Human Rights Violation Hearings — Port Elizabeth — 1996-06-27

CHAIRPERSON: I will now call to the stand Miseka Nancy Ngongo who is going to witness and give evidence about the victim Mbulelo Ngongo.  Mrs Ngongo, we will start by swearing you in before you tell us the story about - we know this, he did go to the Transkei.
 Those are areas in which he worked, we are very happy, those of us from that side of the kaya, to see Mbulelo's parent.  Last week when we were in Umtata, the story of this young man was told.  The day they fought vigorously for quite a - for 36 hours facing the Transkeian army with all the weapons of warfare and helicopters, it is quite a pleasure now, after we had been talking about Mbulelo and another young chap called Kaykay and Mpelo Macaghesa and today we are meeting you here.
 We will ask Revd Xundu to swear you in before you can tell us the story.

REV XUNDU: Thank you Chairperson.  I am happy to welcome you.  You yourself have taken part in the struggle, people know you, they know your courage and your bravery.  I am happy for you to be here to tell us the story of your son and your own story - how you were harassed.  Can you stand up, both of you and take the oath.

MISEKA NANCY NGONGO: (sworn states)

REV XUNDU: Thank you Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: At this juncture, I will ask the
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experienced one, the most experienced of us, the reverend himself, revd Finca.

UNKNOWN: Honourable Chairperson, Ms Miseka, the Chairperson has already said that we are especially happy as this Commission to see you appearing before us this afternoon briefly shortly after we were in Umtata and heard the touching story of three young men who fought for 36 hours with the Transkeian army, who would eventually some of them fell in that skirmish.
 Now we welcome you to this Commission and we take our hats off to you that one of your offspring turned to be a hero, about whom we heard in Umtata.  I would like you to start very briefly because of time constraint, to just recall what any memories you have about your son, before he left his parents to other lands to fight for liberation.
 What do you remember, what is it that is always a picture in your mind about your son?

MISEKA NANCY NGONGO: Firstly I am Miseka Vundi, who was born in Alexandria and I was married into the Ngongo family of the Gadebe clan in Qumbu, across the (indistinct) and Mbulelo was born here in Alexandria.
 Mbulelo left here in 1980, when he left the country for training.  He didn't escape, he left because we were taking part in the same struggle and he did tell me he was going to fight for the nation.  I gave him the permission although I was a bit apprehensive.
 And I said to him, Mbulelo my wish for you is to continue with your education, because at the time he was studying at Kwazakhele Senior Secondary school where he was a member of COSAS.  He left at that stage of his activity and he went to Lesotho.
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 In Lesotho they spent a year before they went for training, after which they went for training to whatever states they went to.  On their return ... (tape starts) ...  he was not in the first 41, then the other 9 fell that and we went to bury those victims.
 That's when I met him with his comrades like Atwell Maqekeza,  Tandofiqa Radebe, but Tandofiqa Radebe was a student there.  The others from Grahamstown Maswai, Siphiwo Maswai, they were all working together and I had contact with him.

UNKNOWN: Let me just interrupt you.  When you got there, you found him with others.  At that time what was he doing there, was he at school or was he working, what was he doing actually at that time?

MISEKA NANCY NGONGO: No, he was not working, he was in the struggle.  He was a (indistinct), he was from training, he was now operational, he was going to be operating this side and when I got there, they looked for me and we talked and I established contact with him and we had some working relationship and we did things together.
 What I mean is I was underground with them, I was operating underground.  When they came, they would come and meet me, but what happened was in 1988, the story is very long, but I am going to summarise it, shorten it.  In 1988 I got a phone call.
 I was no longer staying at my house because of harassment.  And then I was bothered by this phone, but I took this phone, just to listen what was happening.  So I said, when they said, you have a phone, I took the call and the person who answered the phone, I said what sort of person is, and then I was described.
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 When I heard the name, I recognised the name, it was Atwell Maqekeza, before he fell.
 He said mother, I want to tell you, just want to find out what things are on your side because the Boers are on us this side and he said, I told him, no things are bad even here.  I no longer stay at home.  And I had already sounded other people to change their places of abode because - which we know.  I said Glamluli Tsojzi cave the message that they should shift from their residence and they did change their residence.
 But after all that it didn't help, didn't help because Mbulelo was there with Maqekeza, they were travelling to Mafeking in Lesotho, the three of them and Tandofiqa Radebe.  That's where they got into a roadblock as the story goes, I wasn't there, I just got the story.
 At this roadblock they were stopped.  These people tried to speak to them, and actually tried to convince these people that they were trying to beg for mercy and he pleaded but it didn't help, these people were wearing masks.
 Mbulelo saw one policeman was hitting Radebe and Mbulelo ran away.  Then they went for Atwell Maqekeza and he fell down, Mbulelo had run away.  So he went to tell his other friends who were not there that our comrades had fallen, this is what happened in a roadblock.
 The following morning his comrades went to check to look, then they found the body of Tandofiqa and not that of Atwell.  They looked for it and looked for it until they found it in the mealie lands.  He was still living and they took him to a hospital in Maseru.
 Atwell didn't want to stay in this hospital, but there was nothing they could do because  his leg was very severely
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damaged, then came a call to me and I could hear that there were many people.  Many people because there were some noise in the background.  I had suspected that it could have been  Atwell, but people didn't let me take the phone.
 At that hospital his bed was close to a window, then someone came and shot Maqekeza, then Mbulelo - he was with a lady at Roma, I think that is where he went and relax.  These people are laughing at me, you know everyone has somewhere where he goes to relax.
 Four men came and they wanted to ask him who he was and he said he was a student at Roma University and they argued over this and this four, these three were about to give up.  It was the fourth one who was clearly a Xhosa, he said you are Mbulelo Ngongo from PE and there was no way he could then deny it and then they took him away and they asked this girl to remain behind, they said they would come back for her.
 I suspect that they were taking him to where he was staying.  And then they came back.

UNKNOWN: Sorry, sorry Mrs Ngongo, are these police from Lesotho?

MISEKA NANCY NGONGO: Yes.

UNKNOWN: Do you know if he had a passport, a Lesotho passport or another passport for another country?