Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — 1996-11-20

WITNESS:   Mr Chairman and all the Members of the Commission, and the audience at large, I do want to say this first of all, to highlight a few things that I may forget.  This word refugees we did try our best to remove it from people's mind, and instil displacees.  That we did because this word refugee could make people afraid and scared ever of going back to their places - original.  For the fact that they have been moved for a while we thought they will be always longing to go back to their places, original places, because it was clear to us that the way they've been removed from their original places was not an acceptable way in any way.  I do want to say this.  First of all I will begin here, that even you have asked me to say something about the people who fled from their places there are many things that make one feel that talking about them some things are implicated right there.  As I was a pastor at Georgetown, not too far away from the main road which runs from Pietermaritzburg to Vulindlela, there was no any other way that we could avoid - to avoid being spectators and folding our arms.  And also we thus believed that the church stands to help those who are going through atrocities, and it is also my belief as a person that my duty calls for me to enlist help to people that need help.  It has been evident the story about the children of Israel leaving Egypt to the Canaan land, I'll read about in the Bible and other books.  I've never seen it, or witnessed such thing.  But on the 28th of March in the morning of that day the picture that always read about from the books came back, and it was so clear and visible in my mind.  From around nine in the morning I saw people coming from the hill top with possessions and some boxes, and some with their babies in the back, women.  Some trying to help those who were not feeling well, sick, and others because they were old they could not walk properly and probably fast.  Some others trying to guide their children to make sure they are safe.  They were headed towards the valley.  After a while some of them arrived in Edendale, where I was stationed at the time.  I would like to say at this point in time, because of my duty I was not only working in Edendale, but I was -the circuit of pastors was all over in Vulindlela.  These people came, arrived, and after two hours they were already at Thuthuka Community Hall, had arrived there.  Right at that time the people who were there that day were approximately 5 000 or even more.  Most of those people were already accepted by the St Albert Mission of the Roman Catholics in the valley.  Some were taken into the school down the valley, higher primary school.  Those who had already arrived in Edendale it was imperative that within a twinkling of an eye we should provide them with accommodation.  We were not hesitant at all.  The community was actually conducive to contain about 1 000 people, but it was inevitable of us to even put more people to be accommodated in that place.  We asked YMCA of Edendale to accommodate others, and different churches in the area to accommodate those people.  I will also like at this point in time to make mention of this.  I do salute them, the pastors and the leaders of the churches who accommodated those people, except for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, because of the reason that their church was beautiful.  It also had a carpet, so those people could make it dirty.  During those days the youths of Edendale wanted to burn the church house.  I do thank God by giving us strength to prevent the youth from burning that church.  I don't want to dwell in that one.  Subsequently to that we tried to figure out as to who those people were, and also know how many they were.  The great need was that of food, water, blankets and clothes.  It was as clear to us that as pastors of the area - I had already touched other pastors from the valley - we had no way of meeting the great need.  I do want to thank the PACSA, Peter Kirchoff who was the leader, who came to us when we needed them most, so that there could also be communication not only of the people in the church, but also to start a committee which was subsequently named Pietermaritzburg Crisis Co-ordinating Committee, which was subdivided - people from the church, politicians and other community members, and ... (incomplete - end of Side A, Tape 2) ... we could not attend that meeting because there was still violence in the area.  But that meeting did help to meet the need of the things that I've already mentioned.  Some of the things that we needed were toilets, because people were many.  There was that fear that gathering of such a large number of people in such a small area could probably have caused diseases after that.  But one other thing was that the people who were coming it was not only the reason that they were - they were not only running away for their safety, but also they had left behind dead bodies.  Some were their mothers, some brothers, some sisters, and their children, that even when they were here their minds were still back crying and mourning that at least those of them that were already killed should be buried decently.  Their pain was so deep and excruciating, and it was not so easy that they should go back home because the way they had escaped, and the things they related to us that were happening there, and how those who were killed were killed, young and old, made them not to even wish to go back home any more.  It was such a difficulty, especially that at the time the police even - even when you report a matter to the police that could probably help them to go back home the police would not even take notice of that, or they will probably take their own time to attend to the matter reported.  I do also like to express that one great help emanated out of the organisation that we already formed, because this organisation monitored in the whole area as to what had happened, and did point out clear to the newspapers how great and how deep the damage was, so that those who had compassion could bring food and clothes.  Let me also state that when we had already received all those things the difficult part of it was to distribute these things to make sure that everyone is helped.  It is amazing that people in such conditions, those who were not affected at all, also wanted to come nearby so that they also could get some help.  Especially when you distributed food people who were not so much highly affected by this could come and even destruct the whole thing, so that at the end no one could get food or benefit from that, because they were not in need at all.  It is surprising that those who have things, possessions, is the one who is greedy more than the needy ones.  I do believe that the one who is in need knows for sure that - what it means, and the greedy ones always want to remain greedy ever.  This was one of the problems we encountered in trying that we meet the needs of the people.  We did not have such a problem in as far as blankets were concerned, but we did encounter a problem in as far as clothing was concerned.  Truly some of the people that we knew who were amongst those who were giving, distributing clothes to the people, had - we saw them now wearing new clothes suddenly.  It came out to us that as they were going to distribute these clothes to these people they did steal some clothes from the ones that we gave them.  Although I must say that I don't say this was such a disturbance to us.  I will also like to say that of the things I've already mentioned here one other challenge we had was in as far as preparing for the funerals.  We had to make arrangements that the corpses get to the mortuaries, or we had to take the people here that we were helping to the mortuaries so that they could identify their people from the mortuary.  One painful thing in that act I remember particularly.  I was with these particular people.  When we got there they discovered that the corpse was so brutally injured that they could not continue, they could not be at peace after seeing that.  One of those people, before we left back to the churches we had to take him to the doctor.  I must say that at this point in time the Edendale Hospital had no good reputation at all.  I think one of the reasons which led to that was that one day the ambulance of Edendale Hospital was discovered not undertaking its duties, instead colluding with the other organisation in destructing and destroying the UDF.  That led to the bad reputation of the Edendale Hospital.  The males who were injured even among the refugees would cry and say, "Please, no," in case you want to take them to the Edendale Hospital.  I do want to thank the private practitioners who were prepared to enlist help to the people.  Some of those people we could not take them to the hospital or the surgeries in an ambulance, as I have already said, and our cars as pastors, and others who were working along with, became ambulances.  We rendered now ambulance services.  I don't want to dwell in that one, but I do want to say one other thing is that a woman before she could deliver it does not matter where she is.  Now, one day in my car, even before we got to the hospital, because those who were expectant agreed to be taken to the hospital.  Because I have a station wagon car I heard at the back the cry of a baby, of an infant, but I had to drive to the hospital.  I said to the parents of the baby I would like to give the baby a name, and I will say she is Nobubaleka, but they did not take that name, and I had never seen them after that.  I have since seen them that time.  Now, these are some of the things that we encountered.  One other thing that transpired, we know that to be afforded an opportunity and to be a family is that it is important to know that it's quite important to be a family.  Now, because they were in that condition in such a situation the family concept, the concept of being a family was completely lost.  The growing ups, especially the boys, did not accept to be accommodated in the churches and halls.  Instead of that they requested for a place at friends' places in the Edendale area.  We only had - we had males and females under one roof, not divided inside.  That created a situation of not having any privacy at all as families and so on.  This - as a result of this some encountered marital problems.  I think because of this reason, because of the way the situation was, no privacy at all, secondly they were intermingling with many other people under one roof, I am sad to say people - I won't mention people's names here, because they came to me as a pastor to confide in - it was called for that after that some should go through a divorce.  I know of two couples who encountered that problem.  I also know that there could be some others, but it was not so easy for them to approach me.  I think those two approached me because they respected the church.  That brought in my mind that it was so clear that being exposed in such a situation brought difficulties to families, and that led to the breaking of families.  I also want to highlight in as far as education is concerned.  Those refugees - I remember Mr Zondi was a teacher at Nzameni High School.  I believe he already came forward here to the Truth Commission.  I think even some others who were teachers as well were made not to carry on with the teaching profession, because in the schools in which they were teaching people of Vulisaka and Mnyandu had fled the area.  They still did continue and carry on, but the teachers could not go and teach though they wished they could because they had fled and escaped, and not wanting to go back to the area.  And also there was no one who was prepared to guarantee their safety.  And there are many other children who were forced to leave school.  Some were already in higher standards.  Their education was highly disturbed.  Even though what I am going to talk about now concerns me, but I would like to say that I had a boy who was doing matric at that time at a vocational school.  He was highly involved in the Seven Day War, that after the Seven Day War he decided to leave the country and escape.  Even after trying to encourage him, to tell him that all has passed now, let's look into the future, he refused completely.  He left, he went to Zimbabwe.  Even there he faced problems.  Right now he is trying to bring himself to a better standard of living.  I do want to highlight on something about the things that already have been mentioned before regarding the Seven Day War, that this gentleman here, Meyer, who was right here, I am surprised he repudiated everything about the fact that the police were also shooting, because in the Xaluza fight there's a person I know, by the name of Rudolf, who was shot at by the police in a helicopter.  He was shot and he was carried back home.  And one other thing that is puzzling me is that where he was shot the area was predominantly of the ones that were attacking, but he was shot in that very area.  Let me backtrack and go back tot he story of the refugees.  I say that Thuthuka Hall was used, and other  churches - especially the Thuthuka Hall.  After all this was over because it had accommodated refugees there were those who attacked it and burnt the hall.  Even today that hall is useless, cannot be used in any way.  The insurance of the hall had altercation and arguments to the effect of, "You were in charge, not us," and so forth, because there are two insurances, there's state of emergency insurance and the usual normal insurance.  After leaving Edendale it was estimated that to refurbish the whole hall would cost R4 000,00.  I do want to request from the Commission that if there is any way - Mr Chairman and the Members of the Committee, is there anything that can be done regarding this hall, because it did not help one person but helped many people at the time of need?  As a result of this help that it rendered to the people it was destroyed completely.  Even if that was not the reason, but the way the arguments went on between the two different insurances led to us think that's the problem.  One other thing that was important was that our duties as pastors that we carried on on daily basis, we had to put them aside and have second-in-charge people, because we had telephones ringing continuously for 24 hours, people wanting to inquire about the state of the refugees.  One other thing was that we could not also conduct as daily duties as usual because the most important thing at the time was for us to help - enlist help to the refugees, especially attending meetings of the organisations that I've already explained about before, and going up and down about other things with regard to the situation.  Our level of performance and Christianity deteriorated, and we could not attend to some other things.  Also that created  some kind of enmity in the church between those who were