Human Rights Violation Hearings — Sebokeng — 1996-08-05

MR DUMA JOSHUA KHUMALO: I want to meet them in order to clarify the record, clear out my name so that I could tell them who actually did those things and what were the reasons for them to do that.  No that I crucify or I damn the people who did it and I did not want to justify the manner in which Dhlamini died.  But I just wanted to clarify issues.  Because there was rumour that councillors were informers but today it is being rumoured that they were not informers.  We are now talking reconciliation.  I personally am very confused.  I don't know where I stand and I would like to show you something.  I just want my wife to read the words that were spoken by the Chairman of the TRC before.  He went outside, he skipped the country to go and fight for us.  May she please read the words that were spoken?  I will read them myself.  These are the Chairman's words.  I am sorry about that, I will start afresh.
"The trial, conviction and sentencing to the death of the Sharpeville Six became justifiable, a cause to celebrate.  Bracasha Durr (?) has done us a great service in highlighting how a miscarriage of justice has occurred.  I lend my support unreservedly and pray others will be equally moved by this shattering record.  By Archbishop Desmond Tutu ...."
When the interpreter talks I sort of get disturbed.  Can I just explain?  When you are reading English don't listen to the interpreter or just take your headphones off so that you don't get confused.  Presently I am not working.  Even after I tried to go back to school for two years because when I got arrested I was doing my teachers training course and I
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wanted to further my education but it was difficult for me.  As I am speaking now every Thursdays and Tuesdays I go to the University of Witwatersrand trauma centre.  I have two children.  As I have already explained that my wife is working all by herself.  My wish and my dream is that the investigation should be reopened with regard to my case.  As I have already said that the whole wide world knew that in the Sharpeville Six there was absolutely no person who had killed.  Today as we are staying in Pretoria we had a wonderful relationship as inmates and we talked, even the two amongst us admitted that they were the ones who took Mr Dhlamini, put him on top of the car and burnt him.  I do not blame them for having done that.  I know it is difficult for them to come and talk about what happened at the time but I wanted them to come before to highlight the discrepancies that took place with regard to our case.  The procedures that were not followed.  Because if these two people could come forward and put the matter straight this is still going to shock so many people because the whole case was planned by the police.  I will show you in just one manner that they did that.  They said I poured petrol at the door of the house but that very same person said he did not see who burnt the house.  The second one says they hit Mr Dhlamini with the stone and Mr Dhlamini said and you so and so you are hitting me with a stone.  The third one said we are fighting.  And you fighting.  That was the third one. The fourth one they said, one woman said he was preventing people who were burning and one of the people said she should be burnt down.  These four things are the same, these were said verbally.  That was at the scene of crime according to the state witnesses.  This means that in
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reality this was not true.  This was said according to the doctrine of common purpose.  That was the intention to kill amongst all of us but if the two people who took the councillor and burnt him, they said the four's testimony will be destroyed if the two come forward and tell their story.  I asked myself as to how many people have died without having committed any crime.  The very same Judges who sentenced the people and the very same police who did these are still working today.  Today we are talking about reconciliation.  I am going to shake his hand, he is going to shake my hand.  The very same perpetrator.  When he turns his back he takes bread and eats. When I turn around I am empty handed, I don't have anything to eat, what must I do? I am not doing anything to oppose the Commission but how long is it going to take for the Commission to try and compensate us?  I have got a request.  I don't know whether I am permitted to make this request.

COMMISSIONER: I don't know what you are asking for.  I cannot say yes or no.  I will say no after you have told me what you want.

MR DUMA JOSHUA KHUMALO: What I request is that this Commission should intervene.  I have already explains that I am not working.  I would love to work, I would like to be like other men who are supporting their families.  What makes me even more is that the people that I went to school with I meet them now, they have progressed.  There are certain monies, pension monies that should be given to people who went to jail for five years.  May the Commission please intervene so that I should get that money.  So that I may be able to do something for myself.  Because at the moment I am being supported by my wife.  In our tradition it
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is a man who marries a woman but now the situation is that this woman has married me.  I did not even pay lobola, I am staying at her place.  I want to marry her and be a man.  I don't want to stay at her place.

COMMISSIONER: We thank you very much.  We thank you for having given us this testimony.  You look as if you are tough because you do even eat bottles and nothing
happens to you and you have even been assaulted with 
enamel buckets and your legs don't get broken.  We are laughing today, it is quite healthy to laugh but I 
remember and I can point out that being on the death row is a very difficult situation and I remember many churches convening to pray for the people on the death row and I remember going to Cape Town to see the Minister of Justice at that time.  We thank you that this was actually taken back.  We do hear about your requests.  We shall try by all means, as we have already said that we do not have authority to do anything, but what we can always do is to pass the recommendations to the State President, then he makes the final decision as to how the victims should be helped.  He does this in consultation with the parliament.  Now what you have just asked us to do we shall ask you to go to Dr Randera's offices with regard to the request for pension so that they may see as to how they can help you with regard to it but we thank you very much anyway that you are still alive.  You are no longer in the port that you have referred to.  Thank you very much.

MR DUMA JOSHUA KHUMALO: In my statement, that is at the end, I had made a request that my family as well as my friends would want to go and see the port.

COMMISSIONER: That will be dealt with by the office, they
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can help you as well as your family.  We thank you very much
with regard to that.   I would like .... (nothing further recorded on tape).