Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1998-04-17

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.  I was apparently the only person who was using a balaclava among the group with whom we were working because I had a light skin problem, I could be easily spotted or identified.

MR WILLS: Yes but even though you had a balaclava you were still recognised, is that correct?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes they suspected looking at the structure of the body.  I would hear the ANC youth for example if they had rallies on working as a policeman during the day, they would refer to me as Skorro Mbambo and they would say I did not use vehicles during the day but during the night, but I would do something else during the day.  They would say I am not spotted walking on foot during the day but at night I am seen in places where I am not always spotted out during the day and that gave me an impression that they were suspecting that I was the person.

MR WILLS: Yes thank you.  You say in paragraph 46 that the pistol that was used for this murder was Mrs Umbiasi's is that correct?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.

MR WILLS: And again just to confirm that you haven't been prosecuted or arrested or charged in any way for this incident?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes, I was not arrested and I was not investigated for this case.

MR WILLS: Do you know if there's a docket opened and the extent of the investigation into this matter?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes I know that it is a docket that was at eSikhawini but I don't know what transpired of the investigation.

MR WILLS: I want to now turn to the next incident which starts on page 22 of the record and your paragraph 48, that is the murder of Naftel Khumalo.  Now again you've heard Mr Mkhize giving evidence is there anything that you don't agree with if you can remember what he said?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: No.

MR WILLS: You confirm what he said in relation to this incident?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.

MR WILLS: Again can you explain your participation in this murder?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: I was at a course for the detective in Matikulu and Dina Mkhize came to pick me up and he indicated that there was a task we had to carry out at eSikhawini and that afternoon as well he was driving B.B. Biela's vehicle, we then came back to eSikhawini.  On arrival he then explained to me that Naftel Khumalo is the person to be killed.  I did not know Naftel Khumalo at all.  We met because some of our members were already waiting.  We then went to pick Zwele Dlamini up, Israel Hlungwane, Lucky Umbanjwa and Victor Buthelizi and when we went to Naftel Khumalo's place or house, on passing his place we saw him come out of the house with people as if he was walking them to the gate or something.
	We parked our car just a little ahead of his home and we took out our guns, we had rifles, all of us, a different assortment of rifles and when we got closer to his home we realised that among the people he was walking to the gate, there was a police from the eSikhawini Police Station...[intervention]

CHAIRPERSON: Sorry could we just have some quiet please.

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: This police was Sergeant Myeni.  He also resided just around Naftel's place and he walked them until they finally left and he came back.  Victor Buthelezi is the one who knew him and he had already identified him.
	We shot him all at once, all of us and he fell.  We shot him such that we did not doubt that he died and we then fled in different directions.  Victor Buthelezi and Lucky Mabanjwa, they did not come back to us in the car they went straight to B.B. Biela's house on foot.  Myself, Dina and Israel together with Zwele got into the car and we drove away and on passing Sergeant Khumalo's house we realised that we were being followed by a van.
	Firstly, we were not sure as to whether the van was indeed following us.  Dina was the one driving at the time, he tried to take different turns, trying to make out as to whether the car would keep following us.  The van kept following us until we joined the road to Empangeni and we started fleeing really and he would also turn off the headlights and we would argue in the car, some would say he should stop, especially Zwele suggested that Dina should stop and just shoot at the police and we differed on this - some felt we cannot shoot the police and we ended up not shooting them but we fled until we took the Endabayake Road.  On arrival near Imubeni we stopped the car and Zwele took the AK47's the ones that were illegal and the ones that we kept behind were the ones that were legal and they stayed at the sugar cane field so that when the police came they should only discover the legal firearms in our possession and we proceeded to a shop that was near the road.  We bought some drinks, me and Dina and we stood at the verandah and as we were standing there we saw this van driving past the shop.  We got back into the car and drove back.  This time we drove back to the direction where we had dropped Zwele and we could not find them there any more and we went back to eSikhawini where Dina left me at my place and we proceeded to the police station to verify the death of our target and he did report that he was indeed dead and he then drove me back to Emmadikula to a course.

MR WILLS: Yes, now you refer in paragraph 54 to a joke, some form of joke between Biela and Shlangwane and Mkhize sometime after that, is that correct?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.  Israel resided with the Mayor B.B. Biele.  He used to go there during the day and have dinner there at night and discuss the political situation between the IFP and the ANC and on that evening, we learnt that Israel and Zwele, they walked from Dawayake on foot until they arrived to Ingwelizani.  At R.M. Mkhizes, who was in charge of the IFP office, they started reprimanding us for having left them behind so that they walked this distance and we laughed about it.

MR WILLS: Okay, you also say in that paragraph that you were told that Mr Khumalo was a candidate to becoming the Mayor of eSikhawini, is that correct?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.

MR WILLS: And who told you that?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: It was that very same evening that we were sitting together.  The Mayor spoke at length about Naftel Khumalo explaining what skills he had on mobilisation and addressing people and that he is actually the one who was a threat to his position.  That is the mayor's position.

MR WILLS: Now again, Mkhize has indicated this but can you tell me, we've gone through here two incidents where you've used  Mayor B.B. Biele's car, did he know what you were using his car for?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes he knew what we were using the car for.  I would explain this as follows - the Mayor had two cars, he had a Nissan Skyline, bluish or green in colour and the white Ford Meteor.  This must have been given to him by the government for his Mayoral position but this white vehicle was often used by his wife to and from work and he would then use the Skyline but when there were now rumours circulating at eSikhawini that this Mayor is seen on hit squad scenes he realised that it is no longer safe for his wife to use the car and then he gave his wife the Skyline and he started to use this very same car and he now had Victor Buthelezi as his bodyguard.  He did that because he had now known that there were suspicions - reference to his vehicle - because he is the one who had given us the car to use it, using it for the very same purpose of killing people.

MR WILLS: Okay, I want to turn now to the attempted murder of the ANC member Welcome Mthimkhulu, page 25 of the record, paragraph 56.  Again Mr Mkhize has given extensive evidence in regard to this evidence.  Do you confirm what Mr Mkhize said?

ROMEO MBUSO MBAMBO: Yes that is correct.