Human Rights Violation Hearings — Umtata — 1996-06-20

CHAIRPERSON: We will hand over to Reverend Xundu to call the next witness.  Now I would like to welcome officially Dr Makodo, a Commissioner from Natal, who has visited us today in this hearing in Umtata.  Dr Makodo we welcome you.  We are blessed by your presence with us.  We feel strengthened, encouraged, loved and affirmed that you have take the time to be with us.  Over to you Mcebisi.

REV XUNDU: Commissioner, I would like to call Zola Twalo to the stand please.  With your permission, I would like to welcome you Zola.  The liberation that we have today, you have paid for it quiet dearly.  People have lost their loved ones in the different households.  Some lost their wives and, especially in this case, you have lost your brother.  He was also involved in the struggle for the liberation of our country and for our people, but he got ill treatment while they were in the custody of the police.  We thank you for coming forward so that you can tell the Commission and the country as a whole.  The main aim of the Commission is to when you tell your story so that the whole country must know that things like this should never happen again.  We must stop this disdainful thing that happened in the past,  the struggle for power.  These things must never happen again.  We thank you very much for coming to us and share to us what happened to your brother.  I am going now to ask you UMTATA HEARING EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE
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to stand.

ZOLA TWALO: (Duly sworn in, states).

REV XUNDU: Thank you Mr Chairman, over to you.

CHAIRPERSON: Tiny Maya will guide the witness.

MS MAYA: Mr Twalo Zola, according to the statement that we have here you are going to give evidence about the disappearance of your brother, Gwazo Twalo.  Could you please tell us who Gwazo Twalo was.  First tell us who you are and your home.  What kind of a home it was.

ZOLA TWALO: My name is Zola Twalo.  I am a younger brother to Gwazo Twalo.  First I am going to thank the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for such a touching work that they are doing.  The last time I saw my brother, Gwazo, it was 1970 when he was going to Wentworth where he was going to start doing his medical studies.  The report that I heard was around June in 1972 while he was still at Wentworth.  He crossed the borders because he was trying to continue with the struggle for the liberation of our people.  In 1980 when I had visited Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza while he was arrested.  That is when I got the report that my brother had died.
 According to the report it seems like there was a conflict at Aliwal North and Herschel.  Apparently he was one of the people who was taken by the policemen and they put him in the Central Prison in Pretoria.  Now the authorities of the prison, they put him in the dongas and that was the end of him.  There were lots of rallys in Umtata because of the disappearance of people.  People who disappeared at their homes and their workplaces.  
 There is something that I would like the Commission to do to help me out.  It is to investigate because it is 
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obvious that is the responsibility of the Security Police of South Africa and the Transkei.  There is another honourable man, MEC Ezra Sigwela, who can also have an interest in the case.  He actually asked that he could be contacted so that he can try to help out with this case.  As we speak today we do not even know what happened to his bones.

MS MAYA: Thank you Zola.  I would like us to go back a little.  In your statement you said Gwazo, he was a member of the student organisation called SASO.  How much do you know about his membership of the SASO organisation?  What kind of things that he use to do?  How did he contribute in the struggle especially as a member of SASO?

ZOLA TWALO: As I have said the last time I saw him he was on his way to Wentworth, but now I could at I could see that he had SASO t-shirts and he use to distribute SASO t-shirts to people.  So I believe that he was an active member.

MS MAYA: Another thing you said, you have been told by Dumisa Ntsebeza that your brother has been disappeared.  Is this the Dumisa Ntsebeza here in front of you, one of the Commissioners that you are talking about?

ZOLA TWALO: Yes, that is correct.

MS MAYA: How did he tell you this because you said you were going to see a prisoner?  So, how did you see Dumisa Ntsebeza?

ZOLA TWALO: Dumisa Ntsebeza was one of my friends.  We use to meet quite a lot.

MS MAYA: Is he the prisoner?

ZOLA TWALO: Yes, he was the prisoner.

MS MAYA: Mr Twalo, at the time when you were talking to Mr Ntsebeza, when was the last time you heard about Gwazo and where was he at the time?
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ZOLA TWALO: According to my knowledge, which is not much, I realised that he has been based in Lesotho.

MS MAYA: Is there any knowledge, you know of his transference back to South Africa?

ZOLA TWALO: For him to be in a South African prison, it was because of the conflict that was in the Aliwal North area or Herschel which was where he was arrested.

MS MAYA: Did he give you any other details about the fact that he was in the prison?  Did he ever tell you anything else about this, except this conflict that was in Herschel.

ZOLA TWALO: No, nothing else.

MS MAYA: Were there any other means that you tried to make?  Maybe to contact the authorities of the jail just to find out what happened to him as a person who was now, who were you told that he is in jail?

ZOLA TWALO: No, I did not make any steps to try and find out except that I would like to take this opportunity to thank the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

MS MAYA: Could you please now tell us about your request as a family?  How can we help you out as the Commission?

ZOLA TWALO: My request to the Truth Commission is to please investigate for me.  As I have said that Mr Ezra Sigwela has an interest in this case.  He would like to say something.  During the 1980's those people, the authorities who were there in the 1980's, they were the ones, they are the ones who can tell.  They are the ones who can tell us where are his bones.

MS MAYA: Do you have anything else, Mr Twalo, that you would like to say?  Perhaps just try to go back to your memory and think if there is anything else that you would like to say.
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ZOLA TWALO: No, there is not anything else other than just finding the bones of my brother.

MS MAYA: Thank you Zola.  I am now going to hand you over to the Commissioner so that if there is anyone among my colleagues who wants to ask you a question, can do so.  Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Pumla Gobodo.  Thank you Zola.

MS GOBODO: I remember very well Gwazo's story because we use to grow up together.  It was something that he use to make us wonder quite a lot.  Could you please tell us clearly so that we can have clarity about the details that you have mentioned.  You said before the first time you heard about the disappearance and the death of your brother was, you heard this from Dumisa Ntsebeza who was in jail at that time.  Could you please tell us more, why was Dumisa Ntsebeza arrested so that this can be recorded as well.  Why was he arrested?  That is now Dumisa Ntsebeza.

ZOLA TWALO: Mr Ntsebeza at around 1976.  He was also part of the struggle.  He was also trying to fight for the liberation of the country.

MS GOBODO: In other words he was a political prisoner at the time when you visited him.  Thank you.  Last question.  The knowledge that he had about Gwazo, how did he get it?  How did Mr Ntsebeza know about Gwazo?  Could you please tell us more about that so that we can have clarity.  It could help us in our investigation.

ZOLA TWALO: What I can is that when you are inmate, from where he was, which was now in Mount Fletcher, there was communication between him and us here in Umtata.