Special Hearings — Mandela United Football Club Hearings — 1997-11-24

BISHOP STOREY: Yes, I would crave the indulgence of the Commission just briefly if I may.  I've been questioned for quite a long time and have had to hear that this is the first time this document has ever come to light, the investigators in the two trials never bothered to ask for it.  But I do want to do more than just respond to questions here today, and to say that I really hope and pray that these hearings will give us the truth, because throughout this saga I believe the truth has been trimmed to prevailing political whims by politicians very often, by people with political interests.  Or the truth has been suppressed because people have vanished and feared for their lives.  I really believe that to dispel this suffocating fog of silence and lies is very important for the future of this country.
 At the funeral of Stompie Seipei I said that his death was an unspeakable crime and that "these past few weeks have probed beneath the surface of South Africa's shame".  I notice that that's now part of the title of a book, sir, and that the journalist who wrote the book is courageously refusing to acknowledge the sources there. But that it has exposed the deeper hidden wounds these years have carved into the people's souls, and these are the wounds, sir, the erosion of conscience, the devaluing of human life, the evasion of truth, and the reckless resort to violence.  And I think that part of the painful discovery that has come to these hearings, and you will know this better than, I sir, and I frankly do not know how you people cope with what you've had to listen to over these past couple of years.  The primary cancer may be, and was, will always be the apartheid oppression, but the secondary infection has touched many of apartheid's opponents and eroded their knowledge of good and evil.
 One of the tragedies of life, sir, is it is possible to become like that which we hate most, and I have a feeling that this drama is an example of that.  And unless this fact is recognised, then all the truth will not have been told, and we will never admit to what really happened in this case, and that's why I thought the kidnapping and the murder of Stompie Seipei are important beyond the normal horror we should feel, because at one level they may have been common-law crimes, but they are also about the ruthless abuse of power, even given the latitude of a time of struggle, and they resemble far too closely the abuses of apartheid itself.  We have got a right to know that we've left that era behind, and that matter we will not know that, none of us will be (...indistinct) until there is clarity about this...[indistinct]  
 I feel whenever I have - this is the third time I've had to give evidence, it's nice not to be quite as lonely as the first two occasions, it's nice to know that other people are coming forward now to help us find the truth, but I think we need to see this in the second of the big tragedies that we've lived through in this country, has done things to people that we will never ...[indistinct],  wounded and they have hurt and they've destroyed people's ability to know the difference between right and wrong.  It is a moral tragedy, not just a political one. 
 And, sir, somebody once said, it is not enough to become politically liberated, we must also become human.  This case is about becoming human again and recognising the inhumanities which some of us were capable of because of the times we used to live in.
 I want to thank this Commission and you, sir, if I may, for the words of affirmation given to my colleague and successor as Bishop, Paul Verryn.  I don't know if anyone will ever know what it is like for seven years to see your name used by the media consistently and without (...indistinct) in spite of the fact that the allegations made against him have been thrown out by two judges, that the media has never used the name of Mr Verryn without associating him with the words sodomy or rape. I think that's disgraceful, and I hope, sir, we've seen the end to that, and that this amazing Christian who served the people of this land will be able to walk from this place knowing he has been exonerated.  
 And in connection with that, sir, I want to say I admire him for the grace with which he has borne this burden.  To my knowledge, sir, everybody who has publicly accused him of these dreadful misdemeanours has withdrawn those words except one - it is my hope that before these hearings are ended that last remaining accuser will use this opportunity to withdraw her words and to take back the accusations that she made against him.
 Finally, sir, I want to also express, as I did a little earlier, my deep admiration for an understanding of the dilemma faced by the internal leaders at the time of this crisis.  I don't think anybody can with hindsight even begin to feel the pain that they had in trying to deal with this crisis and what it cost them.  And if there are those who would accuse [indistinct] others of not having acted quite as decisively as he should, or perhaps having made a decision here or there which could have been different, then I just need to try and live myself back into those moments.
 And, you know, right through this, sir, we just hoped against hope that certain people who enjoyed the respect and adulation of the people would not be directly implicated, that there would be some way in which we would discover that that wasn't the problem. The (...indistinct) drama we hoped against hope that a little boy called Stompie would turn up alive. Those were not easy days, and I just want to say thank you to those who helped me try and deal with this at the time.  Those were the things I wanted to say and I'm grateful for the time you have given me, sir.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  I'm deeply grateful to you Peter (...indistinct) to return to enjoy your sabbatical.  Thank you.
 We now call Steve Mabelane.

MR VALLY: Arch, I just want to state that what has been given out now, by me now, is the statement from Jabu Sithole as well as the submission we've received from the Mandela Crisis Committee. We've just received them and that's what we are giving out now.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Miller.  Order please.   I think we've got a problem with regard to your name, Jabu Sithole.
 Let me start then by welcoming you and thanking you, because we were going to have had you yesterday, but you and your legal representative have been able to arrange that you would return today.  Now Yasmin Sooka is going to administer the oath.

JOSEPH JABULANI SITHOLE: (sworn in)

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Miller.

MR MILLER: Thank you, Chairperson.  May I first inform Mr Sithole, as Chairperson has stated, it is your right to speak English, but if you feel more at home at any stage in your own language, please don't hesitate to switch to it.  Now did you know Mrs Winnie Mandela?

JOSEPH JABULANI SITHOLE: Yes, sir.

MR MILLER: Where did you meet her, under what circumstances?

JOSEPH JABULANI SITHOLE: I met Mrs Mandela somewhere late in 1987 and circumstances therefore were my seeking of assistance because I was a scholar by then.

CHAIRPERSON: Hello, hello! Order please.  Please take that person out whoever it is. You are just disturbing the proceedings.  (Individual removed for disturbing the proceedings).  Order please. Mr Miller.

MR MILLER: Thank you, Chairperson. You say you were a scholar, what were you studying?

JOSEPH JABULANI SITHOLE: In 1987 I was studying Standard 7 of which I wanted to pursue my studies further, and I went to Mrs Mandela for assistance financially, mentally and otherwise, of which she did assisted me by taking me to a school somewhere in Fordsburg.  The name of the school was Perseverance.

MR MILLER: And you say, if I understand you correctly, that Mrs Mandela paid for your schooling?

JOSEPH JABULANI SITHOLE: That's correct, yes.

MR MILLER: And where did you live at this time?