Amnesty Hearings — Pinetown — 2000-02-15

MR DEHAL: I agree.
	In paragraph 7, Mr Mafu, you say that in order to execute Mr Shezi's instructions, you together with about 200 ANC comrades marched to the deceased's home.  As you were approaching his home you met him on the road?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes.

MR DEHAL: You then saw this the best opportunity to ask the deceased whether he did in fact practice witchcraft and kill your brother thereby.  You had heard rumours ...(intervention)

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes.

MR DEHAL: Sorry, thank you.  You had heard rumours from your family that your brother who was killed in an accident a few days earlier was bewitched by the deceased?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes.

MR DEHAL: Thank you.  You say that when you asked the deceased this question he refused to answer you?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes he became aggressive.

MR DEHAL: In paragraph 8 you say upon arrival at his home, that's the deceased's home, your comrades and you started started stoning the deceased with the intention to kill him?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes that is correct.

MR DEHAL: And in order to give effect to your commander, Mr Shezi's political instructions to you?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes.

MR DEHAL: You say that it is possible that you asked further questions about the deceased's witchcraft activities at this stage and that when the deceased fell to the ground ...(intervention)

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes that is correct.

MR DEHAL: You say that when the deceased fell to the ground you were convinced that he was dead.  You and the other comrades then asked Kenneth, that's the son of the deceased, to pour petrol over his father because as he was present at the meeting when the decision to kill his father taken and he did not then voice any objection?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes.

JUDGE DE JAGER: Who asked him to do that?  Did you all sing in a chorus, "pour petrol on your father" or who asked him to do that?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: I'm the one who told him so.

CHAIRPERSON: Well did you tell him or did you ask him?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: I told him because I had been given that task.

MR DEHAL: Thank you.  You continue in that statement to say that you assumed, you say "we" I presume you and the other comrades, assumed that Kenneth the son had still agreed with Mr Shezi's instructions to eliminate his father?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes I assumed so because he was one of us, a comrade.

MR DEHAL: Then you say that Kenneth the son in fact did pour the petrol but had refused to light the match and then fled?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes he did refuse and he fled thereafter.

MR DEHAL: You then say that you personally lit the deceased's body and that you did this ...(intervention)

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes I did so.

MR DEHAL: And you say that you did so because you still agreed with Mr Shezi's instructions and you wanted to assist with the ANC of the danger that the deceased posed to the ANC as an organisation?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: That is correct.

MR DEHAL: In the next paragraph you deal with your trial and the stance you've taken there and you say inasmuch as Mr Mandela was released in February 1990 and the ANC unbanned, when your matter came before the courts in 1990/91 it was not possible for you to fully disclose the nature of your involvement with the ANC to the court hearing your trial?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: That is correct.

MR DEHAL: You say that that court which heard your trial, your matter, was seen by you still as a relic at that stage of the apartheid era and you were not prepared to detail your involvement in ANC activities at that stage as you did not trust the courts?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: That is correct.

MR DEHAL: You then go on to say that you accordingly kept your Operation Vula and MK activities all a secret from this court?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes that remained my secret.

MR DEHAL: You say the court would not have believed the level of your political involvement, nor would it have been sympathetic to it.  You say on the contrary this would have opened a can of worms on all the other comrades within the unit and would have caused the whole unit to have been arrested and the arms cache recovered to the consequence the death of your progress of the ANC and of reform in this country?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes that is correct.

MR DEHAL: Then you say in paragraph 10, as the courts would not have accepted a true version of the incident you were forced to rely heavily on the aspect of the witchcraft activities of the deceased and his alleged involvement in your brother's death as the basis of your then defence.

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes that is so.

MR DEHAL: You say you maintain that you did not mislead the trial court as this witchcraft aspect was indeed the only feature which you could safely disclose to the court without the threat of any further charges being preferred against you as a result of your involvement in ANC related matters?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes that is correct.

MR DEHAL: And then in paragraph 11 of the next page you deal with an aspect that we've already covered but I'll just read that for completeness.  You say that as a matter of clarity your attorneys advised you that paragraph 10(b) on page 14 of the bundle is an interpretation of your amnesty application and that the last paragraph thereof relates to the deceased having admitted to you that he was the only one who killed your brother and your father and that this was the reason why you caused his death.  You then say that you deny ever having said this.  You say that ...(intervention)

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes, that is so.  I do not agree with that, it is not a correct statement that I made.

MR DEHAL: You then say that a reading of the relevant part of your original application reads otherwise.

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: That is correct.

MR DEHAL: You say that you are sorry for the death of Mr Mkhize in the next paragraph and you ask for forgiveness from his family?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes that is so.  It was not my intention for him to die but it was because of political reasons.

MR DEHAL: You say that you believe that he was a legitimate target in that he was responsible for the killing of your comrades, he was an informer and one who endangered the lives of the ANC members?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: That is correct.  That was the reason which led me to believe that he was indeed a legitimate target.

MR DEHAL: Thank you.  Mr Mafu, this gentleman, Mr Cyril Shezi, who you refer to as one who is within the ranks of the ANC in your area, you remember him don't you?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes I do.

MR DEHAL: After your arrest did Mr Shezi visit you in prison?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes they supported me very much, they visited me regularly.

CHAIRPERSON: Who is"they"?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: That is Cyril Shezi, Bongando Vele and Inganiso Shezi.

MR DEHAL: Did Mr Shezi or any of the others altogether ever discuss with you your impending trial on the murder charge of this deceased and how you should approach it?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: Yes they did discuss it and they advised me on how to approach it.

MR DEHAL: Now before I deal with what advice was given to you, Mr Cyril Shezi, did you see him as senior to you in the rank of the ANC in your area or junior to you?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: I regarded him as senior and this was because he an educated person who understood more than I did.

MR DEHAL: You say he advised you on how to approach the defense.  What did he tell you?

MAFANDO JOKONIA MAFU: He said I should advise the court that the deceased practised witchcraft and that was the reason why many of us were killed.  This in itself was not the truth because the deceased was an informer who was instrumental in us being attacked by people from other areas.

MR DEHAL: Did you take this advice seriously and did you adopt that approach in your defence during your criminal trial?