a certain commander by   the name of Fretman said I should take off my earrings, my rings, my wedding   rings. They said I should strip off all my jewellery, this is not my mother's   place. I shouldn't think that this is my mother's place. I was stripped. I was   left only in my dress that had been given to me in Maputo as well as a coat   and a little jersey that I had on. They bought me a handbag or an overnight   bag. They also offered me some underwear. They took all these and they put them   away, I don't know where. I stayed there in that place. I slept on the floor.   I was given only one blanket. I slept only for one night. 
 The following day I was taken into another hole which was   outside the house but within the yard. They said that I deserved to stay in   the hole and it was very dark in this hole. I stayed in that hole, and during   the night I got asphyxiated, I couldn't breathe in that hole. There was just   no air coming in. A certain commander looked at me and said, why wasn't I sleeping?   I told him I wasn't able to sleep, I was getting asthmatic and I was getting   cold. He opened up that door
and took me back into the house. He gave me this one blanket   which I was supposed to put as an underblanket on the floor as well as wrap   myself in that blanket. It was a multi-purpose to me. I used to sleep on top   of it as well as my cover.
 Then on September 13th I was taken out of the house. That   is throughout August there was a certain comrade by the name of Jacob and another   one by the name of A Team. They kept on asking me questions and I kept on relating   the story with regard to the job that I was doing at that time. And Comrade   Team said to me he does not see any problem with the work that I was doing and   he did not see any mistake with the job that I was doing and he wanted to take   me back home. But Comrade Jacob refused. 
 After Team had prepared everything for me to be taken back   home, my clothes and my luggage was ready for me to be taken back home, all   the arrangements that were made as well as my passport to facilitate my crossing   the border back home and Jacob got to me and said, I wasn't about to go back   home, he was going to take me to a certain place where we were going to phone   to Swaziland. 
 And he said to me I must tell him as to how I got to Maputo,   how I crossed the border and I should make him get in touch with my contact   or with my helper who helped me to cross the border. He said I was far too clever.   All the women who got there never refused to have sex with him, and now that   I was refusing to have sex with him it means I hated him and I thought I was   clever, that's the reason why I wasn't going to go back. And he said to me we   might possibly have colluded with Team. 
 He made me leave the food that I was given and he put me   into a Land Rover. We drove to a very far away place, that is a residential   area somewhere in Zambia. When we got to the house he tried to phone. He was   actually fooling me because he was busy dialling a local number and another   woman who was in Swaziland answered the phone. The woman knew me and when I   wanted to speak on the phone and say I wanted to speak to Beauty Simelane, they   would say I had dialled the Border Gate number. 
 Well I played along. I made a fool of myself. As a result   they got shocked at a later stage when I told them that I had seen their plan   as to how they were fooling me. They said there wasn't a person by the name   of Beauty Simelane, but when I put the phone down I told them that I knew that   the person I was talking to was not at the Border Gate, that is the Swaziland   Border gate. They exchanged some glances and they kept on fooling me saying   that they were phoning Johannesburg and they said I would also say that I am   in Johannesburg, I should not say that I was in Zambia. 
 I was speaking to my attorneys so that they could defend   me with regard to the deed that they alleged I had done, and I refused to do   that because it would have placed me in jeopardy. I did not want to lie because   that could have possibly put me in a bad position. That's when the whole commotion   started. They wanted to assault me in that house but they were not able to.   They took me back to a certain house.
 Then on the 13th of September they said that I do not want   to disclose certain facts that they wanted to know. They took me back to the   hole and in that hole I came across Comrade Mtungwa. A Team was taken out of   the matter because they said he favoured me. I stayed in that hole, sleeping   on top of a cardboard box. 
 I hadn't been given any blankets and they would pour water   into that hole. When I tried to sleep I could feel the whole area drenched in   water. And when I sit on top of the stairs that I used to use to descend they   could actually sense it that I was sitting on the stairs, then JJ would come   and put some stick through, a thorn, actually a very long thorn through the   keyhole and prick me to move away from the stairs so that I should go down to   the area that was drenched in water.  I stayed there from December up till   March. I was only taken out of that hole in March. I only had one meal after   24 hours and I would get porridge and green tomatoes that would be sliced and   put on top of the porridge. It was dark inside there. I couldn't see the food   but I just had to eat. That's when I started suffering from ulcers, rheumatism   as well as asthma because I was staying in the water in that hole and the cement   floor.
 On the day that I was taken out of the hole they said I   should go and wash. The clothes that I was wearing at that time I was wearing   the same dress for about five to six months. When I tried to take off the clothes   the clothes were in tatters and when I tried to wash my hair, my hair just fell   out and my skin was greasy as if I had supplied some grease because I did not   wash for all those months. It took me a long time to heal and go back to normal.
 I told the Commander that my clothes were finished because   they were spoilt by the water and the dampness. He laughed at me and showed   me a dress which had some stripes. It was green in colour. It was khaki colour.   I took this dress, I put it on, it's only then that I was able to get out of   the hole.
 I was taken into a certain dining room. Comrade Mtungwa   said I should be offered some food and they told him that there wasn't any because   they hadn't yet cooked. It was at about two. That's when he started interrogating   me and asking me as to whether I was still sticking to the same story. I haven't   changed my mind throughout my stay in the hole. He said if I had changed I must   tell him something better than what I had been telling him before. I told him,   Comrade, I have nothing to say. There is nothing I am going to change in this   story that I have given you, because if I said something else I would be telling   a blatant lie, and as a believer or a Christian I felt that if I had to tell   a lie that would eat away at my conscience. And I told him that I could not   betray my comrades by disclosing secrets and talking. It was a very painful   situation for me. It was a do or die situation.
 I told him I wasn't going to be able to tell him lies.   That's when he started assaulting me. The two of them they made me sit on a   chair. The other one was standing at the back of the chair and the other one   was standing in front of me and they were assaulting me until such time as I   fell onto the ground. Then they started kicking me. They clapped me several   times across my face. I was severely assaulted. I was just treated like a donkey.
 Thereafter I was taken back into the hole. I stayed there   once more.