Human Rights Violation Hearings — Heiderveld — 1996-08-22

CASE NO: CT/00104

VIOLATION: SHOOTING,

DR BORAINE: We invite Nomakula Evelyn Zweni to the witness stand please.  Good morning Ms Zweni, you are very welcome, we are delighted to see you.  Thank you for coming.  Ms Zweni yes first put that on.  Ms Zweni can you hear my voice and can you hear the translation?

NOMAKULA EVELYN ZWENI: Yes.

DR BORAINE: You can follow - okay.  Ms Zweni I'd like you to take the oath, would you please stand.
NOMAKULA EVELYN ZWENI Duly sworn states

DR BORAINE: Ms Zweni in welcoming you today, I notice that your troubles started as early as 1960 which is when the work [indistinct]

NOMAKULA EVELYN ZWENI: That's so.

DR BORAINE: Started, at the start, but you also had more trouble in '76, in 1977, beatings, shooting, torture.  So you have come a very-very long way and we'd like you to tell your story to all of us now, and not only to those in this room, but of course to many-many others who are listening on the radio, or perhaps will watch the television or read about it in the newspapers.  You have a story that we all need to hear.  And Pumla Gobodo is going to help you as you tell that story.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Thank you Chairperson.   Is this on - is it on.  Thank you mamma you can take off your headphones because the two of us are going to understand each other.  But I am going to first give other people a little background of what was happening in 1960's so that you can continue with your story.  I am going to start talking to them, I am going to speak in English.
This is going to be very short, it's just a small background on what is going on at the - and what was going on at that time.  Information that was supplied by our research department and compiled by Madelein Fullard.
On the 21st March 1960, 10,000 people marched in Langa to mark the launch of the campaign against pass laws.  Prior to the march, the late Robert Sibokwe ?? wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Police General Rademeyer to warn him of the campaign and to assure him of it's non violent intentions.  This was reiterated at a Press Conference on the 18th of March 1960.
On the 21st March a group of men marched from Nyanga to the Phillipi police station.  In Langa 10,000 people gathered.  Police [indistinct] and fired shots at the people to disperse the gathering.  Two people were killed and many injured.  Ms Zweni in front of us here, was one of the people present in that gathering in Langa.  Ms Zweni - in Langa and then she later marched to Langa.  She was also involved in activities around the 1976/1977 - '78 periods.
As you will remember events of 1967 marked by the Sowetho march on June 16th 1976 were followed by a series of events during 1977.  One of the highlights of which was the death of Steve Biko and then in 1978.
Now Ms Zweni's experiences involved both those events.  I want to welcome you again here ma, I would like to ask you to start by telling us when did you arrive in Cape Town.  Tell us about yourself when did you - when did you come to Cape Town and what were you doing in Cape Town.

NOMAKULA EVELYN ZWENI: I came here in 1957 -  I came here in 1957, I came to my husband.  I was born at George.  I was married to my husband here in Cape Town.  I was living at Jakkalsvlei, from there to Rylands.  Then from there to Welkom, so which is now called Surrey Estate.  There I met Debranch who told us to move, because there was a temporally building that was being built.
Now he told me all the Xhosa speaking people must go to one place over to the other side.  I never went, I never moved, I stayed.  My husband told me do you know that if somebody gets arrested if a person does not obey the law.  I told him I do not want to move.  But we left because I ended up giving in to my husband.  I went to live to NY6 in a two-room which was sandy on the floor.  And it was made of - it was built of zinc with no ceiling or anything, that's where we lived.  We fixed it up.
In 1959 we all covered to get away.  We formed an organisation because we were tortured.  While we were still moving around in Cape Town, we were told that if we go into a certain place we were told that we were trespassing.  When we saw this we really didn't like it.  We simply told everybody else and we - we made meetings, we had held meetings only we had informers amongst us who were informing the boers about what we were talking about in our meetings.
In 1960 I don't even know how this happened.  I think it was God's doings, because in 1960 on the 27th - first in 1960 we held a gathering in the field.  In that field, in that meeting, I had a car that time.  While we are still in the meeting the boers came in a van.  What I noticed is somebody I can still remember two or three it was Rosana, Themba [indistinct]
I can still remember what they said to me.  Because at that time I was still - I hated apartheid with all my heart.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: We are sorry mamma - sorry mamma would you like us to continue?

NOMAKULA EVELYN ZWENI: Yes we must.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: You said before you made provisions before - I just want you to tell us please  what role did you play, you personally.  What is it that you actually did in the preparations of the 21st of March, what did you do before the 21st was the day prior to everything that happened.  We had a meeting at Guguletu, what I did I was going up and down, trying to organise the march, that was my role.
Even when I got to the meeting, I didn't sit down, I had to go up and down just to organise everything.  I told them that if I-  could be arrested by a boer,  and now white man would stay in Parliament, I would even come back in a spirit if I am - after I am dead.   Everybody would be free in the field like what we were before.  We left in the morning, we went to [indistinct] to pray there.
A certain woman prayed that day, who is now dead.  He was - he was praying for a day like this one, after that I went to Langa, from Langa when I got there, I was told that the answer would be, I would get the answer at six o'clock, it was now on the 22nd in the morning.  I was told that the answer, I will get a response in the evening.
A response about this pass - this pass laws.  I came back home - I stay - I stayed for a long time at home.  After - after 5 pm I went to Langa to get the response about the pass laws.  When we got there, my question was, is the answer that we are getting now here.  Nobody - nobody said anything, just shootings.  Something said - somebody said it was very full in the room and somebody said we got this from Suvukwe
Bullets were just flying all over, there was a [indistinct] I hid next to a shop, I told - I asked my God, I asked God - God if it is you who has allowed this, if it is you who want us to be killed [intervention]

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Mamma these memories we know are very difficult for you to recall.  We understand that they are terrible, we understand.  If you want to wait, you can just take your time.  You can take your time mamma  end of Tape 4, side B ...