Human Rights Violation Hearings — Alexandra — 1996-10-30

MR LEWIN: Could you call the next witness please.  It is Julia Nkuemyane.  Is she here?  Is she here yet?  Mrs Nkuemyane, can you hear me?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: Yes, I can hear you sir.

MR LEWIN: And are you comfortable?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: Yes, I am comfortable.

MR LEWIN: Could I ask you please as we require that you take the oath.

JULIA NKUEMYANE: (Duly sworn in, states).

MR LEWIN: Thank you very much.  As is custom, I will ask Yasim Sooka, Commissioner, please to lead you.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, thank you for coming to the Commission.  Before you begin your story about your son, Donald, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: To tell you about my life and my family.  What is it actually that you want me, to tell you about myself and my family.  I am Mrs Nkuemyane.  I reside at number 63 8.
 I do not know what happened about my son, Donald, because I was not around when they killed my son, but the people came to me, they came to my house.  The boy that was with Donald is the one who came to tell me what happened about my son.  My son was killed by the Boers at Fourth Avenue.  I do not know, but this boy told me that he was 
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with him.  
 The left on a Friday.  They were going to Tembisa.  They came back from Tembisa.  When they were on their way home they were in Club 65.  On the Fourth Avenue they find police who were standing there at the Fourth Avenue.  This boy told me that my son ran away as the other people were running away and the police chased them away, but this boy did not run away.  That is when my son was shot because they were being chased by the police and they were running away.  That is when my son was shot.  I did not see anything.  I just heard the people saying what happened.  I heard all this from this boy who was with my son.  We buried Donald.
 They said the case was going to be heard at Randburg Police Station.  When his father went to the court he was told that the witnesses did not come.  They said he must bring this boy who was with Donald on that day, but it was very difficult for my husband to get this boy to go to the court.  They said they want other group of witnesses.  The third witness except this Moreni.  They said that the case was heard and there was no witness.  Until today there was nothing that was done.  That is why I decided to come to the Truth Commission.  I think they are going to help me because we had problems that our cases were not heard.  I know that the Truth Commission can help us to investigate what happened.  That is why I have taken this decision to come to the Truth Commission.  
 I gave the Truth Commission people the statement and the letters from the police and the other copies.  I gave them all the evidence that I had with me.  This is the end of my story.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you Mama.  I am just going to ask you a few ALEXANDRA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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questions so that I just have your story clearly down.  Mama, how old was your son and was he attending school at the time?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: He was still at school in Minerva High School.  He was 17 years old when he died.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, to your knowledge, was he a member of any political grouping in Alexandra?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: Yes, my children are ANC members.  My children, since they grew up, they were ANC members.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, at the time that he was growing up it must have been before the ANC was unbanned.  So was he a member of COSAS or a member of the Action Committee or the UDF?  Can you be a bit more specific?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: I think he was a member of COSAS.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you Mama.  Can you tell me, Johannes, was he a school friend of his?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: Johannes was not a friend as such, but they knew each other.  He said he was his friend because they were staying at Eighth Avenue.  He is my friend now, this boy.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, the night when Donald was shot, you say in your statement that they ran away and the police started shooting at them.  Was Johannes with Donald.

JULIA NKUEMYANE: It is a hearsay, I was not there.  I heard the people saying that he ran away.  I did not see while he was being shot.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, one last question.  The funeral, was that a political funeral?  Was Donald the only person who had been shot or had there been other people shot with him?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: It was a mass funeral and the Comrades came to my house and said to me they want me to join with the
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other people who died on that same day.  They must be together when they are buried.  I told them that I have my own arrangement and you came very late.  I request you to let me bury my son because I have my own date, but they wanted me to bury him the following day with the others.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, did they assist you, then, with finance for the funeral or did you manage to do all of that yourself?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: I was the one who was doing all the arrangements.  They wanted to help me, but they came very late, after I had done all the arrangements.

YASMINE SOOKA: Mama, do you have any other children?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: I have only one child.  I had two children at the time.

YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you Mama.  I am going to hand you back to the Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  Any questions.

MS MKHIZE: You have told us that you were not around when this incident took place.  Maybe, Johannes told you who was this policeman who was in charge on that particular day.  The policeman who shot at your son.

JULIA NKUEMYANE: You know what, even when my child died, I was very confused.  This boy was talking, but he just told me that he was killed by the police.  The way I was so confused, I could not even ask a lot of questions.  I do not have information.  I only knew that my child was killed and I was so confused.  I did not even know what to do.

MS MKHIZE: But this Johannes told me that the police killed your son.

JULIA NKUEMYANE: I did not have time to ask him a lot of questions because I was not in a position.  I was confused.

MS MKHIZE: Did you lay any charges?
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JULIA NKUEMYANE: We opened the case.  I have told that my husband was going to run that police station where they wanted witnesses and Johannes Moreni was not available at the time.  We went to Johannes Moreni's home.  We asked about him.  They said he was not there.  My husband went to court and Johannes Moreni never appeared in court.  They told my husband that we are still going to investigate.  Until today they never came back, the police.

MS MKHIZE: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Joyce Seroke.

MS SEROKE: Ms Julia, you say your child was from the Club during the night.  Was that during the time of the State of Emergency?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: Yes, it was during the time of the State of Emergency, but when he left home it was during the day.  I do not know what happened during the night.  I just heard all this from his friend and that is what he said even in the statement.  I did not see them.  I last saw him, it was during the day.  They were leaving for Tembisa.

MS SEROKE: You said you saw your son who was shot at the back and the police removed his clothes.

JULIA NKUEMYANE: I am not the one who said that.  It is the statement from Johannes Moreni.  It is not what I said.  This is the statement that I gave to the staff of the Truth Commission.  I told them that the statement is from Johannes Moreni.

MS SEROKE: You say you got his clothes?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: Yes, Johannes Moreni brought his clothes.

MS SEROKE: On that very same night when your child was killed or maybe the following day?

JULIA NKUEMYANE: I think it was the following day when he
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brought his clothes.