Amnesty Hearings — Umtata — 2000-02-01

CHAIRPERSON: We want to start the proceedings.  For the record, it is Tuesday the 1st of February 2000.  We are continuing with the amnesty applications of S M Ntisana and others.  The Panel is constituted as indicated on the record and the appearances are as have been indicated as well.
	Mr Dambuza, I believe that you had managed to get in touch with your outstanding clients.

MS DAMBUZA: It is so, Mr Chairman, and they are both ready to proceed.

CHAIRPERSON: They are here and you are able to proceed?

MS DAMBUZA: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Who is the next one?

MS DAMBUZA: The next one is Mxutu, applicant number 3.

CHAIRPERSON: Number 3.  Yes, thank you.

MS DAMBUZA: Mr Chairman, I call Hlumelo Mzwane Mkhulu Mxutu to the witness box.

CHAIRPERSON: Very well.  Mr Mxutu, just indicate to us if your headset is working, can you hear the interpreters?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: I'm going to ask you to stand to take the oath.  Can you give your full names for the record.

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: (sworn states)

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, you may sit down.  Ms Dambuza?

MS DAMBUZA: Mr Chairman, I would like to indicate that because of the problem of communications with the applicants, no affidavits were prepared for them and therefore I shall just lead them.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, that's in order, we understand the position.

MS DAMBUZA: Thank you, Mr Chairman.
	Mr Mxutu, are you an applicant in terms of Sections 18 and 20 of Act 34/95?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: That is correct.

MS DAMBUZA: And are you applying that this Committee grants you an amnesty?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes, that is correct.

MS DAMBUZA: Which acts are you actually requesting amnesty in respect of?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: It's that I took part in the group that was planning the coup.

MS DAMBUZA: How did you become involved in this planning of the coup?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: I was involved in the planning itself.

MS DAMBUZA: Were you employed at the time this happened?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: I was a soldier in Ncise.

MS DAMBUZA: And what rank were you at the time?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: I was a Warrant Officer.

MS DAMBUZA: Who approached you to become involved in the coup?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: It was Mr Mazizi Ntisana.

MS DAMBUZA: And can you relate then to the Committee what happened after Mazizi Ntisana approached you.

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Mr Ntisana came to me and he told me that Col Duli wanted to see us, it would be myself and him and Mzwamadoda Ntisana.

MS DAMBUZA: Did you then go and see Col Duli?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes, we went to Col Duli.

MS DAMBUZA: Where did you see him?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: In Queenstown.

MS DAMBUZA: How did you get there?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: There was a car from him that took us there.

MS DAMBUZA: What happened when you met Col Duli, what did he say to you?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Col Duli said that as we knew that Ms Stella Sigcau's government was overthrown by the soldiers and these soldiers said after six months it would change and then he said that that six months had elapsed, so he wanted us to do what had happened to the previous government.  He wanted us to overthrow the military government so that the government can be returned to the people.  We agreed.

MS DAMBUZA: Had you in fact been involved in the previous coup when the government of Ms Stella Sigcau was toppled?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes, I was involved.

MS DAMBUZA: What happened then after you agreed to participate in Col Duli's coup?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: He told us to tell the soldiers of the special forces that they should be aware of what was going to happen.

MS DAMBUZA: Yes, and what happened then?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: We indeed went to these soldiers and we told them, told certain soldiers.  After that - this coup was supposed to be on the 15th of January, if I still remember well, but a day before we heard that this plan would not succeed so we decided to abort the coup and after that, on the 15th we went to work normally and then the 16th we were arrested.

MS DAMBUZA: And were you actually subsequently convicted and sentenced in respect of this deed?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes, I was sentenced.

MS DAMBUZA: To how many years?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: 8 years, 4 years suspended.  We served that sentence and then we were released after serving the sentence.

MS DAMBUZA: When were you released?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: I think it was November or December 1994.

MS DAMBUZA: When Col Duli invited you to take part in this coup, did you foresee that there would be bloodshed or even loss of life?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: It was not like that, he said that it would be like the previous one, the Ms Stella Sigcau one.

MS DAMBUZA: Are you now applying for amnesty in respect of the acts that you've outlined to the Committee just now?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes, that is correct.

MS DAMBUZA: Mr Chairman, that is the evidence.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MS DAMBUZA

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Ms Dambuza.  Mr Nodada, have you got any questions?

MR NODADA: One or two, Mr Chairman.
	Mr Mxutu, did Mr Ntisana actually tell you exactly what Col Duli wanted to see you in connection with?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: No, he did not tell me, he said that we would get all the details from Col Duli.

MR NODADA: Did you ask him any questions when he first approached you? - that is Ntisana.

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: I asked him and then he said that he did not know why we were needed, but he said that because we were working for Col Duli before, maybe he wanted us to do something for him.

MR NODADA: And at that time you knew that Col Duli had just been released from detention in Port Elizabeth, isn't it so?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes, I knew.

MR NODADA: Right.  Did you actually meet him in Queenstown or at Stutterheim?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: In Queenstown.

MR NODADA: Did he actually give you the details of the modus operandi that was planned for the coup?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: No, he did not give us details, he just said that on the 15th we had to wait for him, he would arrive.

MR NODADA: And was that the only meeting that you had with him before the 15th of January?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: Yes, that was the only meeting whereby I was present.

MR NODADA: Are you aware of any other subsequent meetings that were held with him before the 15th?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: There's only meeting I know, it was with him, Ntisana and Bongolani Ndamase.

MR NODADA: And you knew that when the coup was actually implemented, the soldiers that would be involved would be armed in order to overcome the opposition which was also made up of soldiers?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: The way it was said there was not going to be any bloodshed, that's what I knew, as it happened with the previous coup.  Because he said that most of the senior soldiers knew about it.

MR NODADA: And when you actually met Col Duli in Queenstown, did you ask him how the whole thing was going to be implemented?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: I didn't ask him that way, we were just asking him how he's going to do this.  He said that we must go and tell the soldiers of the special forces because they were not aware of this, so that there could not be any conflict.  He said that the officers in Ncise were aware of this, so we must not be afraid or scared of anything.

MR NODADA: And what role were you going to play in this coup, you personally?

HLUMELO MZWANE MKHULU MXUTU: As I was his secretary before, I was going to be the one who was going to take the documents that were there.

MR NODADA: I see.  Mr Chairperson, I have no further questions.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR NODADA

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr Nodada.  Mr Malan, have you got any questions?