Human Rights Violation Hearings — Mooiriver — 1997-05-28

WITNESS:   It was on the Saturday, June 16th.  I think it was in the late afternoon, just after lunch, because there was a funeral at Mthethwa's house on this particular day.  There were three of us in the house.  That is myself, my wife and Mdudi Mkhulu, who was a builder, and he had come with a building contract.  There was nothing out of the ordinary on that particular day.  I went into the house, because we were sitting outside the house in the yard, the three of us.  And when I got into the house I heard somebody screaming and asking as to, "What is it that you are hitting me with?  You've got a sharp instrument that you are hitting me with."  And I heard Mdudi Mkhulu screaming and saying that he had been shot.  He tried to stand up, but he couldn't.  And later on we discovered that the police were shooting at the residents, and Mdudi Mkhulu went into the house with my wife and he was limping.  And when I looked at her dress on the right-hand side the dress was torn, as well as the petticoat.  There was a

MR LAX: /hold.

MR LAX: hole.  I realised that she had been shot and I went out, trying to seek some help, and I came across the police, who were just nearby.  They were having guns in their hands.  I fortunately got Mr Mthembu's car and I requested him to help me take my wife to the hospital.  Mthembu was from the funeral, and he took his car and took my wife to the hospital.  And we went past the police.  We stopped the car right in front of them and Mthembu showed me the station commander, who was coming from the van which was parked nearby Ngcongo's place.  It was Sergeant du Toit on the other side.  He was also on top of the van.  He also had a gun.  Mthembu explained to the station commander, George Niehaus, that my wife had been shot and she was lying outside the house.  He just said he was very sorry about what had happened but he just couldn't help us.  And we went past and tried to get some medical help in town.  Because it was on a Saturday the doctors' surgeries were closed.  And as we were still confused in town, not knowing where to go, we saw quite a number of vans passing up the road.  It was Sergeant du Toit in his own van, together with his policemen, and there was also a police Casspir.  We followed them to the police station and we got to the police station at the same time.  We spoke to the station commander once more and told them that we couldn't get a doctor to help my wife.  That's when he started to even look at my life and examine her injuries.  He said that my wife had been shot with a rubber bullet, and I asked him as to how he could say this is a rubber bullet.  How could it have torn her clothes if it was a rubber bullet?  I went on to ask him as to what was happening, why was my wife shot, because where we were sitting there was no large group of people who looked like they were rioting, it was perfectly calm in that area at that time.  He asked me whether I was impressed with what was happening in Brandville.  He asked me as to how much Majola's house cost, and I realised that he was taking sides and I stopped talking to him at that stage, but I further asked him as to what was I supposed to do with my injured wife.  He said we should take her to the nearest police station and not to them, and we took her back to the house.  When we got to the house she couldn't stand up and get out of the car.  We took her to the Brandville Clinic, where they phoned the ambulance from Mjezi.  The following day on the 17th she was transferred to Mjezi Hospital, and the x-rays indicated that the bullet was lodged inside her muscle.  But what surprised me was that the following Monday she was discharged from the Mjezi Hospital, and they said she would come back whenever she encounters any problem.  From then on she never was quite the same.  She was very sickly.  This happened in 1990.  1991 went by, and throughout 1990 she was ill.  At times she wouldn't be even able to get out of her bed.  Then in 1992 there were members of the Goldstone Commission who came to investigate, and they were the ones who followed the story up, and they wanted to know as to how she was shot.  They took my wife with.  They took her to Greys Hospital and they discovered that the bullet was still lodged in her body.  A few days went by and she went back.  They wanted to extract the bullet.  After that she became violently ill.  She was never better thereafter.  She was going in and out of the hospital.  Then in 1992 we submitted a statement to the Goldstone Commission, and we were called to the 'Maritzburg Supreme Court to testify with regard to this matter, and about George Niehaus.  There were quite a number of cases or matters in which George Niehaus was involved, but I never got to testify, but we later on heard that all the charges against him had been dropped, but it was never explained to us as to how this happened because we never got to testify.  And my wife was ill all that time, then in 1994 she gave up the fight.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... at that time?

WITNESS:   That is correct.

MR LAX: He was actually convicted of murder and went to gaol.  It might not have been murder, it may have been something else, but he certainly was convicted on some charges.  We will find out for you precisely what those charges were, and ascertain whether it involved your wife's case or not.  What I can tell you is that I have spoken to Mr du Toit, who confirms that from ballistics experts, people who look at bullets and look at guns, a bullet from his gun was the one that hit your wife. However, he says that it was a bullet that must have hit something else and then touched your wife, because he wasn't firing directly at where you were sitting and your wife was sitting.  And from what you've told us they weren't shooting directly at you.  Is that correct?  I am asking.

WITNESS:   This is not like the way they did it, or the way - because I think they didn't want to see a black person.  There is nothing - or no doubt in my mind that indicates that that was a mistake on their part.  As I have already related the story there was no gathering, and it was not a riotous situation, it was relatively calm.  There were only the three of us, so they couldn't have mistaken us with any group, so they were shooting at us I could say.

MR LAX: What Mr du Toit says happened is that he was driving in a vehicle, following Mr Niehaus' car, that some people started stoning his and Mr Niehaus' vehicles.  He says he fired a warning shot, but that it either went over a wall, or hit the wall and went over, and that is the bullet that hit your wife.

WITNESS:   I don't think I understand what you're telling me.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... what he says happened.  For the record, he was never prosecuted or charged for shooting your wife.  Do you confirm that?

WITNESS:   I want to know as to why he wasn't formally charged, because my wife went through so much pain and nothing was done.  Then it means we have no law, there's absolutely no justice.

MR LAX: We will investigate that aspect further for you.  We will try and find out why he wasn't actually prosecuted.  We will try and find out what the police did about it.  Now, did you ever go and see lawyers, or try and make a case for your wife's injuries?

WITNESS:   As she was shot in 1990 thereafter there was violence and I lost my job, and therefore I was not able to enlist their help.  And I should know that he admitted to having shot my wife, but thereafter I was not notified, I had no information whatsoever with regard to that.  This is the very first time that I am hearing that du Toit is the one who shot my wife.  I never knew that.

MR LAX: We will investigate further these other aspects and try and give you proper information as to exactly why he wasn't charged or prosecuted in any way.  This - the son of your wife, Mvuseni, is he schooling?