Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pietermaritzburg — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   They told me that they were going to take me to Inkatha.  Inkatha was going to kill me.  I said I didn't have a problem with Inkatha.  I said I was an Inkatha member.  I was just telling lies, I just wanted to save my life, because I was not an Inkatha member at that time.  They asked me, "Are you an Inkatha member?  How can you kill people who belong to an Inkatha member if you were a member?"  I told them I didn't kill anyone, I was just going to town to buy certain goods, and I told them that I was being hijacked.  I was telling lies, I wasn't hijacked, I was doing it willingly, but it was just to save my life.  I told them I was an Inkatha.  Then he said, "You must just stop saying you are an Inkatha member, because I know you are not."  I said, "I am a staunch member of Inkatha.  I definitely am."  Somehow I think they believed me, because they ended up not taking me to the Inkatha members.  They put me in an other kombi, I think it was a police kombi.  I was taken to Howick Police Station.  They charged me.  When we got to the police station I asked them why they were arresting me.  They said they had arrested me in possession of a gun.  They charged me with the possession of an unlicensed firearm.  That's where I will end.

MRS GCABASHE: We have heard your story.  In your statement you said Bongani was a student.  Where was he attending school and what standard was he?

WITNESS:   It was during the times of the riots.  At times he wouldn't go to school because there was unrest.  Nearly all the Mpophomeni students had problems going to school.

MRS GCABASHE: You said there was a youth who was run down by the Hippo.  What was his name?

WITNESS:   I don't know what his name was, but what they did, there just came this youth running, and they stopped the Hippo.  They took the youth and they put him underneath the Hippo and they wanted to run him down.  I don't know what ultimately happened to him because I was also arrested.  I was taken and put into the back of the Hippo.

MRS GCABASHE: How long did you stay in gaol?

WITNESS:   I think it was a week.

MRS GCABASHE: In your statement you spoke about a doctor who attended you after you got injured.  What was his name?

WITNESS:   It was Dr Esack.

MRS GCABASHE: Where is he operating?

WITNESS:   He's in 'Maritzburg.

MRS GCABASHE: Was he at Howick then?

WITNESS:   Yes, he was between Howick and 'Maritzburg.

MRS GCABASHE: You don't know his address?

WITNESS:   No, I can get it for you if you want.

MRS GCABASHE: Then you went to see an attorney.  What was his name?

WITNESS:   At that time it was JJ and Mr John Feesman.

MRS GCABASHE: Do you know his address?

WITNESS:   I do have his phone number at home.

MRS GCABASHE: Now, what I've noticed in your statement is that so many people are involved, and their statements had been made jointly with yours.  Now do you know why his statement, Molefe's statement, is together with yours?

WITNESS:   I don't know, because I am just relating what happened to me.  There are so many people who died, and probably the statements were mixed in that way, but I am just relating the incident that took place during my presence.  Some just came to see Bongani because he was shot.  Some died, some got injured, so there was quite a lot of confusion.

MRS GCABASHE: Now, was there any inquest with regard to Bongani's death?

WITNESS:   We are from a very difficult time.  It was very difficult to report a matter to the police.  For instance the car we were driving was beyond repairs.  It's staying at the police station, it's been parked there.  It was beyond repairs.  It stayed at the police station until 1994.  Now I am the one who had to go take the car, but they kept on saying I couldn't get the car because the case was still on, and it took quite a number of years for me to get the car.

MRS GCABASHE: What is your uncle's name?

WITNESS:   Henry Vusumuzi Gunene.

MRS GCABASHE: Do you know whether there was anything that the family got about Bongani's death as to the cause of death?  What did the death certificate say?  What was the cause of death?

WITNESS:   No, there's absolutely nothing I know.

MRS GCABASHE: The results of the post-mortem said he was shot in the head.  Didn't you see anything of that sort?

WITNESS:   No, I never saw the death certificate, but because I was with him I could see.  I knew he was shot in the head and I saw a big hole in his head.

MRS GCABASHE: I hope you've told us all that you wanted to tell us.  Now I'll hand over to the Chairman.

UNKNOWN: There's just a few questions that I would like to ask you in order to clarify certain issues.  You said there were two people who were in the car at the back of the car who were in danger of being shot.  What happened to these two people?

WITNESS:   They got shot.  They got severely injured, because the other one who is my cousin each time he has to go to the hospital they say they are giving him injections to extract the poison from his body.  So his health is deteriorating by day.  His whole body was full of bullets, especially on the left side, and he lost quite a number of fingers.  I think it's three fingers.  The other also said he is undergoing treatment.  He is being given injections also, so both of them have problems.

UNKNOWN: Do they know that you've come to the Truth Commission?  Did they wish to come?

WITNESS:   I told my cousin over the weekend.  He is staying at a very far - it's quite a distance, and it's not a safe area to go to.  Then I left a message that I was going to the Truth Commission.  I don't know what the outcome was, whether he was told or not.  So I came here without having had any contact with him.

UNKNOWN: The second point is that you've come here to give testimony about your friend Bongani Cele.  Bongani Cele has got his family.  Can you please tell us about his family just briefly?

WITNESS:   I cannot really be accurate in telling you about his family, but he was in a problem.  His family was split into two.  Him and his brothers as well as his sisters ran away and the parents were left there.  Even when he had died his father didn't go to his funeral because of the circumstances, because it was said  once you go bury somebody at the mountain you would not come back to that region or that area.  Even today there is still that stigma attached to going to a certain area.  But all his sisters are staying at Mpophomeni.

UNKNOWN: Does Bongani's family know that you've come here to testify about the incident?

WITNESS:   Yes, I did leave them some message.  Bongani's father is present.  I spoke to him just now.

UNKNOWN: Bongani's father felt it was worth his while for you to go on giving testimony.  Is there no problem that you are giving this testimony?  Are they satisfied with the arrangement?

WITNESS:   I wouldn't really know, but I felt it was important that I should tell his father.

UNKNOWN: That's a very courageous act for you to have come here to tell us about your friend.  We wished that we could have met Bongani's family so that we may have direct contact with his family, because you were both affected, the family and you as a friend.  Now we don't see Bongani's family.  Maybe there are certain questions that we would have liked to ask from Bongani's family, whether they had any wishes or expectations, or they had any questions that we could answer.  We would only be willing to liaise with them.