Amnesty Hearings — Mabopane — 1998-08-06

CHAIRPERSON: ...[inaudible] page 5 of the bundle.
	Mr Masango, do you have an objection to taking the oath?

F TING TING MASANGO: (sworn states)

MR VAN DEN BERG: Thank you Mr Chairman.
	Mr Masango, if we can get one technical aspect out of the way before we start with your evidence in chief.  You submitted an application for amnesty, a copy of which is before the Committee.  The copy before the Committee is unsigned, do you recall signing the application form?

MR MASANGO: Yes, I did sign it.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Is it correct that you were born on the 14th of August 1958, in Mamelodi?

MR MASANGO: That is so.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Your political awakening and the motivation for your joining the African National Congress and joining as an MK cadre, could you explain to the Committee how that came about?

MR MASANGO: Well, to start with as I've said, I was born in Mamelodi and there are various neighbouring suburbs where white people in the past used to stay and as a young boy I used to work as a so-called garden boy in those areas, in those white areas, the white homes there and actually my politically awareness started exactly there at those white men's gardens, where I realised the disparities, the inequalities between us and them and I started asking why they should have such beautiful house, why should their children have so many toys, why should they have such big houses when ours were so small.  That is how my political awareness, so to say started.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You were involved in student politics whilst you were at secondary school?

MR MASANGO: I was very much involved in the student activities.   Actually I do not know of a single political activity in Mamelodi that took place without my participation physically or otherwise.  I have always been there.

MR VAN DEN BERG: In consultation you told us about the execution of Solomon Mahlango and how that was the pivot which led to your going into exile, would you explain to the Committee what that was all about?

MR MASANGO: The execution of Solomon Mahlango was quite a turning point in my life, both in my personal and my political life.  I was at a time just shortly before Mahlango was executed, I was the Chairperson of the Save Solomon Mahlango Committee.  I was the Chairperson of that committee, the aims of which were to try to save, as the name suggests, to save the life of Mahlango, that he shouldn't be executed.
	I remember so vividly, on the 5th of April 1979 we had a night vigil at his place in Mamelodi.  I was presiding over that night vigil and it was there that I publicly took the vow that should Solomon Mahlango be hanged, which was said to be the following day, the 6th of April, I publicly vowed that should he be hanged I'm going to skip the country to join the ANC and its military wing, Umkhonto weSizwe.
	Two weeks after exactly after that, after his execution I did exactly that, left the country.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You received military training in Angola in 1980, is that correct?

MR MASANGO: That is correct.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You received further training in the German Democratic Republic, what did that training involve?

MR MASANGO: That basically was a specialised training involving urban guerrilla warfare.  It also involved surveillance so to say, marksmanship, specialising in military operations generally or the usage of military weapons.

MR VAN DEN BERG: What other activities were you involved in as a member of the ANC at that time?

MR MASANGO: Well ever since joining the ANC from Maputo, because I skipped through Maputo through to Mozambique and I stayed in Matola, ever since my arrival there at that place I was responsible for reading the news for the comrades in our houses there and in our camps in Angola.  After that I worked with the Right of Freedom, also as a commentator and a news presenter.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You received an approach from Chris Hani, can you tell the Committee about that approach and what it entailed?

MR MASANGO: Yes, that was in about 1985, mid-1985 in Luanda, that is the capital of Angola, whereby I was approached by the late Chris Hani and there he told me that the political department of the ANC has selected me to go for radio journalism course in Holland but co-incidentally the military department as well has also selected me to be infiltrated in the country for military operations, sorry, asked me if I wanted to go to Holland or to South Africa, to be infiltrated back into South Africa.  Well I obviously chose going back home.

MR VAN DEN BERG: The military activity for which you'd been identified, what did that entail?

MR MASANGO: Well he said at that time that there is a unit that is going to operate in South Africa, would I like to be part of the unit, and I asked him: "What unit is that, what are you going to do"? and he said: "No, it's an elimination unit".

MR VAN DEN BERG: Were the any of the members or the commander of that unit identified at that time?

MR MASANGO: He did say that I would be working with - comrade Jabu was in either Zambia or Botswana at that time and he said that we'd be meeting in due course.

MR VAN DEN BERG: When you refer to comrade Jabu, who are you referring to?

MR MASANGO: To comrade Masina.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You advised the Committee that the election which you exercised was to be infiltrated into the country as part of a military unit, how did the infiltration take place, when did it take place?

MR MASANGO: If my mind still serves me well it could have been about December or towards the end of 1985 when I was flown to Zambia where I met Jabu, that I remember, and thereafter infiltrating through to Botswana and eventually into South Africa.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Can you recall when you were infiltrated into South Africa, approximately?  Was it 1985, 1986?

MR MASANGO: It could be the first quarter, I think early 1986.

MR VAN DEN BERG: Now you've heard the evidence which was given by Mr Masina earlier this morning, would you like to add anything to the, your understanding of the mandate that was given to the unit by Chris Hani?

MR MASANGO: Ja, Hani said that basically our unit will be an elimination unit.  I will explain what that is. But then we were also given a very wide scope of discretion.  We a guerrilla unit and we were politically trained, military trained so we had that mandate to even select our own targets within the scope of the mandate that had been given by, within the scope of MK operations.

MR VAN DEN BERG: You said you were going to expand about elimination?

MR MASANGO: An elimination unit is, to use a layman's term, it is assassination unit whereby you select particular individuals for assassination, for killing.

MR VAN DEN BERG: The individuals who were identified, who were they?  Was there a list, were you given broad categories?  How did it happen?

MR MASANGO: No, no, we were not given a list but the categories were such that it could have been Bantustan leaders, including their own generals and captains, police, spies, informers, the Askaris and even government ministers in the nation, nationally, that would have been our target as well.

MR VAN DEN BERG: In what area of the country were you deployed?

MR MASANGO: We were deployed basically in Pretoria, greater Pretoria, that included Winterveld as well.

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry, could you just for the information of the Committee, describe to us where Winterveld is?

MR MASANGO: Winterveld is just nearby here, it's in the north of Pretoria.  It's a squatter camp, it used to be largely a squatter camp just in the north of Pretoria here.

CHAIRPERSON: And in those days it was within the Boputhatswana border.

MR MASANGO: Boputhatswana, ja.

CHAIRPERSON: Not far from Ga-Rankuwa?

MR MASANGO: Yes, very very near to Ga-Rankuwa, it's not very far.

MOKOTEDI MPSHE: Just to assist the Committee, Mr Chairman, Winterveld is the nearest to where we are, not Ga-Rankuwa.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Mr Mpshe.