Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   Yes, I was.  I went to Greys Hospital.

UNKNOWN: Were you admitted?

WITNESS:   Yes, I was.

UNKNOWN: For how long?

WITNESS:   I think it was three weeks, because I was operated on.  My leg was operated on.  I underwent several operations.

UNKNOWN: At the time they operated what was happening?

WITNESS:  They told me that I had bullets inside my leg, and they were trying to take the bullets out.  And they told me that they had taken the bullets out, but my leg is feeling very cold now.  It's as if the bullets are still inside.

UNKNOWN: Are you working?

WITNESS:   Yes, I am working.  It's just a temporary position that I am having.  There's another firm called Danelton in Melville.

UNKNOWN: Before you got injured where were you working?

WITNESS:  I was working at Melville. What were you doing?   ---   I was just an ordinary labourer.

UNKNOWN: Now, what about these cold legs of yours?   How do you treat them?  Do you get any particular treatment?

WITNESS:   No.  The last treatment I got was when I came back from the hospital.

UNKNOWN: Why aren't you able to get medical attention?

WITNESS:  I don't know what to do, because ever since I got injured I never get better.  I have been the same ever since.  Even my toes don't move.

UNKNOWN: Have you ever been attended to by physiotherapists at the hospital?

WITNESS:   I once went there, but it's a long time ago.  But it's still the same, nothing ever improved.  Yes, I stopped going there.

UNKNOWN: Now, as you've come to the Commission here we would like to advise you that you should go to see the physiotherapist.  Would you be able to go back if the Commission helps you to go back?

WITNESS:   Yes, I would appreciate that.  I can still go there.  Maybe I can get some help now.

UNKNOWN: Now, how are you able to support your family as you having a temporary position?

WITNESS:   It's quite difficult to make ends meet.  It's not like before when I was still working full-time.  It's difficult to keep head above water because my wife also is very sick.  She's a sickly person, and I usually ask her what the matter is.  She seems to have been affected ever since I got injured.  She was happy when I was still working, but now since I am sick ... (incomplete)

UNKNOWN: It means your getting injured affected her.

WITNESS:   Yes, it did affect her.  She is also seeing doctors. What about the children?   ---   Some of them have even stopped going to school now.  They are no longer attending school.  They realise that it's high time they go and look for jobs, because the money that I was bringing at home was not sufficient for the whole family.

UNKNOWN: How many are still at school?

WITNESS:   Three are still at school.

UNKNOWN: In what classes are they?

WITNESS:   The girl is in form one, standard six.  The other one is at the technikon.  The other one is doing standard seven.

UNKNOWN: The one who's doing standard seven, isn't it the same as the one who's doing standard six?

WITNESS:   No, they are different.

UNKNOWN: What are your expectations from this Commission?   I don't mean it's going to happen, but I just want to know what your expectations are so that whatever you say may be passed on to the State President.

WITNESS:   I would ask the Government, because the Government is the one that got me to be in this state.  I want the Government to give me pension.  Yes, I would like the Government to grant me pension.

UNKNOWN: You also want help to educate your children.  You also want medical attention or psychiatric attention.

WITNESS:   Yes, I would appreciate that.

MR LAX: Mr Shelembe, your friend, Mkethelwa Mnigathi, who was shot on that day when he was walking with you, was there ever ... (intervention)

WITNESS:   Yes, he was shot dead.

MR LAX: Was there ever any inquest or case about his death that you might have known about?

WITNESS:   There was nothing.  It just disappeared into thin air.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... I want to know whether you might be able to help us get a bit closer to a date when this thing happened.  You've told us it was in 1990, and you said it was a Thursday, but that's all you've told us so far.  Are you able to maybe help us a bit closer, with a month and maybe a date?

WITNESS:   I am not literate, but I can try to recall.  That was the most difficult day in Mpophomeni.

MR LAX: (Inaudible) ... hospital we might be able to track down the date you were admitted.

WITNESS:   That's where you can be helped when you go to Greys Hospital.

MR LYSTER: Mr Shelembe, thank you for your patience - sorry, there is one more question.  Mrs Gcabashe.

MRS GCABASHE: Thank you.  I want to hear from you about the family of Mnigathi who died there.  What happened to his family?

WITNESS:   The Mnigathi family was then harassed.  They were very close to me.  Mr Mnigathi died, even his mother died immediately after their son's death, because their son had just finished school and he was working, and on this particular day he was visiting, and he died on that particular day.  His mother died as a result of that.

MRS GCABASHE: Wasn't he married?

WITNESS:   No, he was not married, but he was working.  He had just got a job.

MRS GCABASHE: What was his mother's name?

WITNESS:   It was Mazondi.

MR LYSTER: Thank you, Mr Shelembe.  You have waited the whole day to tell us your story, and this story helps us to understand the circumstances which prevailed in your area at the time of your shooting, and this in turn helps us to draft the report which we have to submit to the

MR LYSTER: Government.

MR LYSTER: You, like many others who have told us their stories here in Pietermaritzburg, and in many other places, were shot by the police, people who were meant to protect and assist us, but in fact did not do that.  And on top of that, on top of the fact that you were shot, you had to suffer the shock of seeing your friend die.

WITNESS:   I didn't charge the police since they ... (incomplete - end of Side B, Tape 4)

MR LYSTER: We have heard what you have said and we will be making recommendations to the Government as to how people like you, you and other people like you, should be assisted, and we thank you once again for coming here and telling us your story, and we wish you well as you go.

WITNESS:   I would appreciate some help.  I never got any help whatsoever.

MR LYSTER: Thank you, Mr Shelembe.

MR LYSTER: That is the last witness for today.  We will be resuming tomorrow morning again at 9.00 am.  Please will everybody stand while the witnesses leave the room, just as a mark of respect for the witnesses.  And please don't forget to leave your earphones in the hall.  Please, that's very important.