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

CHAIRPERSON: You are Phindile?  Can you hear me alright

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: Yes I can hear you.

CHAIRPERSON: I can't hear you very well.  Okay, let's try again, can you hear me alright?

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: Yes I can hear you.

CHAIRPERSON: And who is with you today?

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: Elsie.

CHAIRPERSON: Elsie, welcome.  Do you want to put the earphones on as well?  Then you can follow. Now you're going to tell us what happened to you in a moment, but first, having welcomed you very warmly and thanking you very much for coming here today, it's not easy, it's not an easy thing to do, but please be very relaxed, you have a right to tell your story. Yasmin Sooka is going to administer the oath and then after that Hlengiwe Mkhize is going to guide you as you tell your story.  Thank you.

YASMINE SOOKA: Phindile, can you hear me?

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: Yes I can hear.

YASMINE SOOKA: Can I ask you to stand please?

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: (sworn states)

MS MHKIZE: We welcome you Phindile. As the Commissioner has already said, we ask you to speak loudly so that the Commissioners can listen to you attentively. And those who are at the back can listen to you.  I request you to tell us your story and this story took place in 1986 while you were 15 years of age.
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PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: In 1986 on the 16th of June it was a Sunday.  Comrades came into my home.  I was at home together with the members of my family. They wanted our brother here and he was not available and they said they discussed something because there were a lot of girls outside. And then they said Phindile should walk out.  Then I went underneath the bed and another boy came in and then he said, "They are not in here". And they found Phumzile and Phumzile said, "I can not go if Phindile is not accompanying me."  Then I had to come out.
 As we were walking and they were collecting other comrades, fetching them, we arrived at the 35's next to the butchery.  On our arrival there some soldiers came and they were using hippos.  Their lights were on and then we went to another house and then they passed there and went out trying to fetch every comrade from each house. At the park we had to come together there, up till six. 
 At round about 12 at night one boy said he can see people and behind you there are soldiers. And we were about to go and celebrate about June 16 and then from there we had to eat. I could not eat because really I was not feeling well, it was chilly that night, I did not wear enough warm clothes.
 From there, on that mountain I slept.  After that I woke up and then I said to them, "Let's go, we are going to Section Six". Before we could reach any further there were a Cabasa group and some soldiers and they started shooting at us.  As I was shot at I did not feel anything whether I was injured.  I only felt something cold because I was shot by pellets.  After that they shot at me at the knee and the other side of the knee also.  I could not walk and they only NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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had to lift me up and they allowed me to jump the fence.  The other one was allowed to take me. I felt that I was injured but I could not see actually where I was wounded.  Then I asked another boy to knock at one of the houses there in order to get assistance.  As we entered the house I was bleeding heavily and my colleague who was also wounded was also bleeding. And then they undressed us.  They were trying to make contact with our family members.  It couldn't help.  Then from there we saw another boy who was just outside who was also injured but they could not be assisted because there were a lot of soldiers and the Cabasas.
 And this boy was beaten and he was screaming until death. And as we were feeling that pain after some time it was around about one or two o'clock. Another person came out to assist us with transport and then they took us with a combi, we were four, two boys, two girls.   They took us as the soldiers were following us, we reached Temba.  As we were waiting for admission there and the soldiers refused that we should be admitted at a hospital, the other soldiers said we had better be taken to the grave yard and be buried alive. And the other one said, "No they cannot go with the sister."  Then he phoned the police station that they should come and fetch us, and as we arrived at the police station at Nelspruit, on our arrival they did not say anything to us.  They just put us in a cell.  As we were sitting there waiting, the following day we were called in. Two girls, it was myself and the other girl and the two boys, and they asked a lot of questions.  We could not answer those questions and those boys were beaten and we were slapped at our faces.  And they said we will only be released after fourteen days, yet we were injured and not given treatment.  NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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 After that we remained at the police station and the food was very irregular to us and although our parents did try to bring some food, it could not reach us. Now the other day they took us with the other colleague of mine and they said we should go and check some corpses at the mortuary and they opened there.  Then they said to us we must identify those corpses and we said there was no one we could identify.  They took us back in the cell.
 After that, after fourteen days we were then released home.  We then started to receive treatment.

MS MHKIZE: We thank you Phindile.  We want to thank you for your story that you have just told us.  Maybe to clarify some of the issues I will ask you a few questions.  You said you were just sitting at home and some comrades arrived.  Can you tell us, were you also comrades, how were you related to these comrades, were you perhaps also part of-?

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: We used to call them comrades because we were just calling ourselves comrades but we were not under the ANC.

MS MHKIZE: But you said to us you went to a certain place where you met and you were commemorating June 16, that was 1986.  While you were there you told us that you were not feeling well and you slept.  Can you tell us, what were you doing, were you singing, were you dancing, what were you doing there, can you tell us in short so that we can know exactly what was happening.

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: Yes we were not singing.  We were just each one discussing to his colleague next to him and from there food was brought in, but myself, I did not enjoy the food, I did not take it because I did not feel well.

MS MHKIZE: You said the other one actually realised that NELSPRUIT  HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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there were some police on the other side and it was a group of SADF and on the other side there were another group.

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: Now when we were discussing there, there was a Cabasa group which was assisting the soldiers because I remember about the pellets which were shot at me.

MS MHKIZE: Since our arrival here yesterday, we heard about Cabasa, can you tell us more about this Cabasa, besides quoting names, if you can just give us clarity about this Cabasa organisation. How did they work?

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: This Cabasa were actually working hand-in-hand with the soldiers.  If there is something or there are riots, they are the people actually who were giving information that such and such a thing is happening at such and such a place.

MS MHKIZE: Were they people who were known in that local area or how did they normally dress, can you tell us, can you explain?

PHINDILE MAVIS NQOBE: Sometimes they were wearing police clothes or if they don't have clothes they would cover themselves with old soldiers clothes.

MS MHKIZE: In your area, as you have rightly said, there were two groups, the soldiers and the Cabasas.  Were they many people or just two or three people?