Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-08-28

WITNESS:   It was on a Saturday morning, that is in September 1985.  There was a group of about 10 to 12 people who were armed to the teeth.  They approached my place and they were running.  They were divided into two groups.  Some came into the house and the others ones surrounded the house in the yard.

KHOZA MGOJO: Now, what do you mean that they were armed?  What were they having?

WITNESS:   They were having guns, automatic rifles.  Each and every one of them.  This now was related to me by my sister-in-law.  I thought she was going to come today, but she isn't in.  I was not present at the time when this took place.  I wasn't staying at my place any more, so all this was related to me by my sister-in-law.  Each and every one of them had a hand gun as well as an automatic rifle.

KHOZA MGOJO: When they came who did they say they were?

WITNESS:   They never introduced themselves.  They never told anyone as to who they were.  They asked for me.  It was obvious that they did not know me facially.  They went around looking into the house, and when they were asked by my deceased brother as to who they were looking for, and who they were, they said they were looking for me, and they asked as to where I was.  At times white policemen would come, but these were youths.  I think they were about 25 to 30 years old, and they were all black.

KHOZA MGOJO: What language were they speaking?

WITNESS:   According to my sister-in-law they were speaking a mixed language.  It was obvious that some of them were not Zulus.  They were speaking some tsotsi taal or township lingo.

KHOZA MGOJO: Some were speaking Afrikaans?

WITNESS:   No, nobody spoke Afrikaans, but they were speaking township lingo, which is a mixture of quite a number of languages.  They were mixing Xhosa, Sotho, Afrikaans, as well a broken English.  This is the language that you use in the streets.  It's not a pure langauge.

KHOZA MGOJO: What did they say to you when they came to your place?

WITNESS:   When they got into the house they were asked as to what they were looking for, and we were not used to people coming in this manner, especially armed as they were.  My deceased brother asked them as to what they wanted, and whether they could be helped in any way.  They never answered him, they just went around the house and they took out a photo and showed it to my deceased brother.  This photo was Mrs Nxenge's photo, which was taken during a funeral, and my face was showing on the photo as if I was looking at Mr Nxenge's coffin, so it is apparent that this little photo was actually an article which was cut from a newspaper.

KHOZA MGOJO: What's your brother's name, the deceased one?

WITNESS:  His name was Bucks.  That was his common name.

KHOZA MGOJO: What about Manqoba?

WITNESS:   Manqoba is not my brother.  He is my nephew.

KHOZA MGOJO: Was Manqoba also involved in politics?

WITNESS:   Yes, we were with him in the Youth League, but he was still at high school at that time and he belonged to an organisation called Khozas.

KHOZA MGOJO: Can you briefly tell us as to what they did to your sister when they arrived?

WITNESS:   When they got into my place they asked as to where I was, but my family says when they looked at this critically they asked themselves as to why didn't they hear these people coming.  It was possible that they had not parked before our yard, or in front of our yard.  Then they realised that they had parked the cars at a far away place, and they came on foot to our place.  And as they were going out they saw that there was a kombi which had NPS registration, and at that time it was a Port Shepstone numberplate.  My brother asked them for their identification.  If they were police they had to identify themselves.  After that these people kept on searching the house.  They turned the house upside-down.  As they were still turning the house upside-down they saw my brother's child, who was about six months old.  He was playing with City Press, a newspaper.  Now, at that time you were not supposed to be seen reading or handling City Press because it was believed that the City Press was against Gatsha Buthelezi.  They used to make negative remarks about Gatsha Buthelezi.  They got angry.

KHOZA MGOJO: Who did you say the paper?

WITNESS:   At that time they did not want to see City Press.  They aligned you with the United Democratic Front if you read City Press.  When they saw this infant playing with the City Press they said, "This place reeks of politics."  Now, at that time they went into the bedroom and they came back with our family album.  That's where they started paging through the family album, and they looked at the photos.  They even saw Manqoba's photo together with me.  These were the photos that they took out of the album.  And they asked my sister-in-law as to who was helping her with the child because she was a teacher, and they asked her as to who was helping her.  She was surprised as to how they knew that she was being helped, because that person who was helping her had just come, had just started working for her.  And that person was a young woman from Ingwavuma.  On that first day they took the two photos which had me, as well as Manqoba, my nephew.

KHOZA MGOJO: Is it true that they abused you verbally, they abused your sister verbally, who was two months pregnant?

WITNESS:   That is correct, but that happened on the second visit.  Now they went away.

KHOZA MGOJO: What happened on the 23rd of October?  Is it correct that on the 23rd of October people unknown to you came to your place?

WITNESS:   Thereafter they came again on the 23rd of October, and at that time my sister-in-law had decided that she was going to sleep at her neighbour's place, she was scared to stay in the house.  And when they came in they came in at about - I don't remember the time quite well, but it was in the evening.  I can't remember what time it was.

KHOZA MGOJO: Is it correct that when they came they shot at the door and they burned your house down?