Human Rights Violation Hearings — Ermelo — 1997-05-22

DR RANDERA: Michael sorry, I want to come back to two issues.  One is, you said you had made a statement to the police.  Was there ever any follow-up ?  Did you get anything substantial from the police as far as your statement went ?

NSONGELWA ZONDO: No, they never came back to me.  The last time I saw them was when I submitted a statement.

DR RANDERA: Okay.  Michael, I just want to follow up from what Mr Manthata was saying.  This issue of you were in the community, you heard some discussions about the Black Cats and  Comrades but you knew very little about them. Now as we travel throughout the country and people come to talk to the Truth Commission, to us, we often hear and particularly, and I don't want to sound as if I'm categorizing people into Black and White, particularly from members of the White community who say we never knew how bad things were.  Now, can you understand that yourself because here you are in a small community like Wesselton and I can only see as I drive past, in and out of Ermelo but it looks like a very small community, things are happening in your community.  People are dying, people are being shot at and often we hear that we didn't really know what was happening.  Can you understand that, the attitude that is coming through from the White community ?  They also did not understand what was happening.

NSONGELWA ZONDO: Yes, I do understand.

DR RANDERA: Thank you.

MR LEWIN: Mr Zondo, thank you.  I would just like to ask one question, clarity from your statement and that's to do with the actual funeral which happened before this incident involving yourself.  Do you know how that person died?

NSONGELWA ZONDO: No, I have no idea.

MR LEWIN: In your statement you said that there was this crowd coming from Mac Guire Street,  in Wesselton and they were shouting a slogan?  Can you remember the slogan ?

NSONGELWA ZONDO: Yes, I do.

MR LEWIN: Could you tell us what it was.

NSONGELWA ZONDO: I have forgotten the song that they were singing.

MR LEWIN: But they were singing a slogan.

NSONGELWA ZONDO: Yes, I do remember but I don't have a clear recollection because I was from the tavern so I was a bit intoxicated.

MR LEWIN: As the other Commissioners have said, I think that again we hear your story and we sympathize very much with it because you were obviously caught very much in the crossfire so that you, more than anyone could be called an innocent bystander and as a result of that you have been unable to work for several years now.  I think that there's two things that we need to say to you.  One is again to offer our support to see what we can do in chasing up your case as you asked specifically to find out about the disability grant and your possibility of getting that.  I think we must also call on the community to assist you.  To support you in bringing  yourself back into usefulness so that you don't feel too depressed, that you don't feel too down.  It's going to be difficult but it certainly is possible.  And we would like to issue an appeal to the community to assist you in that whether it's through the Church or whether it's through community support.  We would like to leave you with the challenge really which is very difficult but a challenge that you also make an effort to regain your strength and to carry on going and going well.  Thank you very much for coming.