Human Rights Violation Hearings — George — 1996-06-19

MS MASEKO: I have a problem, since I lost my husband there is something that cannot comfort me, it's always keeping me sick when my children look at where they are staying - they have always very sad, because their father had built them a home and it was destroyed and everything we had was destroyed.  Now personally I do not have the energy to built them a home like the one their father built for them.
 Secondly my children's education was being paid for by him, I did not have the means and the energy to pay for their education.  I have a child who passed std 10 in 1993.  He stayed for about - for two years out of school but very eager to continue with this education.  Till this year, his sister felt sorry for him, the sister who is in Jo'burg.
And enrolled him at the college in a Coloured area called Hornley.  Where he is taking a computer course, a six months computer course.  In six months R1,000-00 has to be paid plus book fees, which is - which are quite high, the sister paid the R1,000-00 for the six months and I tried the books, but I couldn't get all of them, because each of the books cost about R60-00, I managed to buy three, I couldn't buy the fourth one.
 That's very sad to me, that is very-very sad as he was writing exams after the six months had expired, he said mom I would like to continue and then I said my child I won't have this R1,000-00 again for the next six months.  I don't know where - what I'll do.  He has a sister who is doing std 10 this year, my pain is that I don't know what to do with her if she passes her Std 10.  
 There are other sisters coming after here, they also at school - all of them, there are five of them come after her, they also at school, I don't have the energy to take care of these kids, I can't do anything for them.  But myself too after all this, I became very weak in health suffering from high blood.  I - I only work two days a week and get R30-00 a day, nothing - no other support is coming forth and from the money that I get from the Government for food, I just add on that just to cloth them, to cloth myself - it's very  [indistinct] it's a very  [indistinct] amount, I don't know what to do.
 So my request was that if I could be helped with my - with their education and also in rebuilding the home that they wish for, that would be nice, so that they should never again be saying if our father were here, this would be like this and this would be like that, so that, that could now stop.
 Thank you.

MS SEROKE: What happened to your house at Plettenberg Bay - what happened to the house that you left in Plettenberg now.

MS MASEKO: They burnt it, they burnt it down with everything in it.

MS SEROKE: Thank you, the Chairperson will now take over.

CHAIRPERSON: Ms Maseko you say that your children tried to find out from the ANC what actually happened.  Is the ANC still looking into this case, are they still trying to clarify the matter?

MS MASEKO: When they tried and they said they can't get any truth.

CHAIRPERSON: But this present moment is the ANC doing anything more or  [indistinct]

MS MASEKO: There is nothing that ANC is doing.

MS SEROKE: Would you also like us to investigate or would you like us to wait a while.

MS MASEKO: I will be very happy and that's my wish to know the cause - the death of - that causes the death of my husband because I never got the real cause up until now.

MS SEROKE: Do you have the names of those who were in - who were the office bearers then in your branch, the people whom you kept on phoning.

MS MASEKO: I do have the names.

MS SEROKE: Would you kindly please give us those names and their phone numbers if you know them.

MS MASEKO: Unfortunately I don't know the phone numbers, but the people who helped to investigate this who were from PE, it was Mr and Ms Fasi, Mkusele Jack from PE and the members of the Council of Churches in Oudtshoorn.  I don't know their phone numbers.

MS SEROKE: We know the others whom you've mentioned.

MARY BURTON: Ms Maseko thank you very much, this has been very hard for you and we are really grateful for your courage and strength in telling us all of this.  We have taken note of the things that you have asked, and we will do our best to see what is possible to assist, we have already made some investigations into the things that you have told us in your statement and we will pursue with the other people you have named to see whether there is anymore that an be established.  
 And we wish you and your family well and thank you very much.

MS MASEKO: Okay, thank you.