Human Rights Violation Hearings — Uitenhage — 1996-08-27

FIKILE NKOBESE: (sworn states)

MR SANDI: Mr Fikile Nkobese let me first thank you for the evidence you are going to give because this Commission has got to get a full picture as much as possible and of the details and to know everything about what happened in every part of the country.  Firstly I must ask you these few questions.  By the way, are you a resident here in Uitenhage?

FIKILE NKOBESE: Yes I am a resident here.

MR SANDI: Even at the time this incident of the shooting occurred in 1985, were you a resident here?

FIKILE NKOBESE: Yes I was even here at that time.

MR SANDI: I understand that in your brief statement that you submitted to us, you were one of the people who participated in various organisations that were fighting for the human rights and that there should be some improvement to the life of the people.

FIKILE NKOBESE: Yes that is true.  I was the vice president of the Eastern Cape UDF.  I was the organiser of the Trade Union.

MR SANDI: At this point in time, I would like to give you an opportunity to give us a full picture as you promised about Uitenhage at the time when these people where shot, so I hand over to you Mr Nkobese.
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FIKILE NKOBESE: Thank you officials, parents, comrades and friends.  I feel privileged that I should give this brief summary about the incident that occurred here in Uitenhage at the time of the shooting of the people in Langa.  Firstly I would mention that it is of importance that we would see that the struggles and all the other incidents here in Uitenhage are not isolated from those that occurred in the country as a whole but the main aim was to change what was happening at the time.  Those times there were some reasons that made people to have the perception that there was war where South Africans were being attacked, which he refers to as the onslaught of the downtrodden.  They used to use some guns and also to tell lies and also to disturb peoples minds to cause conflicts and all this lead to the killing of one another.
 Many people were killed and these people used not to be able to explain why they were killing one another.  They would even feel embarrassed to tell what was the cause of their human right of living was taken away from the people.  Is was no longer a right, it was as if people did not have the right to live but is was as if it was a privilege that was granted to the people by the White government.  
 Lastly, what happened people were greatly affected.  Besides the 20 years of struggle from 1986 to 1986  which was divided in phases as people were trying to liberate themselves, we now have got to go back and look at the situation at the time of the shooting in Langa.
 In 1983 to 1984 the regime of the time made an indication of his determination toward the onslaught of the people and the UDF was published in 1984 and 1985, and therefore in 1985 the UDF was established and here in the 
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Eastern Cape the UDF was seen as an obstacle and thought they could see who had established it with the aim to protect the people so the government was against this.
 In 1985 to 1986 the Uitenhage UDF became the target of the government of the time and when the PTSA's  were established they became targets and the enemy of the government.
 In 1986 to 1987 then there was a united force here in Uitenhage.  So this was the sequence of the phases which lead to all this.  The enemy of the people was making programmes according to it's needs at the time.  There were no policemen operating, the were no CID's, instead everybody who was employed by the government was made to fight against the people.  There were no divisions but they were fighting together against the people of Uitenhage.

MR SANDI: Mr Nkobese sir, without interrupting you in your explanation, you made mention that in 1984 to 1986 the UTA in Uitenhage became the target and victims now could you expand on this matter.

FIKILE NKOBESE: Thank You Mr Chairperson, I would like to expantiate and say the youth became the target in this way because whenever you want to destroy any nation you have to focus on the youth and then on the females and then that's the end of that nation and you would be able to control them. So it started off by the youth that was made to fight against each other and this lead on to the parents and no one knew what the cause of all this was but it started in school and it spread over to the locality to the parents and the education was disrupted.  This was the time when the PTSA's were being formed and then the enemy of the people became very jealous and then decided to disrupt this whole
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operation.

MR SANDI: Before we get closer to the main issues and to the incidents of the 25 March 1985 could you explain what the grievances were of the people.

FIKILE NKOBESE: Thank you Mr Chairperson.  The main issue started in 1979 up to now.  People did not like the committees that where formed by the previous regime.  That was before Samcor was established and so people were against some committees that were formed by this committee, and this committee were resisting whereas the people were not recognising them.

MR SANDI: Could you explain to us about this particular funeral that people were attending. Who's funeral was it, and what had happened?   I see here there is a summary where you have made mention that this funeral was prohibited twice and could not go on, could you expand on this matter.