Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pretoria — 1996-08-14

CHAIRPERSON: We call Mrs Philla Moima.  We welcome you here Mrs Moima.  Who is accompanying you?

PHILLA MOIMA: It is my husband.

CHAIRPERSON: We also welcome you, Sir. I would ask Mr Wynand Malan to administer an oath to you.

MR MALAN: Will you stand to take the oath, please?

PHILLA MOIMA: (Duly sworn, states).

MR MALAN: Thank you very much, you may be seated.  You may sit down, thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: I am going to ask Prof Piet Meiring to lead you in your evidence.

PROF MEIRING: Mrs Moima, welcome, it is your time to tell your story.  I hope that you are relaxed and that you will be able to relate to us what happened.  You are going to take us back ten years ago, to the 8th of February 1986, and you are going to tell us about your grandson. Please do that in your own words.

CHAIRPERSON: We wonder, is there any doctor in our midst here?  Just to go and help us with Mrs Makghato.  She has just, you know, just first-aid people perhaps.  You can continue, Piet.

PHILLA MOIMA: The honourable panel, on this day when this fateful thing happened to me, my son had gone to a night
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
2 P MOIMA
vigil the night before. On the day of the funeral he also attended the funeral.  When he went to the funeral me and his grandfather sat on the steps.  Whilst we were sitting there, and because we had problems from the police, who used to kill our children.  I was staying with my husband at home by then while they were at the funeral.  Whilst I was there I was worried will these children come back alive. 
 Whilst we were still sitting there, a Kombi came by and it came to my house.  It was a boy and a girl and they found me together with my husband.  They told me George had been shot.  I left with my husband to see what was happening. When we arrived there we found many policemen, and we wanted to see what was happening.  They stopped us from getting to the scene. I asked them why don't you want us to see what is happening.  This child's uncle was also bleeding by that time.  Then I asked the police are you also trying to kill the uncle, because you have killed the cousin.
 Then we waited for the ambulance and when I looked at George I tried to wake him up. I found out that he had been shot on his forehead.  The ambulance came and they took him away. I also went with him in the ambulance. My husband didn't get in the ambulance he went on foot to Kalafong Hospital.   When we got there at the hospital, he had a mask on his face.  They sent him to a doctor but the female doctor said to us they had sent him to the X-ray to examine the injuries.  When we got to see him at the X-ray department the female doctor came to me, they came back with George.  When I looked at George I could see that he was shot on the forehead.  The doctor said to me - it was a female doctor, she said he had been shot with six bullets in his head, which have destroyed his brain.  That is why there PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
3 P MOIMA
was no life in him any more.
 Then we went back home with my husband and that is where we had problems.  We are going to have a lot of problems during the night vigil. I also want to thank God for having helped other children who had come to me, to send our condolences whilst there were Hippos at my house.  
 These people also attacked me with sjamboks and I ran away.  These other boys and girls, even my chimney had holes in it because there were many bullets that were fired at my house.  But God helped me at that time.  The other children who came to me to bring condolences, I want to thank them.   I thought that we are going to have problems with the burial of my child.  When that time came the Hippos were there during the funeral.  We were about to bury my son at Attridgeville together with the other one who had passed away. They said no, you don't have to bury him at Attridgeville, you are goin gto bury him at Saltsville. I had paid for the grave at Attridgeville, but the body was buried at Saltsville.
 Today I can say that the police are my enemies.  I don't even like them today. I am going to hate them until I die because even when we went to them for help they didn't help us.  
 George wasn't troublesome.  He used to be at home most of the times. He used to take care of the garden and he didn't roam the streets.  I wish that God can help the Commission to continue with their work to reveal the truth, all the secrets must come to the fore, and may God help you to continue with your work, and strengthen you.  Thank you.

PROF MEIRING: Mrs Moima, I thank you.  Thank you for your sentiments at the end.  To help us, to enable us, to help
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
4 P MOIMA
us to find the truth, may we ask you one or two questions, just to clarify some of the things you said.  The first thing I want to ask is, was George active in politics?  Was George active in politics? Did the police know that he was active in politics?

PHILLA MOIMA: No, according to me George was not involved in politics.  He was a member of the ANC. I don't know whether the ANC involved in the politics.

PROF MEIRING: That day when he was shot at the funeral, were there other people also shot?  You say that they shot at the people, were there other people also injured and shot or was he the only casualty?

PHILLA MOIMA: He was shot at one of his friend's funeral.  On their way back when they were preparing to go and eat, the police came along and shot at them.

PROF MEIRING: My question is, was he the only one that was injured or were there other people also that were injured or killed that day?

PHILLA MOIMA: His uncle was also attacked with knobkieries.  That is when I went to see what was happening.  All I saw was his uncle bleeding and I said to the uncle please keep quiet, let's attend to this one who had suffered the most injuries.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you.  Then I just want to ask about his parents.  George's parents, where are they at the moment?

PHILLA MOIMA: George was my grandson.  George's father is dead now, and his mother is present.  But the father has passed away.

PROF MEIRING: Thank you.  Those are the questions I wanted to ask but I think some of my colleagues at the table may want to add a question or two.
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
5 P MOIMA

MEMBER OF PANEL: This funeral that George went to, was it a funeral of a political activist or was it someone who had also died in the conflict?  The funeral that George went to?

PHILLA MOIMA: It was a boy's funeral, he was also involved in all this mess.  I think that these people were young ANC members and when they went to bury their comrades, they got shot and some of them died as a result.  They were being attacked during night vigils.  That is where the police used to shoot at them.  Even when they came back from funerals police used to attack them.  There is no one now, our children are all gone.

MEMBER OF PANEL: Thank you.

PHILLA MOIMA: We don't have any children any more, because the children have been shot away by the police.  I thank you for the work that you are doing. I hope God will bless you.  You are really helping us. You are helping us to heal the past wounds.

MEMBER OF PANEL: Thank you for these words of encouragement. I hope you go well.  Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Moima and Mr Moima, we thank you. It is true you have lost a son or your grandson, and as you are speaking, Mrs Moima, that there were many children who had died.  Even if this thing depresses us, sometimes it is comforting because we can now see what these children had died for. Because today we are living under a new dispensation, there is democracy in this country. May you pass the greetings to your family.  Thank you.

PHILLA MOIMA: Thank you.
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG