Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1998-12-01

IAN MUNRO PHILLIPS: Well, there would be no indication to military Headquarters where the arms were necessary.  All that military Headquarters needed from us, was a request that we needed particular arms.
	Again the structure is created in such a way that comrades who were functioning within the SDU structures and facilitating the establishment and arming, from military Headquarters all the way down, are comrades who were specifically chosen for those tasks.  It is not a random or a democratic vote, who is going to be involved in these things.
	There is an enormous amount of trust and faith put in the calibre and the integrity of people involved in those structures.  As comrade Jeff has indicated with regard to comrade Mandla, I have faith in this particular comrade to come with the correct ideas, based on the policy, as I know him and that type of thing.  That is the one thing.
	The second is, I presume if you've got a problem in Port Shepstone, and you are directed to a DLB near Port Shepstone, you can say thank goodness, we can get the things quicker, however, if by some other stroke of fortune, MHQ directs to you a DLB that is north of Phoenix, and you've got to get it all the way down the South Coast, that provides the local MK people or whoever is transporting the stuff, with certain logistical problems which they are trained to overcome.
	There is no necessary linkage between where a DLB is physically located and where the arms will ultimately be used.  It is a case of which DLB is accessible and of course what determines that accessibility is a military Headquarters prerogative, not mine.

MR LAX: That answers my questions, thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  Do you have any questions arising Mr Wills?

MR WILLS: Just one quick, brief matter, thank you Mr Chairperson.  It would seem as well that the person who would be responsible for determining where the firearms would end up, would be the person on the ground, in this case Mr Sithole, it wouldn't be necessary for the military Headquarters to know?

IAN MUNRO PHILLIPS: Absolutely.  And of course Mr Sithole would be making those decisions based on the assessments that he and ANC comrades have made and in terms of the general guidelines of policy.  It is not something that he plucks out of the ether.

MR WILLS: Thank you Mr Chairperson.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR WILLS

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Hewitt, I take it you don't have any matters arising?

MR HEWITT: No thank you Mr Chairman.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR HEWITT

CHAIRPERSON: Ms Thabete?

MS THABETE: No Mr Chairman.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MS THABETE

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much Dr Phillips, that concludes your testimony.  I see it is now passed one o'clock, would this be a convenient time I think to take the lunch adjournment and then if you could just keep us informed as to what the position is relating to Mr Sithole's situation which you have alluded to after the tea adjournment.
WITNESS EXCUSED

MR WILLS: Thank you Mr Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: We will now adjourn for lunch.  We will start depending on what happens to Mr Sithole's position, situation, as close to two o'clock as possible.
COMMITTEE ADJOURNS