Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1998-10-21

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: Let me repeat what I have just said.  Yes, this statement had to change because if I had indicated that I was the one who threw them with the handgrenade they would kill me in broad daylight and nothing would be done about that.
	Proof of this is that I phoned them shortly after the attack and nobody came.  Thereafter this one police officer came and I knew him not to be in good relations with us, therefore I would killed in broad daylight and nothing would be done about it.

CHAIRPERSON: When was this affidavit made?  The copy we've got has no dates on, it has no attestation.

MR WILLS: Mr Chairperson, this affidavit was made within a week of the incident and it was handed to the investigating officer who came from outside, a person by the name of I think at the time, Captain Sumuru.  It was made in 1992 in early September.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: Chairperson, just to add, Sumuru was not the first person to come.  The first person to come was Westling who claimed to have come from Pretoria.  I did not even trust that he was a police.  He said I should tell him how I managed to escape from the attack and he said that means that I had a lot of guns in the house.  I then told him to go to hell because he had not come to investigate in good faith and then ...[intervention]

CHAIRPERSON: We've had about a 20 minute discussion when the only question asked of you was when this affidavit was made, you were going to be asked a question about page 18 which you were referred to, could we get back to that and not go on and on with this?

MR FALCONER: Who prepared this affidavit for you, Mr Ntuli?

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: Which one are you talking about?

MR FALCONER: The affidavit which we are referring to now and which I've just referred you to paragraph 20 of, the one that your attorney has mentioned was deposed to within a week of the incident.

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: I wrote this myself and I also requested a certain gentleman who is in parliament now, he was in charge of the peace structure at the time, I have forgotten his name, he is actually the one who assisted me.  I did not trust him at the time, I would give him what information I had to and I knew that ...[intervention]

SISI KHAMPEPE: Would you please be short and precise in your answering of questions.  If you can explain as to whether you are the one who wrote the affidavit we would appreciate that.

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: Yes, I am the one who wrote this affidavit.

MR FALCONER: Would you confirm that what is contained in paragraph 20 of the affidavit is false?

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: That is correct.

MR FALCONER: Do you not think that you should have brought an application for amnesty in respect of a charge of perjury?

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: I don't think so because I took an oath in the presence of the Commissioner.

MR FALCONER: I have no further questions, thank you, Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: Any re-examination?

MR WILLS: Yes, just very briefly.  Mr Ntuli, is it not so that the true facts as regards you throwing the handgrenade were brought out before you before the Truth Commission, I think the Human Rights Violation Commission in December 1996 at Empangeni?

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: That is correct.

MR WILLS: Thank you, no further questions.

CHAIRPERSON: Just one point I would like to deal with.  We have been told in your affidavit, the second affidavit which was made on the 24th of January 1997, that the next morning you found a shotgun in the vicinity.

MONTEGUESA BEGUISE NTULI: That is correct.

CHAIRPERSON: I merely raise this because in the document we have had placed before us which comes from Romeo Mbambo I'm told, he refers to the shotgun having been lost during the course of the attack.

MR WILLS: It is indeed so.  I have no further evidence for this applicant.

ADV PRIOR: Thank you, Mr Chairman, there is no evidence from victims.  I haven't been approached by anyone else opposing the matter.  I don't intend leading anything further, thank you, Mr Chairman.

MR FALCONER: Mr Chairman, similarly I don't intend to lead any evidence, thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: I take it, Mr Wills, your argument is that this was part of the conflict of the past between the rival political factions?

MR WILLS: ADDRESSES Yes, indeed so, Mr Chairperson.  The only thing that I'd like to say is that obviously from the papers the issue of self-defence does come up and my advice to issue or to proceed with the amnesty application in this regard was simply that we are not sure whether or not that would succeed and for that reason we also wanted to disclose what had occurred.  And I submit that it cannot be seen, with respect, by the Committee that this self-defence situation would be accepted by the court ...[intervention]

CHAIRPERSON: Well I have been arguing with my Members that this was self-defence until I heard the applicant's evidence, that he enticed towards the door of the house by telling him that he was ill, unarmed and what have you and then when they were really close he rolled out the grenade at them.  It appears to me that he has every prospect of being told he exceeded the bounds of self-defence.
	Mr Prior, have you anything to say, can you suggest that this wasn't another one of those incidents that took place in Kwazulu Natal?

ADV PRIOR: Mr Chairman, I think that document from Mr Mbambo is quite clear, it seems to support that and I have nothing further to add.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Falconer?

MR FALCONER: I have no further submissions, thank you, Mr Chairman.

<UNKNOWN>: 21.10.1998

CHAIRPERSON: We have listened to the application brought on behalf of Mr Ntuli, we've had reference to the bundle of papers, Exhibit A and to his evidence.  It appears that his application for amnesty arises from an attack on his home on the night of the 26th of August 1992 by a group of armed men.
	There appears to be no doubt that at the time there was constant conflict between different political factions or parties in that area.  Mr Ntuli has told us that he was a member of Cosatu and was seen by members of the IFP as being an ANC supporter.
	He has fairly told us that not only were attacks launched on his house but that he knows of attacks launched on the house of Mrs Ntjale, a Councillor who lived in the same area as him.
	We are satisfied that the attack that took place that night was part of the ongoing conflict between political parties striving for dominance in the area. 
	Mr Ntuli related how during the course of the attack his bodyguard left the house to see what he could do from outside, his two nephews left the house and he was left in the house with Mr Enoch Mzuzu who was suffering badly from the effects of a teargas grenade that had been thrown at them.  He became aware of the fact that there were four other people outside the house who were going to continue the attack on the house.  
	In fearing that they might gain entry and thereafter kill himself and Mr Mzuzu, he made use of a handgrenade that he knew to be in the house, and having enticed the four people to come towards the door of the house he threw the handgrenade or rolled the handgrenade towards them and thereby injured them and caused them to depart.
	He is asking for amnesty in respect of the attempted murder of these four persons and the illicit possession of a handgrenade.   It appears to us that he has complied with all the requirements of the Act, that this was part of the political struggle and can properly be said to be an act with a political objective.
	In those circumstances we GRANT THE APPLICATION IN RESPECT OF THE ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF A HANDGRENADE AND THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF FOUR PERSONS ON THE 26TH OF AUGUST 1992.

MR WILLS: As the Committee pleases.

ADV PRIOR: Thank you, Mr Chairman.