Human Rights Violation Hearings — Nelspruit — 1996-09-03

DR BORAINE: Thank you, and as you say you were elected by the parents.  Now when your house was burned, your wife and your children were in the house.  How did they escape
from the house?

MR MASANGANE: Thank you Sir, we were still sitting, two boys were sleeping, the other one was three years old and the other one was three months.  Those were my grand children. And when they arrived my wife was outside, and NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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they were outside together with her when they were talking. And she said to them, "We have kids inside the house".  And they said, "No we don't care, let them burn". And she ran into the house and she came out with the two children.

DR BORAINE: Thank you, now, do you, have you found another house where you and your family are living?

MR MASANGANE: The honourable Sir, at the end of the day you get a place to stay and I had a place where I could lay my head, but I don't have any money to build another house.  It was a big house.

DR BORAINE: The two men who you met with at the school, you described them as well-built men.  Did you know who they were, do you know what their names are?

MR MASANGANE: Sir I won't lie, because it was my first time to see them when I went to see them and I was told to meet their superiors, and that evening when I went back I just saw their superiors and I can't identify them, it was, I don't know their names.

DR BORAINE: I just wanted to find out whether you knew or not.  Let me ask you a last question.  You made a very interesting or important statement when you said that a young man came to you at church and asked for your forgiveness.  He must have been one of those who was with the young people when they burned your house.  And you said that he cried and you cried.  Does that mean that you forgave him when he asked you to forgive him?

MR MASANGANE: He was the person who had petrol in his hand, he poured petrol and the other one set the house alight and  when he arrived at the church I was really angry, but after listening to his story, I got peace in my heart.  I asked myself, what is it that God wants to tell NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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me?  And I said to him, "I thank you", and I just stopped there, because I knew that he was responsible for burning my house.

DR BORAINE: Let me just try to understand.  When he told you the story and he asked for your forgiveness, did you forgive him?

MR MASANGANE: It's a good question Sir. When I say to you, when he arrived, I was helpless when he asked for forgiveness.  I was angry at him but at the same time I cooled off, because if I was really angry at him, if I couldn't cool off, he would have left the church in a different condition.   But the church listened to him and I listened to him and the church said, "Please forgive him!" And I said, "I'm helpless because you've confessed, I'm not hating them, but they know what they were doing".

DR BORAINE: The reason why I ask the question, is because many people like you, who have been very badly hurt, have told the Commission that they don't want to hate, they want to forgive, but they want to know who to forgive and for what.  Now of course, you know who to forgive and you know what you have to forgive.  But it's a very hard thing to do, and I'm not going to press you on that.  You have every right to forgive and not to forgive, it's not for me to tell you what to do, but I do know this, unless there is some forgiveness and some people saying sorry in South Africa, then we're going to make the same mistakes all over again.  It's very important and very hard to say sorry.  It's also very hard to forgive.
 Thank you very much, I'm going to ask my colleagues if they have any questions.  It seems that they have no questions. We have listened to you very carefully.   
NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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We are so sorry as to what happened to you. Nobody deserves to have their house burned down and their children threatened and their wives in fear, and that's what happened to you.  We have heard your requests, we will look into the matter very carefully, we cannot promise that we can do everything that you ask, but we will certainly try. And thank you very much for coming.  You may leave.