Human Rights Violation Hearings — Pretoria — 1996-08-14

DR BORAINE: Sophie Maifadi and I would ask her to please come forward.  Good afternoon Mrs Maifadi.  Could you please put the earphones on?  Mrs Maifadi, can you hear me alright?

SOPHIE MAIFADI: Yes.

DR BORAINE: You can.  That is very good.  Well then I can say to you a very warm word of welcome on behalf of the Commission.  You have also brought somebody with you I think.  Can you please introduce her to us.

SOPHIE MAIFADI: She is my younger sister.

DR BORAINE: We are very pleased to see you and we welcome you as well.  Mrs Maifadi we, as you know, have been listening to many stories about the KwaNdebele massacre.  You are the last witness who will tell us about that and we are mindful, too, of the pain and the suffering that you have endured, particularly as you lost your son, Benjamin, who was only 16 years old.  We understand that it is not easy for you to tell that story, but we are very grateful to you.  Before you start would you please stand for the taking of the oath.

SOPHIE MAIFADI: (Duly sworn in, states).

DR BORAINE: Thank you very much indeed.  Please be seated.  I am going to hand over to my colleague, Mr Tom Manthata, who will help you to tell your story.  Thank you.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Mrs Maifadi, we will ask you to please keep
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your story to what happened to the children.  We sympathise with you.  We know that sometimes when you tell a sad story you feel the events as they happened before.  Could you please tell us when Benjamin Maifadi when missing and how he went missing.

SOPHIE MAIFADI: Benjamin Maifadi was at home.  That is where I was born and is where I was married.  He went to visit his grandmother for a couple of days.  There was a time when people came and told us that the children have gone to KwaNdebele and we asked how could we get to KwaNdebele and where in KwaNdebele are the children.  There was this other person who told us that, who asked us how are we going to get to KwaNdebele because the people there are witches.  There is the Mbokodo there and you will not be able to reach the place.  We could not do anything at that time until we were told that the children had died in KwaNdebele.  Then when we heard that the children had been killed in KwaNdebele, on the very same night that they told us that the children were killed in KwaNdebele my son's father went away to KwaNdebele on the very same night.
 When he got to the Government Mortuary they sent him away.  They said he cannot enter the Government at that time of night.  Then he met all the parents of the other children who were killed there.  On the following day we went to KwaNdebele, but what hurts us most is that the very same combi that took us, took them to KwaNdebele.  It is the very same combi that took the children to KwaNdebele also, as we came to know later.  They said that these children were at Sis Johannah's house and Sister Johannah is my neighbour.  She knows me, she knows the child's father and she knows all the parents of these children who died.  This hurt us very 
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bad because we could not think that a person like Johannah could keep our children up until this thing happened.  Why did she not tell us because she knew at that time there were uprisings?  How did it come about that she kept our children until this incident happened to them?  That is why we do not sympathise for her because she knew or she knows what happened to our children.  
 When the rumours came around her child who was sitting here, when we were still preparing for the funeral, her child came to the, my house's gate and she said, your children was killed last and I said to her, your house is still safe and you still have your parent's possession with you.  She said the problem is that these children have been killed, that is the main problem.  After days went by the very same people came to us and organised a combi for us so that we could go to Klipgat because our children had not been killed.  They have been kidnapped so there is a traditional doctor in Klipgat who would resurrect the children who had been killed or who are dead.  We went there because we wanted to find our child not thinking that these people were turning us into stupids.  We went with them there and we went to this traditional doctor.
 When we got there this traditional doctor gave us water.  After drinking water we were told that our children were in the cave.  So we had to pay that traditional doctor something like R60,00 per month and from there if these children come out of the cave you must bring me a cow and I will give your children and please send them their clothes and everything that they need.  When we left that place we asked ourselves whether she ever resurrected any person and then we could not find an answer and we never went back to 
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this traditional doctor.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What we would like you to explain to us is when you went to the doctor what did the police say?

SOPHIE MAIFADI: I did not see the police.  After we found the bones and the two plastic bags that were from Johannah during that week when the children died, we went to call the police.  The ... to pick up the bones.

THOMAS MANTHATA: My question was there were police who could not help you, there was also a traditional doctor who could not help you.  Were there no one in Mamelodi or in KwaNdebele from whom you might have asked for the whereabouts about this incident?  Like I asked in the beginning could you not ask from a lawyer, a Reverend and a Chief other than leave the case unsolved.

SOPHIE MAIFADI: We thought that the police from Mamelodi could help us because we went to them, but that did not happen.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What I mean is did they not help you?

SOPHIE MAIFADI: No, they did not.

THOMAS MANTHATA: And are you still in a position where you fight each other?

SOPHIE MAIFADI: Yes, that is true.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Because, is this happening because you did not investigate this matter from someone you trusted who could help you?

SOPHIE MAIFADI: There was no one who could help us because we expected help from the police.  Who would help us if the police did not?

THOMAS MANTHATA: If I am not wrong at that time there were strong groups like the ANC or the groups who were leading the people at the time.  I do believe in KwaNdebele also there were Reverends or Ministers who use to help people
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like Reverend Brown Viljoen.  We would also like to know from you so that we can help you whether you have any other names you can give to us?

SOPHIE MAIFADI: There was confusion at that time in the country and because we did not have any help from the police we had no way out or any means to use to find the information, but after a certain time we are happy because we have been able to come and appear before the Commission to tell the truth.  Maybe by doing this we will be healed because everytime when you sit thinking about what happened to you and not being able to tell it to anyone, it is very hurting.

THOMAS MANTHATA: What I mean is maybe at that time you did not even trust the police who were called Mbokodo.  Even though this did not come to the fore, we would always find a way to get the truth, but you did not, but I want to thank you all the same.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  Any other questions?

SOPHIE MAIFADI: I would like Johannah to tell us what happened to our children because she was the one who had links with those children at that time.