Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pretoria — 1996-08-14

CHAIRPERSON: Would you help me, is your name pronounced "Makgatho" or "Mikgatho"?

MARIA MAKGATHO: It is pronounced Makgatho.

CHAIRPERSON: We welcome you, Mrs Makgatho.  Who are you with?

MARIA MAKGATHO: It is my mother and my grandmother.  This one next to me is my grandmother.

CHAIRPERSON: We welcome you, please Mrs Makgatho, relax.  Before you continue, Mr Wynand Malan will lead you and let you take the oath.

MARIA MAKGATHO: (Duly sworn, states).

MR MALAN: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: I will request Hugh Lewin to guide you as you give your evidence.

MR LEWIN: A very warm welcome to you, Mrs Makgatho. We would like to thank you for coming and for staying on for so long, to be with us.  I believe that you now live, you stay in Soshanguve.

MARIA MAKGATHO: Yes.

MR LEWIN: But the incident you will be telling us about involving your husband, actually took place in Thembisa, Ivory Park in Thembisa.

MARIA MAKGATHO: Yes.
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MR LEWIN: In October 1993.  If you could just take your time and tell us in your own words what happened.  Thank you.

MARIA MAKGATHO: It was on the 23rd of October 1993 on a Saturday.  That was the last day when I lived there, my husband leaving for work.
 At about 20 to eight, when I was still in the house, one of his friends, Mandla Sithole who worked with him came and said there is a problem.  There was violence in Thembisa. Rufus was one of the people who was in that violence.  There was a company car hi-jacked.  Rufus went there and when he arrived there there was violence between ANC and Inkatha.  
 When Rufus came to the scene one of their groups noticed the car in which Rufus was driving in and then thought it was the police.  That is when these people started stoning this car in which Rufus was driving.  Some of them fired at the car.  Then they came across a blocked road, that is when now they decided to get out of the car.  All of them were five in the car.  They ran in different directions, looking for shelter.  
 This is what I heard.  He hid himself next to a tree, but he fell down. Then there was something held there, something like a Kangaroo Court.  Amongst the five only one managed to run away.  Only four of the five were caught. Rufus was shot.  He had an AK-47 bullet wound.  Some of them were axed with tomahawks and then the car - petrol was poured over them and then set alight.

MR LEWIN: What happened afterwards?

MARIA MAKGATHO: Mandla said I do not know what happened, maybe they are still alive, but we will go there and see
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what happened.  
 We left home at half past four in the morning.  We left for Olifantsfontein.  When we entered the firm we found the car in which they were travelling, which was a Sentra model 1993, was burnt.  I thought that we should go to Ivory Park.  When we entered Ivory Park, there was one of Mandla's friends who worked with him and said to us where are you heading for, because people are fighting on that other end. I said to Mandla, ask him what is happening. This man said there are people that died that side.  
 Then we left for Midrand police station.  We explained to the police that there are people who died in Ivory Park, and there is someone who is missing, whom we know.  Well, the policeman said we would know if such a thing had happened. One White policeman and asked what was the problem.  I explained to him what the problem was. Then he drove us to that place.  Before we could enter Ivory Park, there were police vans who stopped us.  Two police vans went into Ivory Park. After some time they came back and said we found six corpses but we cannot identify which one belongs to you.
 So we went back to the police station in Midrand and then they summoned helicopters and Hippos, even newspaper journalists and TV journalists.  We went back.  That is when we found all those corpses burnt.  There were about four and they were packed one above the other.  You could only see half of the legs of these corpses, but to identify him, we managed to see a piece of his T-shirt that was not burnt.  
 These people in the Sowetan, I saw that the witness who was going to testify for these people who were murdered in Ivory Park has been killed.  (Witness breaks down and 
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cries).

MR LEWIN: Take your time, Mrs Makgatho.  You don't have to continue. If you would like to stop now, please do.

CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Makgatho, thank you, Mrs Makgatho, we have heard your story. We will try by all means to help you.
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