Human Rights Violation Hearings — Venda — 1996-10-03

MR MULAUDZI: What happened was that the young boy that in 1980, May plus I was just around 10, 11, 12.  Within a week I was constantly receiving guests from security police.
 At work, home, just to ask me to say where my son was and that as somebody who had left without a word, I couldn't know anything.
 Then they said do you perhaps have relatives elsewhere?  I said, yes, I have relatives in Soweto.  (Indistinct) I've got relatives (indistinct), those are the only places where I have relatives.
 Then they said, now find out if that boy is in one of those and I said, no, I won't do that.  I am not a police.  The police who are looking for him, should look for him.  I was not looking for him at that time.
 Then it was my old breakfast, supper.  Very early in the morning, eight o'clock, the Department of Economic Affairs, Commercial Industry, right here.  When getting to work, I used to get Ramadigela waiting for me.
 Enquiring on information about my son, I said I did tell you that I am not in that department, I am not working in that section, I cannot get him, find him, get him.
 When he left he had to harass my wife at work where she is working.  My wife was receiving that kind of breakfast and supper was a joint one with Ramadigela.  That matter is 
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very far where I was nicknamed "father of the terrorist".
 Up to now, when people look at me they say, oh, are you still alive?  But then I am still alive.
 However, with a very painful heart, because they are not treating me well.  I suffered greatly.  This happened from 1980.
 This kind of language terminated in 1983, when my son together with his colleague or those who he was with, were found caught red handed at Sagole Spar.  That is where they were eventually killed.
 If the Commission doesn't feel pain and doesn't waste its time, they can go and see the place, the house where he was killed.  It is really (indistinct) as if (indistinct) to see my son's corpse mutilated, riddled with bullets.
 I don't know what wrong he had done, I asked myself a lot of questions as to why didn't they arrest him rather, that worried the whole family.
 As you can see, I have my wife here.  She is now a sick person.  Hypertension is now and then and I am very sure that this evening when I leave here, I have to take her to the hospital.
 Then I was called from home by somebody who was, the name is Lacy and he said to me, do you have a son abroad?  I said yes.  He said come tomorrow at eight o'clock and identify, we have three corpses there.
 Then I went there, I realised it was my son together with those others.  Then they said there is going to be a funeral the following day, on Wednesday, ten o'clock.
 What is required is only six people who are wanted there.  I said, no ways, already my wife and I, together with the children, we are more than six.
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 That cannot happen.  I made all the presentations, I approached the Department of Justice.  I approached even the office of the President.  I subsequently was allowed 24 people.
 The father to my wife, he is the one who buried the three people.  Whilst the prayers were not even allowed, the boy I am talking about, as I am saying now, when he left he left a baby.
 He was a son, his son.  He has just passed standard 10 last year.  He is trying all over the country to get money.  He is trying to get money so that he could get to the University.
 There is no money.  I don't know, I wish I wanted to say to the Commission is take this the other way around, and feel pity for us.
 And really not only take feeling pity for us because I am nearing my death, to take care of my son, the son who is left now, because I personally in my family, to have been a hero, he was a freedom fighter and those who are reaping the fruits today, it is through his sweat and blood.
 Look at us, and reconcile us.  That is the bit I can give you.

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you very much for coming forward and sharing what we all realise must be something very painful and very difficult and I just hope you would bear with us just for a little while longer while we ask you some questions just to help us get as complete a picture as possible.
 And help us also to respond to some of the requests which you have just made now.  Can you just tell us a little bit about your son and what politicised him, because you 
said he was a hero and that he fought for liberation.  He
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left the country in 1980, just a little bit about what happened before that that made him leave the country.  Party's political views and political involvements.

MR MULAUDZI: I can hardly say who politicised him, however, the little that I know of is that he knew me as a father who didn't like to take somebody's things of issues, I knew I was a straight talker and he knew he was a straight talker.   Whether or not somebody will hate me or not.  Maybe that is what encouraged him.

RUSSELL ALLY: So in fact you can be a little more specific maybe, when your son left in 1980, was there any connection between him leaving in 1980 and the fact that Venda land got so-called independence in 1979?  Was there any links, was that something that he had any strong views about?

MR MULAUDZI: No, I cannot arrive at that because I don't remember even a single day him saying that he felt strongly about a specific thing.

RUSSELL ALLY: Now, do you know that when he came back in 1983, do you know why he was coming back, do you have any idea, for anything specific, any mission or was he just coming back?  If you can answer that, if you can't then that's also okay.

MR MULAUDZI: That question can only address it as a difficult one.  But what I can answer in this way, since he left every single day I in particular, my wife and I, even the young boys who are there - we were praying quite often on watching the TV at such and such a place there was a terrorist killed and I said perhaps it could have been better if we knew, but then since he was not writing and there was no connection, it is better maybe just to get the remaining bones.
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 That was our prayer, just to get the bones and we did 
finally get the bones.

RUSSELL ALLY: You say in your statement that you struggled to get your son's death certificate and when you eventually got your certificate, I am going to read what you've got in your statement, and I would like you just to explain to us just a little bit about why there was this response.
 You said "when I was looking for my son's death certificate, I went to the security office in Thoyandou.  Gavio Ramashana was its head.  He instructed a certain Malanga to make the death certificate.  When I was given the certificate the security office gave me a strong warning that I should use the certificate for one purpose only, and that was to claim for my son's funeral expenses.
 They threatened to kill me if I used the certificate for anything else."  Now what was on the certificate and why were they threatening to kill you if you used it for anything else, what else could you have used it for?

MR MULAUDZI: Yes, it happened.  It nearly became a very difficult issue, but then I insisted to get it.  However, when Ramashana had agreed that I could get it.
 He told, ordered Malanga to prepare it for me.  When he brought it to me, when I was seated in Mr Ramashana's office, he said you are going to use this paper for one purpose only.  Any other thing, you'll have yourself to blame.  So I only used it for that one purpose and kept my mouth shut until today.

RUSSELL ALLY: Was there ever an inquest into your son's death?  Was there ever a police investigation or anything taken to the courts about your son's death?