Human Rights Violation Hearings — Duncan Village — 1996-09-24

BONGANI FINCA: Then we shall call Pinana Mazaka.

REV XUNDU: Pinana Mazaka, will you please rise.

UNKNOWN: (sworn states)

REV XUNDU: Thank you.

BONGANI FINCA: We welcome you Mr Mazaka.  We are going to hand over to Mr Maya to ask questions on behalf of the Commission.

MS MAYA: Thank you Mr Chairperson.  I greet you Mr Mazaka.  Can you hear me?  Can you hear me?  Can you hear me Mr Mazaka?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I can hear you.

MS MAYA: Today, you are going to tell us about your brother's death, who is Mike Mazaka who was shot dead by the SADF on the 2nd of September 1985.   Can you tell us what really happened?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I can tell you.  Yes, I can tell you, but I don't have enough information, I'll only tell you about what I know.

MS MAYA: Carry on please.

UNKNOWN: On that day of Mike's death I was in the house.  People came to tell me that he was shot in his yard of which it was the very same street from where I was staying.
 I went there with those people to the scene.  I saw him, he was laying at the door of his shack.  There was another van that was just passing.
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 The people seeked for help from that particular van, that's how I got to notice.

MS MAYA: Was he shot in his shack or somewhere else?

UNKNOWN: Nobody really saw what happened, whether he was shot inside his shack or outside, but what we realise is that inside his shack and the door was broken, it looked like the door was locked when it was being kicked.
 From the side of the handle was still like that, was still the same, it was still locked, but the door was open, but it was still locked.
 And some of the furniture in the shack could show that something was happening.

MS MAYA: In your statement you said that he was shot by the SADF.  Were there any people who witnessed this?

UNKNOWN: The people who saw this were also being chased by the soldiers.  Those are the witnesses.  Although those people would not be able to go to the court and give evidence.

MS MAYA: How old was Mike?

UNKNOWN: Mike was 30 years old at that time.

MS MAYA: ; Was he working?

UNKNOWN: Yes, he was working.

MS MAYA: Did he have any family, wife or children?

UNKNOWN: No, he didn't have any family.

MS MAYA: Where was Mike working?

UNKNOWN: ; He was working in Gauteng, but at the time of his death, he was not working, he was just a taxi driver.

MS MAYA: After his death, was there any investigation or maybe did you lay any charges or maybe did you approach some attorneys?

UNKNOWN: ; No, there is nothing that we did.
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MS MAYA: ; Before his funeral, was there any post mortem that was conducted?

UNKNOWN: Yes.  After his death, I was called by the police, Cambridge police because at the time of his death, we stopped a certain van and we put him in that van and we rushed to the Aroma hospital, because if we were to take him to the hospital, we would be arrested by the very same soldiers.  We went to Aroma, the Reverend there called a Doctor.
 The Doctor came.  The Doctor certified him dead and then we were escorted by the Doctor to the hospital.  We had to make a statement like of who was taking him to the hospital so in that hospital they took my name down.
 This thing took place in the evening, the following day I went home to tell them about Mike's death.
 Me and my brother left, we went to Duncan Village.  We had to go to the hospital because we thought that he was still there, but we were told that he is not there any more, he is at Cambridge.
 Even at Cambridge, we were not allowed to see him before the post mortem, which was going to take place the following day.  The following day we went to the Cambridge police station again and we had to wait until after the post mortem.
 Then we went to identify him.

MS MAYA: Do you know perhaps the reason of his death, why was he shot?

UNKNOWN: I don't have any reason that I can think about, besides the fact that where Mike was staying on that particular day there was a shooting, there was a shooting on that particular day of his death.
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 There were also other people who were shot and their houses that were shot at, they still have holes even today.

MS MAYA: Was he a member of any political organisation, or maybe he was playing any role in politics?

UNKNOWN: I can't remember, I can't remember him being any member, a member of any organisation.

MS MAYA: Do you have any request that you would like to bring forward to the Commission just before we conclude?

UNKNOWN: All I can say is this, it is clear that the soldiers at the time were just shooting randomly.
 Because two days before this day of his death, the soldiers were in our yard, they were saying that they were looking for Xome.
 My wife was laying out the table for supper, they were looking for this Xome.  We don't even know that Xome, we don't know who is Xome.
 One of them said I'm hungry, because my wife was afraid, she offered him a plate and then he uttered something in Afrikaans, saying it is delicious.
 We couldn't even eat that day because they decided to take our food.

MS MAYA: After that, do you mean that they ate all that food and you were left with nothing?

UNKNOWN: Yes, this food was only enough for two people, because in the house it was only me and my wife.

MS MAYA: Mr Mazaka, is there any request?

UNKNOWN: All I can say is this, the Commission will see what to do with this matter.

MS MAYA: Thank you very much, Mr Mazaka, I'm going to hand you over to Mr  Chairperson, maybe he might have some questions.
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BONGANI FINCA: Mr Sandi.  Silence please.

MR SANDI: Mr Mazaka, do you remember the name of the person whom you said he is the witness who saw this incident?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I remember his name.  His name is Xolani Swelendao.

MR SANDI: Where is this Xolani?

UNKNOWN: Xolani is available.  He is here in East London, maybe he is here in this hall, but I am not sure.

MR SANDI: Thank you very much.

BONGANI FINCA: Thank you very much Mr Mazaka.  We have listened with great interest to your story and the request.  We have taken note of that, we also hope that even the people who ate your food, we will be able to investigate them as to what was the reason for that.
 If there is something else that they would like to know from you, the Commission's investigators will contact you.  For now, we can say thank you very much.