Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1998-10-13

MOLAHLENE STANLEY WANYANE: I think it is a lengthy story.  Mr Chairperson, I think it would befit the occasion that prior to delving on to the events of 27 September 1991, I should encapsulate the background to the trip to Rustenburg on the 27th.
	Before that, I must point to you Mr Chairperson, that it is for us, this sitting, that this sitting represents an opportunity for us not just to be here to to have you here, or to have our families here, our comrades and everyone, we have had, but to place at the disposal of this Committee, the reality of our case without fear, without reserve and knowing full well that we have our own deficiencies, but confident Mr Chairperson, that we will do what we intend to do here today, and also that our appearance before you, we hope would mark an act of rebirth and renewal for us.
	It would liberate not only our bodies, but our tortured souls, our intellects and our consciences.  I would begin with the MK underground extension.
	I have been in the underground structures of Umkhonto we Sizwe from 1987 until its  disbandment.  Some time in late 1989, I was approached by comrades Shakes, that is the deceased in this case, who told me that he thought that it would be appropriate to extend our structures and establish an underground unit at Hlobane near Rustenburg.
	I was non-committal, but indicated to comrades Shakes that I would have to discuss the matter with comrade Babs, that is Batandwa Godlo, and later with our Commander, Mr Ben Banni, that was his combat name.  We preferred to call him BB.
	I remember discussing the matter with Batandwa some time on our way to a meeting of the Branch Executive Committee of the Youth League at our Branch and following more pressure by this Rustenburg based person, Modise, who was known to comrade Shakes.  We brought the matter to the attention of BB, the Commander who felt that it was a good idea.
	In terms of the matters of operation in the underground, it was vital that we needed to delay the matter so as to test the trustworthiness and commitment of Modise, the Rustenburg based activist.  In the mean time we kept on supplying Modise with more political literature to acclimatise himself with the policies of the movement through Shakes of course.  We did not have to have any direct consultation with him.
	Our Commander BB, also decided that Shakes must not continue, must continue I mean, contact with Modise in Rustenburg, whose name was later changed to Tsepo, that was the combat name given to Modise by BB and that none of us here, particularly Batandwa and myself, should have any direct contact with Modise.
	We subsequently decided to withdraw comrade Shakes from all the structures of the Branch including other structures of the Youth Congress on which he was serving, so that he could focus his attention on the activities of MK and the underground.
	But I got to understand later that Tsepo, that is Modise, did not loose hope at all, but kept on persuading comrade Shakes because he was very prepared to serve MK and ensure that he establish structures of MK in its place.
	Some time in early 1991 comrade BB, our Commander, fetched us, that is Batandwa and myself, and organised a meeting with the late comrade Chris Hani and when he introduced us to him, he said to us that he knew us very well from the briefings he had held and reports from comrade BB.
	Before that, I must point out Mr Chairperson,  we came to know comrade BB through one of the comrades who had been working in the structures of the organisation, comrade Margaret Stofile.
	I got to know at a later stage, that she was a Commander above our Commander, so it means that BB was reporting to her.  We discussed so much things with comrade Chris Hani, a number of issues, including the accommodation and return of our exiled comrades, the role of MK underground structures in the face of escalating violence by forces of the apartheid regime on our communities.
	He pointed out that he was very impress with the reservations that we had had on the document For the Sake of Our Lives, that is the document that deals with the establishment of community based Self Defence Units.
	He was also elated to know that I was a member of the SACP from the Branch and gave us the go ahead to meet him on any important matter that needed his attention every time that it was necessary.
	We kept contact with him ever since, and around June, July 1991 comrade BB instructed us that the trip to 
Rustenburg had to go ahead.  After comrade Shakes, I repeat again, comrade Shakes, who is the deceased in this case, had given crash courses in the use of explosives.  That included the limpet mines, the hand grenades, AK47 and pistols.
	After Shakes had given the crash course to Tsepo in Rustenburg, so he was to introduce us to Tsepo in Rustenburg and we would submit a report to BB after we returned from Rustenburg.
	Comrade BB, I remember he told us that comrade Chris himself had given the thumbs up to our trip to Rustenburg.  I was fortunate, I suppose to confirm this from comrade Chris whom I met at the ANC Headquarters when I had gone there to fetch some pamphlets.
	Comrade BB had instructed us and he was very adamant on this, to ensure the safe custody of the material of the weapons being transported to Rustenburg in case of any stoppages or road blocks on the way by the police because it was not easy to get material of that nature.
	Now, on the 26th of September, that is the day prior to our departure for Rustenburg, we never had a chance to meet comrade Shakes who had been assigned the task to organise transportation for us because of our organisational commitments.	
	I remember we had attended a meeting of the Branch Executive Committee with Batandwa that morning and we had a very lengthy discussion with our Commander, BB that afternoon and I had attended a meeting of the Communist Party at night.  So I spent the whole day attending meetings.  The late meeting of the Party was in preparation for the launch of the Party Branch at Meadowlands the next weekend.
	That meeting ended up very late at night and I then phoned Ben, this man here, I phoned him because he had his own transport to go and fetch me from Zone 9, to my rented room at Pomolong.  I had not yet returned home since 1985, because of police harassment.
	It was still not safe even after the unbanning of the movement, to return home, and the majority of our comrades, still retained their hide-outs.
	He fetched me and on our way to Pomolong, we passed by at home and collected my food for the day and he dropped me at Pomolong.  He thereafter expressed his concern about the safety of his vehicle, because it was very late at night.  I then handed him a brand new Makarov pistol, fully loaded and a spare magazine, which was fully loaded as well.
	The appointment for our departure was set for five o'clock the next day, the 27th of September 1991.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Wanyane, are you now going to the 27th?

MOLAHLENE STANLEY WANYANE: Yes, I am going to the 27th Mr Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Then, we will take the lunch adjournment on that note and we will proceed after lunch with the incident on the 27th.

MOLAHLENE STANLEY WANYANE: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: We will adjourn for lunch and we will reconvene at two o'clock.
COMMITTEE ADJOURNS

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Wanyane, I remind you that you are still under oath.  Mr Mhlaba?

MOLAHLENE STANLEY WANYANE: (still under oath)

MR MHLABA: (continued)
	Thank you Mr Chairman.  Mr Wanyane, you were when the Committee adjourned, you were still explaining, can you proceed and do your submissions?