Human Rights Violation Hearings — Duncan Village — 1996-09-24

UNKNOWN: The first one is in standard nine, he was born in 1977.  The second one was born in 1981, he is in standard six.  The third one was born in 1984, he is in standard three.  The forth one is in sub A and the other one was born in 1991, he is in pre-school and the younger one is at home.

REV XUNDU: These children are your burden, because your husband is unemployed?

UNKNOWN: Yes.

REV XUNDU: And you don't get any pension?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I don't get any pension.

REV XUNDU: Thank you, Mr Chairman.

BONGANI FINCA: June Crichton?

JUNE CRICHTON: Can you hear me Ms Mvandaba?  Can you hear me now?

UNKNOWN: Yes.

JUNE CRICHTON: There are two questions I have for you.  The first one, you were in your yard hanging out napkins when you were shot and you say that you saw a mello yello.  Now was there anybody else in the yard with you - a witness to the shooting of you that actually saw it happen?

UNKNOWN: I'm not sure whether there is someone inside here who can verify that but everybody in my Section knows that I was shot while I was in the washing line.

JUNE CRICHTON: And the second question that I have for you
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is did you ever approach an attorney?

UNKNOWN: No, I didn't.

JUNE CRICHTON: Thank you.

BONGANI FINCA: Thank you.  Please proceed Ntsikelelo.

MR SANDI: Let us now go to Mr Christopher Majuba.  I would like to greet you Mr Majuba.  Looking at your statement, there is a request that you should make an appearance before this Commission to explain and tell what happened to your brother Themba Majuba on a Wednesday in August 1985.
 Looking at this statement again you say you were absent at the time, but when you arrived you got the information that your brother had been shot dead.
 Could you explain further what actually happened on this day in particular.

UNKNOWN: Yes, I can.  I think the fact that in the statement is reflected that I was not there, is a mistake because when I got there I saw Themba and I asked for the key to the house.
 And I asked him to go and get the key to the house.  And instead of him coming back, a child came back with the key telling me that Themba had gone to the shop and that was at about seven o'clock at night.
 So I waited for him until very late at night and I went to sleep.  The following morning a friend of mine, Nolexi Buswana came to see me and he asked me that I should go to a meeting at Skonzana Stadium so we went there.
 And as we were talking as comrades I was told that the people whose relatives were missing should go to hospital and to the police station or to the mortuary to look for that person.

MR SANDI: Was Themba missing at the time?
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UNKNOWN: Yes, he did not come back on Wednesday and even on Thursday I went to bed not knowing anything about his whereabouts. So I decided to send his friends to go and check for him at the police station and hospital and they couldn't find him.
 And on Friday morning I went to the police station and hospital to go and search for him.

MR SANDI: Is this the Duncan Village police station?

UNKNOWN: Yes, it is.

MR SANDI: You did not find him there and you proceeded to the Cambridge police station and you couldn't find him?

UNKNOWN: I went to hospital and I couldn't find him, then I proceeded to the mortuary in Cambridge and I met a short man who asked me what I wanted, then I told him I was looking for my brother who was missing.
 And he asked me what was he wearing when I last saw him so I explained to him that he had a blue duster coat and he said this description suited someone who was there in the mortuary.

MR SANDI: Was that the police station mortuary?

UNKNOWN: Yes it was.

MR SANDI: So you ultimately saw the body and identified it?

UNKNOWN: Yes, he showed me the body and I identified the body.

MR SANDI: What did you see on his body?

UNKNOWN: I noticed that there was a hole on his head which was quite big and bad and his head was crushed.

MR SANDI: Didn't you asked how it had happened that his body was there?

UNKNOWN: I couldn't ask because the man said he had found the body laying there in the mortuary.
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MR SANDI: By the same you say you went back home to go and tell the people at home?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I did.

MR SANDI: Was it at home that you discovered that comrades told you about the lawyers that were handling matters of this nature?

UNKNOWN: Yes.  A few days later comrades came and informed me about some lawyers that were stationed at the Roman Catholic Church who were handling matters of the people whose relatives had been murdered.

MR SANDI: Did you perhaps see any of these lawyers?

UNKNOWN: Yes, we went as a family to see these lawyers.

MR SANDI: Who were these lawyers?

UNKNOWN: I can remember Mr Lalla.  I think even Mr Nisasuwi was one of them.

MR SANDI: Did you talk to these lawyers?

UNKNOWN: The lawyers said they had come to our assistance and also they wanted to have statements in order to investigate about these matters.

MR SANDI: Which lawyer did you actually talk to?

UNKNOWN: We talked to Mr Lalla.

MR SANDI: Is there any other thing that you had or perhaps some correspondence from Mr Lalla which you've got?

UNKNOWN: No.   What happened is in 1989 one day I got some summons from the Lloyd police station which as from Mr Colonel de Vos asking me that I should go to court on a particular date.

MR SANDI: Did you go to court?

UNKNOWN: Before I went to court, I took this summons and took it to Mr Lalla, but I couldn't find him.  And I went on frequently until I got Mr Lalla and explained everything to
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him and gave the summons to him.
 And he asked whether I had never received any letter from their office.  I told them no I had never received it.
 And he insisted that he had sent us a letter, but we had not received this letter.

MR SANDI: What did he say was the contents of the letter?

UNKNOWN: He did not explain, but I determined that he was not telling the truth.

MR SANDI: Did you ever leave your house after you had met Mr Lalla for the first time?

UNKNOWN: No.

MR SANDI: Then you say Mr Lalla promised that he would go with you to court?

UNKNOWN: Yes, that's what he said but I decided not to wait and I decided to go to his office so that we should go together to court and he agreed.

MR SANDI: Did you get him on the day at this office?

UNKNOWN: I went to his office, but I didn't find him and what I did was to go direct to the court and that is where I found him.
 And we were called into the court and after tea time Mr Lalla was called in by the Magistrate and they said they were adjourning the case.

MR SANDI: What was it that they were talking about here in court?  Were there some suspects that could have killed your brother?

UNKNOWN: We were the only two people that were connected to this case.

MR SANDI: According to what you heard did they perhaps refer to this case as an inquest?

UNKNOWN: Yes.
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MR SANDI: What was the outcome of the inquest?

UNKNOWN: It was the second time that we were going to court and Mr Lalla told me that my brother had been shot by a police from Pretoria and the third time we went to court I  again received a summons from Mr de Vos and I went there on my own because Mr Lalla was unavailable.
 And he wouldn't tell me of the outcome of the court case.  Then I heard about a Prosecutor that they were saying my brother's body was found laying down and there were stones in his hands, but I wasn't happy with this explanation because I feel it wasn't true.

MR SANDI: Now ultimately Mr Majuba, did you actually get to know who actually killed your brother?