Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1999-02-18

UNKNOWN: Thank you Mr Chair.  My first application is Bruno Skhosana.  It appears in the small bundle, supplement one.  The pages are not numbered, but it is page 8 if you count the pages, page number 8.  Application number AM7180/97.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Skhosana, which language would you prefer to use?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Zulu.

BRUNO SKHOSANA: (sworn states)

UNKNOWN: Thank you Mr Chair.  Mr Skhosana, you completed an amnesty application form.  Was it on your own or were you assisted by somebody else?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: I completed the form on my own.

UNKNOWN: You were happy with the contents, the information that you gave in that form?  Are you happy that that is what you wanted to complete?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Yes, I am satisfied.

UNKNOWN: The form that I am showing to you right now, is this the form which you completed?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Yes.

UNKNOWN: Do you confirm the contents thereof?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Yes, I do.

ADV GCABASHE: Ms Nhlayisi, does that include the ID number?  Is that correct?

UNKNOWN: Yes, the ID number is correct.
	Mr Chair, the applicant is bringing an application for amnesty for the following, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition and three counts of murder.  The names of the victims are unknown.

CHAIRPERSON: What was the first one?

UNKNOWN: Excuse me?

CHAIRPERSON: What was the first one?

UNKNOWN: Unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.  Mr Skhosana, you were a member of the Self Defence Unit?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Yes.

UNKNOWN: When did you join?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: In 1991 or 1992.

UNKNOWN: For which Section were you a member?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Mlangeni Section, that is also called (indistinct)

UNKNOWN: Okay, you indicated during our consultation that at a later stage, you were deployed in Slovo Section, is that correct?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Yes, that is correct.

UNKNOWN: Who were your Commanders in these two Sections?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Mt Mlangeni Section it was Vusi Malinga, at Slovo it was Suzi, I do not know his surname.

UNKNOWN: In your application form you indicated that you are applying for amnesty for killing three people.   Just tell us about the first incident.  When did it happen?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: The first one took place in 1993, around September.  I was at Mlangeni Section, I was coming from Slovo Section.  When I was there, I heard gunshots at Slovo Section.  I went back to Slovo Section.
	When I arrived there, the other comrades were with this well known person who used to be seen during the fights between the IFP and ANC.

UNKNOWN: Then what happened on your arrival there?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: The other comrades had this person, he was captured by the other comrades.  He was taken to Nhlapo Quntu.  He was stabbed, he was also assaulted.
	They told me that they were looking for me because they needed a spade, they were actually referring to an AK47.  I had to go and fetch this AK47.  When I arrived there, he was already shot with a pistol on his head.  I realised that this person was already dying, therefore I decided to do nothing.
	I left.  On my way out of that house that belonged to Khumalo in Tokoza, comrade Bkeki came and he told me that this person was trying to wake up.  I went back and I saw him trying to hold on the fence and I shot at him.  I shot him at the back.  
	I shot him behind his head, just on the neck.  I saw him falling.  I came closer and I shot him on the head and he was quiet after that.  I left the scene.

UNKNOWN: You mentioned earlier that this person was known to be an IFP member.  What information did you have to confirm that this person was an IFP member?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: As we were fighting with the IFP members, when they used to appear from their site, shooting at our direction, I used to see this person.  I knew him, he would appear and shoot at us.
	He had an R4 rifle.  He would come and shoot, directing at us, and we used to identify him with his red head band, that is why I was sure that that was the person, because I used to see him closer as he would be shooting next to Buthelezi Street.

UNKNOWN: On this particular day, did he have the red head band?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: When I arrived, the band was not on his head, but the comrades had this red head band.

UNKNOWN: So you said you knew this person, you saw him on previous occasions, but you do not know his name, is that correct?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Yes, I did not know his name.

UNKNOWN: Okay.  Can you remember who were present when this incident happened, your fellow comrades?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Comrade Bayo and Mzwake.  I cannot remember the others, those are the only two people that I can remember.

UNKNOWN: The second incident, where did it take place?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: That took place at Nhlapo Street.  We were patrolling there.  A boy of about 18 years old, appeared and he came closer and we were watching him.  He turned, he took a turn at Buthelezi Street and we went straight to him and we captured him, and we questioned him.
	We wanted to know what it was that he was looking for, because he was coming from the other side.  He said he was there, his brother brought him there, because there was a job for him, this job that was to be done at Buyafuthi.  He said there was a firm or a factory that was at Buyafuthi.
	We captured this boy and we searched him.  In his hand, he had a piece of paper with the medicine inside and in his pocket, he had some small bottles containing muti.  We took him, we said we are going to show him where Buyafuthi was.  We took him down Gubeni Street and I was the one who was holding him.  I questioned him further and I asked him what is it that he knows about this particular firm.  He said he was not certain or he was not sure what was happening there, but I told him that the firm, the factory that he was talking about, it was the place where they were killing the people, because that was a well known rumour that the people from Buyafuthi were fetching people to kill.
	They were taking people to kill and I asked for a cigarette from Bizo and I instructed him to hold this young man.  I handed over this young boy to Bayo when I was trying to lick my cigarette.  I was this young boy running away, he escaped from Bayo's hands and he ran away.
	Bizo had an AK47.  I grabbed that AK47 from Bizo, I knelt down and when he was about to take a corner, I shot him.  We ran after him and he was already falling.  I shot him on the head.
	When I left there, I went back to Nhlapo Street.  I don't know what happened thereafter.  I later realised that he died.  The other comrade decided to set him alight.

UNKNOWN: So the fact that this person said to you that he was looking for the hostel Buyafuthi and he has been promised a job there, what impression did you get?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: What came to my mind was this, this person was there, he was on his way to Buyafuthi to kill because during those times, people would be fetched from kwaZulu Natal to the hostels and those people would kill people.

UNKNOWN: After you shot him, you said you left.   When you left, was he already dead?  Did you notice whether he was dead or not?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: When I left that scene after shooting him, I saw that he couldn't survive, because I shot him right in the head and the way he was bleeding, to me that was a sign that he was going to die.  Therefore I left the scene.

UNKNOWN: You said you also used an AK47 on this particular incident, is that correct?

BRUNO SKHOSANA: Yes, that is true.

UNKNOWN: The third incident, where did it happen?