Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   No, they didn't.  I had some problems because I couldn't even find a place to bury him.  We took him to his brother's place, where we could bury him, but the IFP people came and they said he couldn't be buried there because he was a Comrade, and they said if ever we try to bury him there so many people are going to die.

KHOZA MGOJO: (Inaudible)

WITNESS:   Yes, he was buried there.

KHOZA MGOJO: (Inaudible)

WITNESS:   (Inaudible) ... is the son of her bigger sister.

KHOZA MGOJO: Did they conduct an inquest?

WITNESS:   No, there was no inquest.

KHOZA MGOJO: In your statement who is Mbongiseni Mhlongwane?

WITNESS:  This is the gentleman who knocked at our door. Was this the time when they were coming to pick your husband?   ---   Yes, that is true.

KHOZA MGOJO: Did the police investigate anything about Mbongiseni's involvement?

WITNESS:   No, they didn't.

KHOZA MGOJO: Did you ever contact lawyers to help you in this matter?

WITNESS:   No, we didn't consult any lawyer.

KHOZA MGOJO: Why didn't you seek for help from attorneys?

WITNESS:  It never came to our mind that we should go and ask for help.

KHOZA MGOJO: Where is Mbongiseni Mhlongwane?

WITNESS:   He is at home.

KHOZA MGOJO: Where does he stay?

WITNESS:   He is staying at Haza.

KHOZA MGOJO: What is his occupation?

WITNESS:   I don't know.

KHOZA MGOJO: Is he still alive?

WITNESS:   Yes, he's still alive.

KHOZA MGOJO: Do you suspect that he might be the one who organised the whole crime?

WITNESS:   Yes, we suspect that he was involved in the killing of my husband.

KHOZA MGOJO: What's your occupation?

WITNESS:   I am not employed, I am just staying at home.

KHOZA MGOJO: And who is supporting your children?

WITNESS:   They are supported by my elder brother.

KHOZA MGOJO: You mean the one who's working at Durban?

WITNESS:   Yes.

KHOZA MGOJO: Is he married?

WITNESS:   No, he is not yet married.

KHOZA MGOJO: Are you a pensioner?

WITNESS:   No.

KHOZA MGOJO: Are you still young?  We pity you because your husband passed away while your children were still young.  He died because he stand for the truth, because there's no one who can kill his brother.  He refused to kill his brother and this cost him his life.  Does his brother know that he was killed because he was trying to protect him?   /---   Yes,

KHOZA MGOJO: ---   Yes, they know.

KHOZA MGOJO: Out of all this harassment we know that you have suffered a lot, and can you tell us how you feel at the moment?

WITNESS:   I am not feeling well, and my children are not getting good education because I don't have money to send them to do some further studies.  They just passed standard 10 and stay at home.  I can only afford to send the young ones to high school and primary schools.

KHOZA MGOJO: What was your husband's occupation?

WITNESS:   He was self-employed.

KHOZA MGOJO: What do you mean?

WITNESS:   He had a tuck shop at home.

KHOZA MGOJO: Just like his brother who had a shop?

WITNESS:   Yes.

KHOZA MGOJO: Can you tell us about your health?  How do you feel?  Are you feeling well at the moment?

WITNESS:   I am fine.

KHOZA MGOJO: What would you like the Commission to do for you?  What is your request before the Commission?

WITNESS:   I would like them to help me with my children, give them some help to further their studies, because even when we leave our former home we didn't take all our belongings, we just left everything there.

KHOZA MGOJO: We would like to thank you, and we also pity you for all the things that you have gone through.  We will take your suggestions ... (incomplete - Tape 3 faulty)

KHOZA MGOJO: Mrs Kunene, in your statement it is that your husband's body was found at the back yard of another family.  Do you still remember the name of the family?

WITNESS:   I can't remember their surname.

KHOZA MGOJO: This Mathombi, is she still staying at that place?

WITNESS:   Yes.  I remember, it is a Zuma surname. Can I ask you more about your children?  You said

KHOZA MGOJO: the other one is doing standard six, the other is doing standard nine, the other one standard five.  What is the names of the schools?

WITNESS:   Asibemunye School at Mpophomeni.

KHOZA MGOJO: The one who is doing standard six, which school?

WITNESS:   They are both at Mandeni.

KHOZA MGOJO: What is the name of the school?

WITNESS:   I can't remember the names of the schools.

KHOZA MGOJO: Don't worry, we'll contact you to find these names.  Thank you.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... evidence here today.  You have told us a tragic story about the death of your husband.  Like Mrs Ziqubu, who was the first person to give evidence here today, your husband was a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party.  Mr Ziqubu's husband criticised what the IFP were doing in Mpumalanga in those days in 1988, and as a result he was shot in his own house.  Your husband, who was a member of the IFP, did not wish to take part in the nightly meetings, or camps as they were called, that Inkatha used to hold outside Mpophomeni township, and he also refused to take part in the killing of his own brother, who was a member of the UDF at the time, and for this he died.  He was hacked to death in a most brutal fashion.  This is a terrible story of political intolerance which you have told us, and we are still not free from that political intolerance in many parts of KwaZulu-Natal even today.
You have lost your husband, your breadwinner and the  /father of
father of your children, and we express our deep sympathy to you, because it is obvious that you are still suffering
as a result of that.
As my colleague, Dr Mgojo, has said, we shall be making recommendations to the Government on behalf of you, and other people like you, who have suffered.  We cannot assist you at the moment directly, but we will make recommendations to the Government as to how you should be assisted.
So we thank you again very much for coming in today and telling us your story, and we hope that even just by telling that story - because it seems as though this has been the first time that you have been able to tell it in public - we hope that it makes your burden a little easier to carry.  So thank you very much, and we wish you strength as you leave us.

MR LYSTER: Thank you, Mr Mvubu, we greet you and welcome you here today.  You have come from Sobantu township, and you have come to tell us about the period during which you were tortured by the police in 1976.  Before you tell us that story can you stand and take the oath.

MANDLA MVUBU: (Sworn, States)

MR LYSTER: Mr Mvubu, you are presently living in Sobantu village, in Main Road, Sobantu.

WITNESS:   That is correct.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... married?  What is your background?

WITNESS:   I am not married.

MR LYSTER: (Inaudible) ... at the moment?

WITNESS:   I am not working.

MR LYSTER: At the time of your arrest in 1976 how old were you?

WITNESS:   I was 21 years old.

MR LYSTER: And were you schooling then, or working, or neither?

WITNESS:   I had already stopped schooling.  I was working.

MR LYSTER: Can you then tell us what happened at that time, what you were planning to do and what happened to you?  This was in September '76.