Amnesty Hearings — Nelspruit — 1999-02-03

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I can also explain on that point.  On that particular statement, I will say to distinguish what I am saying before the Committee is the truth, the statement which you are referring to, I gave it as if I was giving it to police, because I didn't know the people who came to take this statement from me.

MR LAX: The man who came to take the statement from you, didn't he explain to you he was from the Truth Commission?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: He did explain that his name is Alson and he is from the Truth Commission, but myself consciously, I wasn't willing to disclose everything, I thought I will come and disclose everything before the Commission.

MR LAX: He did tell you that he was coming to ask you some questions, to help the Commission with your application, isn't that so?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: What he said to me is that he came to me to take the statement, and he asked me whether I admit or deny my first statement that I made before.  If I did, if I do deny it, he said I should explain why and I said I don't have a problem with my previous statement.

MR LAX: Why did he tell you it was necessary to take this statement down then?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I didn't trust that that would help, because I believed that the ANC was using some tricks within the IFP, so I didn't trust anyone.

MR LAX: So, why didn't you just tell him what you told the police in your criminal case then?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: It didn't come into my mind, that I should tell him that, because I tried to give him what I know and I thought I would get a chance to exactly tell what I know.

MR LAX: In your evidence, you said that when you came out of the house, he was already at the electrical box, is that right?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: That is correct.

MR LAX: However, under cross-examination, you said you caught up to him.

INTERPRETER: Excuse me, repeat the last part, caught up with him?

MR LAX: You caught up with him?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I will explain that this occurred, the incident occurred next to the electric box.

MR LAX: So was he just walking passed the electrical box, and you caught up with him at that point?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: Yes, that is correct.

MR LAX: Well then, why did you say in your evidence in chief, that he was waiting at the electrical box?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I will say as I was following him, he was in front of me and he was just next to it, he was about to reach it while I was following him.

MR LAX: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: I think my note, without interfering with my colleague, states that when you first noticed him, he was next to the electrical box.   That is the note I have.

MR LAX: Yes.  The question is this though, your evidence just was that he was waiting at the electrical box and you still said that he explained he was waiting there for his girlfriend?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I would say it is like that, even if it seems to be contradicting.  I think the Chairperson is saying that the deceased was walking and I was following him, it is correct that I was following him, but I caught up with him next to the electric box, and that is where I killed him.

MR LAX: Now, the witnesses in the trial, who testified at your trial against you for the State, basically said that the deceased was walking down the road and that you came up behind him without talking to him, or anything, you simply pulled this firearm out from behind you, they said from under your clothes, that is how they described it, and that you shot him in the back of the neck and ran away.

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: That was not true.  As I have explained before to the Commission what exactly  happened, I said my firearm was on my right hand pocket, I pulled it out and I was holding it with my hand at the time.  The way I was holding it, I was ready to shoot at any moment.
	At night I didn't trust anything or anyone.

MR LAX: So, Sipho Maseko is talking, he is lying when he says what I have just explained to you?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I will say he is not telling a lie when I shot him from behind, because I shot him from behind.  I shot him from behind, because as I explained before, I was parallel with him and then I moved back and therefore I was behind him when I shot at him.

MR LAX: He says you walked behind him, you walked up behind him, as you were walking, you took the firearm from amongst your clothes, from out of your clothes is how he describes it.  I will read it to you just for the record, from page 22 of the bundle, line 6 - he saw the accused pull out a handgun from under his clothing, shoot the deceased in the back of the neck.
	You say that that is not true, and that you had the firearm in your hand the whole time, from the time that you left Maria's house until the time that you shot the deceased, that is what you have just told us because you didn't trust anything at night time, you said?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I would like to explain on that point.   I explained that the firearm was in my pocket and I was holding it with my hand while it is inside my pocket.
	It is not the way you put it, while it was in my pocket, I was holding it with my right hand, ready to shoot at any moment.

MR LAX: So then Maseko isn't lying when he says you took it out of your clothing?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: That is correct.

MR LAX: How could you, you described that you were standing parallel to each other, were you walking along while you were doing that or were you stationary?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: We stopped and we talked a bit as we explained.  We did converse and we talked with him.

MR LAX: So if the State witnesses said that you just came up behind him and there was no stopping, you just shot him, that is not correct?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: He is correct to say I shot him from a position where I was behind the deceased, but it is not true that I came from behind and shot him before I reached him.

MR LAX: Why would Sipho Maseko lie about the fact that you may have spoken to this chap, that you might have stopped and spoken to him?  What difference would it make to him?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I think he had a motive, because he wanted me to be convicted, because he was an ANC member.  He wanted it to come out that I was not a good person in the area.

MR LAX: One thing that you have told us, doesn't make sense to me, and that is what you told us about the vow that this person, this deceased person made.  Why would somebody that has made a vow to kill you, come to you and tell you that he has made a vow to kill you?  Surely that would defeat the purpose of his vow?
	Every time that you saw him, he would know that you were thinking well, he is going to kill me now?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I explained that he said that before I took a decision to kill him.

MR LAX: Yes, precisely.  But if you have made a vow to kill somebody, you wouldn't go and tell him, would you?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: Yes, correct I wouldn't do it myself.

MR LAX: Is it correct that you were previously a member of the ANC?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: That is correct.

MR LAX: And that in fact you left the ANC to join the IFP?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: Yes, that is correct.

MR LAX: You and the deceased were friends up until that time when you left the ANC?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: No, we were not exactly friends, I just regarded him as one of the members of the party.

MR LAX: So he was just somebody that you grew up with and played together, but you weren't friends as such?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: That is correct.

MR LAX: When did the differences between you, start?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: I think the differences started in 1992, about November.

MR LAX: Is that when you left the ANC?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: It was sometime after I have left the ANC.

MR LAX: So even though you had left the ANC and you went to its rival organisation, there was still no bad blood between you?

SOLOMON COLLEN MTAMBO: Yes, that is correct.