Amnesty Hearings — Nelspruit — 1999-02-04

VOICE SAMBO: I saw my wife in front of him.   As I was walking towards my wife, my wife told me that I have blood all over my body and I have been shot at, even though I knew that, but she told me so.   We went towards the gate, we were walking going outside my yard where the cars were parked.   Outside there, I went inside that car, I opened the left door and I searched the car, but I didn't search under the seat, I just checked for guns so that - because I was scared that this other one will go and pick up one gun and try to shoot me.   When I realised that there was no guns, if I can remember very well, I was dizzy and then I sat down.   As I was sitting down there, my wife was next to me.   Just before five minutes was over, I think it was approximately five to seven minutes at most, I may say five minutes, the ambulance arrived.   I still have a problem about the arrival of the ambulance, or the story surrounding the ambulance, because ambulances is very scarce in that area, or it is rare to see an ambulance, but when I looked at this ambulance, I saw this white man, the one who ran away.   When the ambulance stopped, they opened the door, they said to me I must get inside the ambulance.   I refused.   This white guy came closer and I told him he must stop there, if he come closer, I was going to shoot him.

MR BLACK: Mr Sambo, why did you say this to this man, if he comes closer he's going to shoot you (sic), what did you think he was going to do to you?

VOICE SAMBO: I knew that if he comes closer to me and grab the gun, he was going to shoot me, he wasn't going to do anything except to shoot me.

MR BLACK: So are you saying that you didn't believe that they were there to help you?

VOICE SAMBO: No, I didn't.

MR BLACK: And how did you believe and think at that - still - who was he working for, that man that was in the ambulance, that's Mr O'Farrell, I assume?

VOICE SAMBO: I realised there and there that this was planned, and I realised that they were going to shoot me and then the ambulance was going to be there quick so that no-one will explain anything after I'm dead.

MR BLACK: So did you think that the whole operation had been planned?

VOICE SAMBO: That's correct.

MR BLACK: And had been planned by security police with two assassins?

VOICE SAMBO: Even today, I still maintain that it was planned by security police, no-one can turn me from this belief.

MR BLACK: So did you go with the ambulance?

VOICE SAMBO: No, I didn't, I didn't want to take that ambulance.

MR BLACK: Then, could you just then say what happened after that?

VOICE SAMBO: After I refused getting inside that ambulance, we took one of my cars.   My wife drove me.   I told her, because I think I was at my senses at that time, I wasn't feeling any dizziness.   We went to Dongwe Police Station.  When we arrived there, we stopped at the gate, I just don't remember very well whether there were three or two African policemen.   I am well-known at that place.   We told them to come closer because we had a problem.    They came to me.  I told them that there were two people who came to my place, and I told them that I didn't know these people, and I told them that they came and they shot, and I told them that I also shot them, I don't know as to whether they are still alive or what happened to them.   I gave them both guns.

MR BLACK: Which guns did you give them?

VOICE SAMBO: These two men's guns, I gave the policemen both guns, the one which I grabbed from the policeman and then I shot the policeman, and then the other one is Mr O'Farrell's gun, so I gave them both.

MR BLACK: Okay.

VOICE SAMBO: And then I said to them I needed assistance, and I asked them to take me to hospital.   I've almost forgotten one thing, I also asked them to write down the numbers of the guns for me, and then they did so.   And these policemen said to me they didn't have a car to take me to hospital, they said I must go to a clinic in Mangwene Township, and they said to me they will come afterwards to check on me in the clinic.   It was clear to me that this was just another story or something that I cannot rely on.   I didn't go to clinic, I told my wife to drive towards Msindi, it is near, it's a distance like from here in (Indistinct) to Nelspruit, there's just a river crossing, so after you've crossed the river you are in that area.

CHAIRPERSON: To what hospital did your wife drive you, Msindi?

VOICE SAMBO: We went to Shongwe Hospital, we hired a kombi there, we hired a kombi at Msindi to go to Shongwe Hospital.  We left my car in another house and then we went to Shongwe Hospital by the kombi.

CHAIRPERSON: Is Shongwe Hospital the same as Kwamakalede Hospital?

VOICE SAMBO: Yes, that's correct.

CHAIRPERSON: You may proceed, Mr Sambo.

VOICE SAMBO: When we arrived at Kwamakalede Hospital, we started registering and I sent my wife that - or I told my wife that she must go and contact Nelspruit people.   It was late at this time... (intervention).

MR BLACK: Mr Sambo, when you say "Nelspruit people", who are you referring to, she must contact the Nelspruit people, what do you mean by that?

VOICE SAMBO: ANC offices in Nelspruit, I gave her two telephone numbers.   The people who were responsible here was Joe Nkona and Dombi, Joe Shibanga.   Ntombi Shope was working in Nelspruit ANC offices, she was working with Joe.  I gave my wife two telephone numbers, one was a home telephone number and the other was a office telephone number, and I asked her to report the matter to them.   She left.

MR BLACK: Why do you want her to report it to the ANC?   Why did you want her to report to the ANC?

VOICE SAMBO: So that they see to it that I'm protected while I'm in hospital.   What I said to my wife, if they were going to be able to come, they must come at the very same time after she reported the matter to them.   When I was sleeping there in hospital on that stretcher, I saw policemen, five of them.   Among the five, one was a black policeman from Dongwe Police Station, and one was a soldier, a white soldier, and one policeman from Komatipoort Police Station.

CHAIRPERSON: He thinks he is from Komatipoort.

VOICE SAMBO: I only know one from Dongwe out of the five.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, what I'm saying is that you thought one soldier was from Komatipoort, you didn't know him?   You didn't know as a fact that he came from Komatipoort, your evidence was that you thought?

VOICE SAMBO: These policemen were five who came to hospital.  One was from Dongwe Police Station, I know him.    The two were wearing soldier's uniform, and then the others were wearing their private clothes, because before the police uniform never used to be the same, so in this period they were wearing different uniforms, one from Dongwe and Komatipoort the uniform was different.

CHAIRPERSON: Is that the reason why you thought he came from Komatipoort and not from Dongwe, because of the type of uniform he had?