Human Rights Violation Hearings — Cradock — 1996-02-10

BONGANI FINCA: We will call to the stand Nomakula Notwala.  We welcome you Mrs Nomakula Notwala.  We will hand over to Reverend Xundu to administer the oath, after that Ntsiki Sandi will lead you in evidence.  Thank you.

REV XUNDU: Thank you Mr Chairperson.

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: (sworn states)

REV XUNDU: Thank you.  Mr Chairperson, the witness has been properly sworn in.

MR SANDI: Thank you Mr Chairperson.  Mrs Notwala, you have made a request to talk about Sonwabo Mdekazi, who was your brother.  Is that so Mrs Notwala?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Yes, sir.

MR SANDI: As you gave your statement, you said that your brother was shot in 1987.  Where was he shot?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: He was shot in Port Elizabeth.

MR SANDI: Could you briefly tell us about your brother?  According to your statement he went into exile, what was he involved in politically?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: In 1977 he was a student in Cradock.  He burnt down a school, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
 He went into prison, St Albans, he was released in November, 1980.  He then went into exile in 1981.  We were never happy again at home.  The police constantly would come up.  Sometimes they would put him into a sack, this is when
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my mother started being ill of health.
 She also went blind.

MR SANDI: Are these the sacks that the police usually used to torture people?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Yes.

MR SANDI: Is this what he would tell you when he came back from prison?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No, they would take him from home and put him into a sack at home and then take him to prison.

MR SANDI: Do you know any police, the names of the police who did that?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: I remember Gcali.

MR SANDI: Is Gcali still a policeman in Port Elizabeth?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: I don't know, it was here in Cradock.

MR SANDI: When last did you hear about Gcali?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: It has been a while, because he left Cradock.

MR SANDI: You said that Sonwabo left, when did he leave?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: He left in 1984, left Cradock in 1984.

MR SANDI: Where was he going?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: He didn't say where he was going.  It is just the police who would come and say that they have killed him or they kept him in prison.  We didn't know exactly what was happening with him, we got different reports.

MR SANDI: Would he write to you or phone you or anything like that?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No, he did not contact us.

MR SANDI: Did you hear about his whereabouts?  Let's go back to 1987 - you say that in August, on the 5th of August 1987, what exactly happened?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: On the 5th of August 1987, there was a policeman from the Special Branch that came to our house.
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He came and told us that he killed Sonwabo at the Port Elizabeth airport.
 We tried to investigate, we told our brothers in Port Elizabeth.  We just accepted that report that he had been killed at the airport.  However, later we found out that he was not killed at the airport, but he was killed at Gekiza Road, at New Brighton.
 There was a case going on, and we would continue going to Port Elizabeth, but no one was convicted.  When the court case was over, the court of law declared that Sonwabo was a well-trained terrorist and therefor no one can be convicted.

MR SANDI: Did you ascertain who it is who came and gave the report that he had killed Sonwabo?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No, we did not.  These people never identified themselves.

MR SANDI: When you would go to the court of law, did you see this police?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Well, I can't say, because there were a lot of police that would come to our house and you didn't know who to take seriously.

MR SANDI: Is there somebody else that was shot in Gekiza Road?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No one else was shot, but him.

MR SANDI: The people who saw this, the witnesses, what did they say happened?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Nobody ever gave evidence as such.  We just got a report from court that he had been shot in Gekiza Road.

MR SANDI: You didn't even hear rumours that perhaps he had been killed a certain way?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No, because we are here in Cradock.
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MR SANDI: Do you have his Death Certificate?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Yes, I do.

MR SANDI: Before I ask you what your requests are before the Commission, is that all that you have to say?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Yes, sir.

MR SANDI: Do you have a request to the Commission?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Yes, I do.  I would like to request that the Commission gives him a tombstone and also to help my mother.

MR SANDI: Where was he buried?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: He was buried here in Cradock.

MR SANDI: Is that all you have to say Mrs Notwala?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Yes, thank you.

MR SANDI: I will hand you over to Mr Chairperson, thank you.

BONGANI FINCA: Mrs Notwala, I just want to understand.  When Sonwabo was in exile, was he a member of the ANC?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Yes, he was working actually for the ANC.

BONGANI FINCA: Was he a soldier?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Well, I don't know.

BONGANI FINCA: You just heard that he was killed in New Brighton?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Excuse me?

BONGANI FINCA: You just discovered that he was killed in New Brighton in 1987?  You didn't even know whether he is a soldier, Umkhonto We Sizwe soldier?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No.

BONGANI FINCA: When he died, who told you?  Was it the ANC or the police?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: The police.

BONGANI FINCA: Is it the police that told you that he had been killed by the police?  Did the ANC give you any report of his death?
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NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No.

BONGANI FINCA: On the day of the funeral, was there an ANC speaker?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: No, there was not.  There wasn't because we were only given three hours to bury him for the funeral.  Everything was done in a rush.

BONGANI FINCA: After the ANC was unbanned, did the ANC give a report that your brother was a member of Umkhonto We Sizwe and died whilst in battle?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Nobody came.

BONGANI FINCA: Who prepared for the funeral?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Headbush in Port Elizabeth.

BONGANI FINCA: Are there leaders of the ANC where you stayed?

NOMAKULA NOTWALA: Well, I don't know because I was not a member of the ANC, I was not in the struggle, it was Sonwabo who was in the struggle.

BONGANI FINCA: I am asking these questions, because I just need clarity on the fact that if someone dies in battle, then the organisation, be it ANC or AZAPO, then they at least show that it is their soldier that has passed away.
 I am not saying that is the case, but I would like to investigate, for us to investigate on exactly what happened, because we cannot depend on a police report.  There should be ownership from the organisation that he had been deployed by the ANC to Port Elizabeth.  We would like to put this in a political context.
 If there is anything else we need to investigate, or any questions we need from you, we will come back to you.  In the mean time thank you very much for your help.  We will try to delve deeper into the matter, thank you.