Human Rights Violation Hearings — Bloemfontein — UNKNOWN

DR BORAINE: Thank you. Will you be seated please. Mrs Mashoang,my colleague, Dr Mgojo, is going to take over from me now, and he will assistyou in the telling of your story. Thank you.

KHOZA MGOJO: (Inaudible) ... we are sorry that this hashappened to you and your family, as the Chairperson has already said. I reallywant you to give us your background, family background, even before you cometo the narrative itself about this incident about the death of your son. Can you capture for us your historical family background?--- Well, Mpho was my first-born son. I have two other kids who are both mentallyretarded. So he was doing his third year at Vista University here in Bloemfontein.

KHOZA MGOJO: When was he born?

WITNESS: He was born on the 22nd of March 1964.

KHOZA MGOJO: So he was your first-born?

WITNESS: Yes.

KHOZA MGOJO: Okay. And when this happened how old was he?

WITNESS: He was 24.

KHOZA MGOJO: Pardon?

WITNESS: He was 24, going for 25.

KHOZA MGOJO: 24. Just tell us about his life, the political associationsor such things. Just tell us the story.

WITNESS: Okay. Before he came to Vista hehad been at Mabopane Technikon, and there was quite a lot of violence then,but I didn't know that he was involved in any political organisation until hecame to Vista. Then I noticed that he was somehow inclined politically. I satdown with him and asked him if he is involved in politics, and he said to me,"No, it's not a political organisation, it's just a students' organisation."

KHOZA MGOJO: When he said that it was not a political organisation, it wasa student organisation ... (intervention)

WITNESS: I was asking him. In fact I wassaying to him, "I can see that you are involved in politics, and I would ratheryou complete your studies before involving yourself too much in politics." Sohe said to me, "It is not a political organisation, it is just a students' organisation."And I believe he was holding a prominent position because ... (intervention)

KHOZA MGOJO: Did he tell you what this student organisation was called?

WITNESS: Yes. He said it was SANSCO.

KHOZA MGOJO: And did he tell you what its function was?

WITNESS: No.

KHOZA MGOJO: Okay.

WITNESS: He said it was just a students' organisation, andI believe he was holding a prominent position because he had a van that he hadbeen given, so I think he was organising for the Free State. In fact he saidhe has been given this van, they are using it to organise for this organisationin the whole of the Free State.

KHOZA MGOJO: Yes.

WITNESS: So on the - he left on the 6th of February 1989, sayingto me he is getting to Johannesburg, because this organisation doesn't haveenough funds in the Free State and they have promised to help them with theireducation. So he said in order to meet us halfway he is going to Johannesburgto get funds from the organisation in Johannesburg. And he had got a telegramthat was signed Joe - signed by Joe, that he was coming. So when this Joe camethey came in the morning. There were two of them in an Opel Kadett car. Whenthis Joe came there were two of them, and I can't remember what he said thisother one's name was. But normally he used to take me to work, so this otherone, the one who died with him, accompanied him and they took me to work. Butthis other one remained home and said he was tired, so Mpho prepared his bedroomfor him for him to sleep there whilst they were taking me to work. At 4 o'clockwhen I knocked off Mpho, together with this one ... (incomplete - end of SideA, Tape 6) ... all three of them were there. They had supper and they left.During the night - we hadn't locked the back door for them to come in, so thatthey don't disturb us. During the night at about 9.00 pm I heard thatthere was somebody in the house, so I got up, switched on the light. This otherone who had said he was tired when they came in the morning was sitting in thelounge on the couch in darkness. Then I switched on the light and asked him,"Why are you sitting in darkness?" He said, "No, I don't want to disturb you."But what I noticed was that he was hiding his face, he didn't want me to beable to see him. Then I asked him where the other two were. He said they werecoming. All right, I left him and I got back to bed. At about 12 midnight Icould hear that Mpho and the other were in too. Then I asked Mpho, "Are youhere?" He said, "No, Mum, I didn't want to disturb you. We are leaving now."That was the last I saw of him. In fact I heard from him. The following daywhen I came back from work I asked if Mpho hadn't phoned, and they said he hadn'tphoned. Then I suspected that there was something, because he never used toleave home and not phone for such a long time. Then I started asking his friends,"Where do you think Mpho is?" None of them knew, and then I said to them, "Okay,I am now going to the police for them to help me look for Mpho." And what theysaid was, "Please, Mama, don't go to the police, because the minute you go tothe police Mpho will be harassed. Every time there's something he'll be takento gaol." And from what people used to say, people who had been in gaol, thenI felt I would rather not go to the police, because I didn't want him to gothrough what the people said they go through when they are in gaol. We startedtrying to look for Mpho until towards the end of February. Unfortunately I can'tremember the date well.  In The Sunday Times there was an article that three schoolchildren,three students, were killed. The names were there, but fortunately Mpho's namewas wrongly written, so I didn't recognise it. Then that Friday we got a telephonecall from Nelspruit SACC offices to say we should please come to the SACC officesat Nelspruit. So that Friday night we drove over to Nelspruit. When we got toNelspruit we got there Saturday at about 11.00 am, so when we got there thosegentlemen who helped us said they think they have a clue as to where Mpho is,but now we would have to go over to Swaziland, and because it was a weekendwe couldn't go, it had to be the Monday. We had driven over to Nelspruit beingfour. It was my husband, myself, and a friend of mine, a Mrs Ramagaga, and whenwe got to Virginia we picked up another gentleman who's my friend's husband.So we all drove over to Nelspruit. So on noticing that we had to stay over forthe weekend my husband and this gentleman from Virginia came back, and I remainedwith Mrs Ramagaga. The Monday morning we left for Swaziland. When we got tothe border I couldn't cross over, I didn't have a passport, so they said wecould get emergency passports at the offices, which were about two kilometresaway. We drove back to those offices. When we got there they said they didn'thave forms for emergency passports. Then I remained at Nelspruit Hospital. Ihad a colleague there I knew. Mrs Ramagaga and these two gentlemen from theSACC offices of Nelspruit crossed over to Swaziland. I stayed in the hospitalthat whole Monday, until in the evening when they hadn't come back they prepareda bed for me and I slept in the nurses' home. Tuesday morning at about 9 o'clockMrs Ramagaga came in.  They said they couldn't come to me the previous day becausethey came back very late from Swaziland. So I asked her if she had found Mpho,and she said ... (incomplete)

KHOZA MGOJO: Okay, take time, Mama.

WITNESS: (Pause) She said they found himat the bush, and the body was decomposed and she could only identify him byhis haircut. So then we had to come back to Bloemfontein to prepare for thefuneral. Then I phoned these people from the SACC at Nelspruit to find out ifthere couldn't be an inquest, and they said from the experience they have withthe Swaziland Police there won't be any inquest, because they normally say theyhave a backlog with their inquests, so that - that was all.