Human Rights Violation Hearings — Bisho — 1996-11-18

BUSHY PETROS VANTYU: The same thing you can see on the skipper, the sweater, it's not directly where you saw the dot, and my analysis is that as I was turning the bullet hit me on the muscle because I twisted and it went out on the other side, meaning which I was shot by somebody on the Fort Hare University side.

MR POTGIETER: Definitely not from the front, it was definitely shot from behind.

BUSHY PETROS VANTYU: Not from the front.

MR POTGIETER: Okay.

BUSHY PETROS VANTYU: A group of comrades were on the entrance I could notice that others were close to tears.  I could feel that something was terribly wrong with the right-hand side of my body just below my ribs and I could see blood on the skipper I was wearing.  One Coloured guy tore the T-shirt I was wearing underneath and rolled it and told me to press it hard on my side.  I felt very thirsty and asked for water
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and as I drank it I immediately vomited.  I was taken by three comrades, Mze Mbatemba, Kenenan one whose name I didn't know in an Audi to Grey Hospital in King Williamstown.  As we moved out of the stadium people were crying and shouting that we should stop there were other dead people.
 The comrade I didn't know kept on asking me questions and I kept on answering but I couldn't understand why.  When we reached Grey Hospital I was put on the floor and there were people lying all round bleeding.  Some were crying and others were groaning.  I saw Dr Sekupa and as she passed by I grabbed her by the dress and told her that something was terribly wrong with my side.  She called and someone telling her that I had disembowelment. She put a bandage tightly around my waist.  She also put me on a drip.  Then came Comrade Joe Jongle and his brother Zwai and they took me to Frere Hospital.  I fell asleep when we approached Berlin and woke up when we reached Frere Hospital.
 I was told that I was going to be operated on and my relative had to sign a document.  I asked to sign it myself as there was no one.  The last thing I remember is lying on my back looking with interest at the bright light above me.  The next thing I was lying in a ward with a huge operation scar on my stomach, the hole on my side.  I would like to also demonstrate the operation that was made on my stomach.

MR POTGIETER: Certainly.

BUSHY PETROS VANTYU: Starting from here and it ends up where the belly ends.

MR POTGIETER: The scar is right in the middle almost over the length of the stomach on both sides of the navel, I'd say about 10 to 12 centimetres.  Thank you.
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BUSHY PETROS VANTYU: Thanks.  The doctor told me that the entrance wound was on the back and the exit on the side.  A lot of people used to visit me at the hospital.  Then Miss Lumika Makubalo a nurse in our ward noticed members of the Ciskei Police who were looking for an injured soldier called Bushy.  Bushy is my MK name.  She noticed that their behaviour was suspicious and informed the authorities.  They did not tell her their names but she knew they were Ciskei Police.
 The hospital authorities informed the ANC office and I was secretly moved into a private ward.  Only my family members whose names were registered at the hospital were allowed to visit me.  Even my colleagues at the office could not visit me.  I missed those visits a lot.
 Two of my younger brothers had to take turns in being my security guards.  They had to stay literally on my bedside all the time.  I was discharged from the hospital on the 17th of September 1992.  I insisted on being discharged.  My wound on the side was still open and I walked painfully and slow.  I couldn't go back home and had to stay with a friend in town.
 In conclusion I would like to make various appeals.  The first appeal would be to former Ciskei soldiers. It appears to me that the Bisho massacre was a pre-planned incident judging by the manner in which the security forces were deployed both on the RSA and Ciskei side.  The declaration of certain districts of the Border region as unrest areas by the RSA government on the 5th of September 1992 can only lead one to conclude that they were privy to some secret information.  This has been corroborated this morning by Minister Kriel when he says they had information that there was going to be problems and trouble.  I would 
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maybe ask the Commission in that sphere maybe to ask him what was the problem and trouble they were foreseeing.
 I would like to appeal to the soldiers who were involved in the shooting to come to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee and tell the citizens of this country what orders did they receive prior to their deployment.  I sort-of believe that the testimony of the commanding officers only around the Bisho massacre won't lead us anywhere near the truth.  If possibly the people that did the shooting could come and seek amnesty and forgiveness and give out their sincere understanding of the events on that particular day would be the better option for me.  I plead with them to come and tell the people what exactly happened during the massacre.  I also appeal to Brigadier Gqozo to cure himself.  I have learned that on some occasions when the Brigadier was asked to come it was reported that he was ill.  To my analysis you know his illnesses are caused by the various things that he keeps inside.  Maybe it's going to help him when he lets them out. Quote to the Brigadier the arc defenders of apartheid are telling it, why not you Brig?  
 I appeal to leaders of political parties to stop making political mileage of our tragic past but to tell it as it is.  The process is costly, that is the TRC process, but worth it of course.  The sooner it is completed the better.
 Then my appeal is also to the TRC.  The compensation given to some of the victims of the Bisho massacre is pathetic and a disgrace.  I have read from Press cuttings that people, some people who had their relatives killed in Bisho got as little as R500,00, and I must state that that hurt me.   I mean I got R8 000 which I was not really 
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worried with, but how come can I get R8 000 and somebody who has his relative killed and gets R500,00?  Logically I can't understand that.  Let the Ministry of Defence and the attorneys representing the victims come public and tell the people how much was the settlement amount, I mean the whole amount and why did some of the families of the deceased receive as little as R500,00?
 I would like to thank the Committee for giving me this opportunity to come and give my side of the story.  Of course I didn't have enough time to prepare and I wouldn't have loved to go beyond my terms of reference, but there's a lot of information I would have loved to gather around the events of the day, but I feel the best people are the perpetrators to tell the truth.  Thank you Mr Chairman.

MR POTGIETER: I thank you in anticipation Mr Vantyu.  I am not going to entertain questions at this stage.  I am going to first take the testimony of the remaining three witnesses and then I'll ask the panel whether they would have anything in particular they would want to put.  I assume that you are finished with the questioning Advocate Sandi?  Thank you.
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MR POTGIETER: I am going to move on to the last witness of this group, Nongaliphi Lenha Nzilane and Ms Maya will assist you with presenting your testimony.

MS MAYA: I greet you today.  You are also going to talk about your son, Mlungisi Harold Ndodana Nzilane who was shot and passed away on the 7th of September 1992 in Bisho.  Could you tell us exactly what happened to your son.