Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pretoria — 1996-08-12

THOMAS MANTHATA: Thank you Mrs Langa.  During that time when Vincent left was he working or was he still a student?

BABY LANGA: He was working at Siemens Poetiespoort.

THOMAS MANTHATA: I think it is a family member.  You are talking about someone who was in exile.  Is Victoria Langa.  Her name is Victoria Langa.  Is Victoria back?

BABY LANGA: No, she is not back, but she came back and she left her with the Langa surname.  She went there with her husband.  We call her Victoria Langa because when she left she was not married.  She is in America.  She is not back here in the country.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What about Humphrey?  Is Humphrey back?  Humphrey Langa.

BABY LANGA: Humphrey Langa is back.  He was in the Union Building.  I think he is in the Union Building.  He is back in this Parliament.  He is working with, for them.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Maybe they, they thought maybe you know about the death of Vincent, I mean Humphrey.

BABY LANGA: No, they did not tell me that Humphrey know anything about the death of Vincent.  They were just asking me whether I know him or not and then I said I do not know him because I thought Humphrey, because he was in Parliament, maybe they wanted to know if I know him better maybe I will get a chance to go to him.  When I asked him about Vincent they started looking at each other.  I think they knew that Vincent died in 1978, but they were asking themselves there is no one who, they did not want anyone to
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
8 B LANGA
know that Vincent died.  They wanted it to end up there.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Your knowledge of Vincent before he left, was he a member of any political organisation?

BABY LANGA: Vincent, before leaving the country, he was a person whom in 1976 where the youth of Mamelodi starting to riots, he was a person who was just looking at them.  I knew nothing about him politically.

THOMAS MANTHATA: You, but you said you knew something about Vincent sometimes while he was maybe, he was disappointed or frustrated.  Do you think that he is a person who was going to kill himself?

BABY LANGA: No, I do not know that when he was exile, the way he was, the manner in which he was here in the country, I do not think it is a person who was going to commit suicide.  He never showed some signs of being a person who is going to commit suicide.

THOMAS MANTHATA: You said something about the ANC.  What do you think that the Commission can do to force the ANC to answer you, your complaints?

BABY LANGA: I think the Commission can help me to ask the ANC a film, how he killed himself, where and what was the cause for him committing suicide.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Mrs Langa.  Any other questions?  Nothing from Mrs Sooka.  Dr Ally.

RUSSELL ALLY: In your testimony, Mrs Langa, you speak about your son going, saying to you that he was going to go to Zambia, your sister in Zambia.  Is that what you said?  Did you have a sister in Zambia?  When you were speaking a few minutes ago you said that before your son left he spoke to you and he explained to you that he was leaving the country because he feared that the police would kill him.  You then said
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
9 B LANGA
that he said he would go to a sister in Zambia.  Is that correct, did you have.

BABY LANGA: Yes, he told me that I would not understand him knowing that he knew that I knew nothing about politics.  So he wanted me to relax and by saying that he is going to my sister.

RUSSELL ALLY: Your sister, it was your sister who lived in Zambia?

BABY LANGA: Yes, it was my younger sister, my older sister.

RUSSELL ALLY: And what was she, was she living in Zambia or what was the reason for her being in Zambia?

BABY LANGA: She went into exile with her husband.

RUSSELL ALLY: And did he ever make contact with her?  Did you ever discover that, Vincent?

BABY LANGA: ... that she looked for Vincent in Botswana and in other African countries, but she did not find him.

RUSSELL ALLY: I wonder if you understood me correctly.  Did Vincent perhaps ever make contact with her?  Do you know, with your sister in Zambia?

BABY LANGA: Do you mean before he left?  Actually they never met.  Even before he left the country he did not tell me anything about my, I do not really know because he would have told me that he received her letter, that he talked to her.

RUSSELL ALLY: And did you ever find out why Vincent went to Russia?  Did he go and study or did he go for military training?  Do you have any reason why he was actually in Russia?

BABY LANGA: The ANC told me that he was at the political school.

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you.
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
10 B LANGA

CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Langa, thank you very much.  I have no follow-up questions.  We have already referred your statement to the ANC offices and we will again follow-up in the course of our activities.  We will see what we can find out and we will be reporting to you.  Thank you much, thank you very much for telling us your story and thank you to your cousin, Paulina, for having come with you.  Thank you very much.
PRETORIA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG