Human Rights Violation Hearings — Venda — 1996-10-03

MR LYSTER: Mr Mavhunga, just to get some details on your actual detention.  You said in your statement that you were detained in a, it sounds very much like it was a shed made from zinc sheets, is that right?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, it is true.

MR LYSTER: And how long exactly did you stay in that place?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: For about nine months.

MR LYSTER: ; And were you completely on your own?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, it was a solitary confinement, there was no other person there, I was alone.

MR LYSTER: And were you kept in there during the day, during the heat of the day?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes.

MR LYSTER: Now just to go back to the case that you said that you were charged at the Regional Court in Toyandu.  Do you remember exactly what the specific charge against you was?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: In this Regional Court I was found not guilty but I was just pointed by finger and told not to help those people.
VENDA HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
7 FN MAVHUNGA

MR LYSTER: What was the charge against you, did you remember?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: No, the charge was just helping a terrorist by a paper bag.

MR LYSTER: Now that was in 1988, when you were released, is that right, yes, 1988?  And have you, you said that after you were dismissed from your job, you got another job and - with the Department of Nature Conservation, how long did that job last before you were dismissed from that job?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, I was employed there and after finding that job, that guy who told me to go and search for a job at Mr Mandela, he followed me there and told my new bosses that why are they employing terrorists?

MR LYSTER: Before you met this person who had been, who had come from Zambia presumably, he had received training there and had come back to South Africa, what was your political involvement?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: By that time, no, by that time I was not belonging to any political organisation.

MR LYSTER: So it was just your misfortune in fact and co-incidental that you found this person at your house and that because of the position that he found himself in, you assisted him in the way that you did, is that right?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, it is true.

MR LYSTER: And it seems from what you have told us, that you have suffered tremendously since that day.  Nine months solitary confinement in a tin shed and the loss of two jobs thereafter?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, I was hurt and very disturbed because after that, my parents have told me that I was mentally disturbed.
VENDA HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
8 FN MAVHUNGA

MR LYSTER: Do you feel that there is anything wrong with you?  Do you feel that the period in detention and your misfortune after you came out of detention, have effected you in any way?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Will you please repeat your question?

MR LYSTER: How do you feel, you said that your parents said that you were mentally disturbed in some way by your experiences.  Do you feel all right, do you feel that you have been mentally effected in some way?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Up to now my mind is okay and I am okay, no problem.

MR LYSTER: Well, you certainly sound to us as if you are okay, and it sounds as though that the situation that you find yourself in is largely because of the action taken against you by your previous employer.
 The policeman who ordered your detention, do you know who they were.  You said the policeman that you actually dealt with was a Mr Chiwane and a Mr Sumwayna.  Are there other policemen that you recall who were involved at that time?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, I remember the people.  I know Sergeant Sumwayna, Marhaqe, Marhowa, Nemesisi and Mr Ramboda and Chiwane.

MR LYSTER: Are they still in the police force, as far as you know?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, they are still working there.  I used to see them, except Mr Chiwane which I cannot tell.

MR LYSTER: And what sort of ranks do these policemen have?  Do you know whether they specifically were responsible for ordering your detention for that very long period of time or do you know whether the orders for your
VENDA HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
9 FN MAVHUNGA
detention came from higher up?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: I cannot give evidence of who was giving them orders or whether they were responsible themselves.  But I think they can give evidence on this themselves.

MR LYSTER: The cell where you were held, is it still in existence?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, yes it is still existing, but I never like to watch it again.

MR LYSTER: Can you tell us where it is?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: It is at Masisi.

MR LYSTER: The police station compound, is it?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Now, the police station has been changed and it is in the other side, but that was in the old police station.

MR LYSTER: Is a place which other witnesses today have mentioned, that they were held in a zinc or a corrugated iron shed.  In fact one of the witnesses which were held there was not even able to give evidence today, he was fairly mentally disturbed by his experience.
 But thank you for giving us that information.  We would like to go and see that police cell if one could call it that - and certainly see whether it is still being used to detain people.  Thank you I'll ask the Chairman if he has got any questions to ask or Mr Manthata.

THOMAS MANTHATA: You say Fenias, who subsequently died, he is the one who told you that the freedom fighters were in the house before they were taken to Waqoma?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Yes, my elder brother is the one who took that man to the Headmen's or Waqoma.

THOMAS MANTHATA: ; How did Fenias die?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: Fenias was just attacked by various diseases
VENDA HEARING TRC/NORTH WEST
10 FN MAVHUNGA
and then he passed away.

THOMAS MANTHATA: You never knew who the freedom fighter was, you just - even after you learnt that he was killed?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: That person told me that he was called Mawhera but I don't know him clearly, but he just told me that he is Mawhera.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Did he tell you where he was from, that is where - let alone from Zimbabwe or Zambia or what, but here in South Africa, he did not tell you his home?

FRANS NTENDELENI MAVHUNGA: No, he did not explain that because there was a short time and there was a short time to discuss many things.

THOMAS MANTHATA: Thank you, no further questions.

RUSSELL ALLY: Frans, thank you very much for coming to speak to us about a very harrowing experience.  Nine months in solitary confinement is bad enough, but in sub-human conditions, zinc corrugated iron cell, subjected to all those elements, hot and cold and to be treated in that way, it is a testimony to your courage in many ways.
 That you have survived that ordeal and we hope that your conditions and your situation will improve and that - given what you've experienced, that I can't see how anyone would not want to employ someone of your character and your endurance, so once again, thanks for coming forward to share that experience with us.