Human Rights Violation Hearings — Cape Town — 1997-06-10

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Now, I just want you to clarify this as a leader.  When there are home guards, anything that is related to your work, it should be handled and be answered by you?

MELFORT YAMILE: Yes, it is true, but each group had its own leader, each group with its own leader and then the leaders would then meet.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: And you, which group were you?

MELFORT YAMILE: I was the head of all the groups.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Who was heading the home guards?

MELFORT YAMILE: It was Zwelitsha Mkhulutha and then the other group was Viani Niangwa.  And the other group was Pakamisa Hlabunsima.  Those three divisions.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Let's just come back to Zwelitsha.  He was head of a group, they would report ... (tape ends) tell us very briefly about those people.

MELFORT YAMILE: Yes, he did come one evening.  He knocked and I opened and then we sat in my sitting room.  And he said there are some people here Mr Yamile from Lesotho, they are refugees.  They have come with the old, the police vehicles.  Then I said yes, then I put on my clothes, I went out, let's go out and I want to meet them.
 So I went, we talked to these people.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Did you ask these people who send them here?

MELFORT YAMILE: I said no, each one came with a short stick and a long stick and I am referring now to weapons, arms, firearms, short ones and long ones.  That is the language we used them.
 So I greeted them and then they greeted me back and then we enquired into our health and then I asked them, Lezo with some beard, he was a tall guy, they are mixing their Xhoza with Sotho.
 These two guys weren't fluent Xhoza speakers, they spoke Xhoza like Sotho's, they are not very fluent in Xhoza.  And there was another sort guy he said he was Oscar, his name he said was Oscar.  He looked like a Xhoza.
 I said why are you coming here, what do you want here?  They said we heard that Nyanga Bush is one of the places that is taking place in the liberation struggle, so we have come to help our fellow Africans. So I said well, gentlemen let's discuss.
 We will discuss later and then the following morning I went to where they put up.  They were already up, there were four others.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Just excuse me, do you know the names of these people?  The two that came from Lesotho?

MELFORT YAMILE: There is Oscar and Lezo.  Oscar and Lezo.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Who is the tallest one?

MELFORT YAMILE: That is Lezo, the tall and light one.  Oscar is the shorter of the two.  His Xhoza is more fluent.  No, they didn't get the house from me, this was arranged by Zwelitsha Mkhulutha, so they put up there.
 So there were four of our young men from our group who joined them, then there were six people.  They were training how to dismantle firearms.  I looked and then I didn't say anything, I called the Committee members.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Is that loading and off-loading?

MELFORT YAMILE: You see they would dismantle an AK47 and then they would assemble it again.  Then I looked and then I called the Committee, I said no, this doesn't look right.  They didn't ask anything, they were just continuing.
 So I called the Committee, (indistinct) reported this.  I said gentlemen, I've seen this and I don't think we should associate ourselves with that, let's just watch it from a distance because these people don't tell us who sent them, they just say they read from the newspapers and that sounds very suspicious to me.
 Indeed, our youth were already there and then they came, Sipho and Zwelitsha and another young man who was a teen from Paarl.  He fell at Guguletu amongst that seven, the Guguletu-7.
 And then they stayed and then one day Zwelitsha came to my house.  He said they are going to be trained somewhere at Belhar, I said no, at this time of the night?  Can you see that this people are not in shortage of money, they buy food on their own.
 Did they come with money, yes they had money, that is what made me suspicious, they had a lot of money because a refugee can't come with such money.
 And the guy didn't notice.  I went to Manqiwa, I said Manqiwa you mustn't take out those hand grenades and they left them there.  So it was as if it was an end and then afterwards they shot some of these guys from Guguletu.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Sir, I want to touch some of the home guards from Zwelitsha's group was one of them Christopher Pitts, who is known as Rasta?

MELFORT YAMILE: Yes, it was him and the other one known as Mbulawa Mzwake.  Christopher is the one during the struggle when they went to Paarl, was killed there.  They killed him and took out his liver.
 He was with Makina.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: Makina has applied for amnesty.  He was one of the home guards.  You tell us about a training that was taking place in Belhar?  Was Lezo the Commander or the instructor between him and Oscar?

MELFORT YAMILE: Yes, he was the bravest one between the two of them.  He was also the one who suggested this Belhar earlier, that is why I asked - he is new in this area, how does he know Belhar?
 He would have asked from us where is Belhar, that is why I was so suspicious.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: You said to us Jambasi at last these two guys are the cause of the killing of the Guguletu-7, can you tell us how did you find out that they were the ones who were responsible?

MELFORT YAMILE: I find out that after we've buried in NY49 stadium, after we've buried the seven guys, I find Normaendia Mfeketu arriving at my place in Nyanga Bush.  She was driving a bakkie, she was staying in Hanover Park.
 Their offices were in Hanover Park.  She said Mr Yamile someone phoned and said there are two guerillas in your place, there is a guerilla in your place, I said oh.
 And she said he will phone you tomorrow, please come at ten.  The thing doesn't treat me well, I called Maniqwa and the other guy, he was also a committee member, he was Nozolo.
 I told them that I don't trust this person.  Where did he go, now he is phoning.  How did he survive, because I would be receiving a phone call tomorrow from him.  I said no, I won't go there alone, I will go with Zwelitsha and I took my car and drove there and I waited there till ten o'clock.
 And the phone rang, I asked Zwelitsha to pick it up and Normaendia picked it up and gave it to Zwelitsha.  This guy asked I also listened, I want to know how did the funeral go and he said you are happy because you are still looking after one another in so much that you are able to bury one of your guerillas.
 On an Easter Monday, he said he will arrive in Cape Town with some ammunition, so we must go and fetch him.  That is how I draw back, I said no, this is not the way to do it.  And he gave us directions that we must come by my car, that is why I got suspicious.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: I want to come back to that part of the arms.  Did Lezo come with the arms?

MELFORT YAMILE: They are theirs.  They were bringing them and taking them back with them.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: How many ammunition did they bring?

MELFORT YAMILE: Firstly when they arrived, they brought two AK47's with a red wood inside and then a 9 mm each of them has two AK47 and a 9 mm.
 They never gave us weapons, they never gave us that.  They took their weapons to kill the seven.  To cause the death of the seven people.

MS GOBODO-MADIKIZELA: I want to know what was going on in the training as you were not in that part.  Do you have any knowledge of what was happening during the training process?  These people who were being trained by Lezo, do you have any idea of what was going on?

MELFORT YAMILE: Zwelitsha was a home guard.  Lezo and Oscar were the ones who were organising the crew to dismantle the arms.  I interrupted there where they said they must go to Belhar.  I asked him how does he know Belhar and yet he is new in this area.
 Because we were dealing with our matters inside our areas.