Amnesty Hearings — Cape Town — 1998-09-08

MR MAPOMA: Mr Chairman, the next matter will that of Andile Shiceka, Walter Tanda and Gcinikhaya Makoma.  They are all represented by Mr Norman Arendse.  He is available for us to proceed, and the applicants are also here.

CHAIRPERSON: I didn't hear what you said?

MR MAPOMA: He is available Chairperson, he is here.

CHAIRPERSON: He is here.

MR MAPOMA: And the applicants are also here.

CHAIRPERSON: Can we make a beginning?

MR MAPOMA: Yes, Sir.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Chairperson, Honourable Members of the Committee, I appear together with my colleague, Advocate Vuyani Ngalwana: N-G-A-L-W-A-N-A.  Both of us are from the Cape Bar.  We appear on behalf of the three applicants in this matter, Andile Shiceka, Walter Tanda and Gcinikhaya Makoma.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Chairperson, if I may with your leave, just arrange the order in which the matter appears in front of you in the bundle, purely for the sake of convenience.  If I may call Walter Tanda first and then Makoma second, and then lastly, Shiceka.
	You will notice from the bundle that the matter in respect of which the applicants appear together, either one or both of them, are only in respect of the second, the Khayelitsha Train Station attack, and then the last one, the Khayelitsha Police Vehicle attack.  Apart from that, Tanda and Shiceka appear very much on their own.  	I propose dealing with the last one first, the Khayelitsha Police Vehicle Attack, where Tanda and Makoma appear together.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, you may proceed.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Thank you Chairperson.

MR MAPOMA: Excuse me Mr Chairman, there is next to me, Mr Warner who appears for one of the victims.  I would ask him to place himself on record.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, Mr Warner?  I'm sorry I overlooked you Mr Warner.

MR WARNER: I appear on behalf of Miss Amanda Warner, one of the victims in the Claremont Stake Restaurant Shooting.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes.  So the present application, the Khayelitsha Police Vehicle Attack is not concerned?

MR WARNER: Not at all Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes.  Very well, thank you very much.

MR WARNER: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, do proceed Mr Arendse.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Mr Chairperson, if I may call one, Walter Falibango Tanda.

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: (sworn states)

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  Will he be given evidence for an interpreter?

NORMAN ARENDSE: Yes, Chairperson.  Thank
you Chairperson.
	Mr Tanda, what is your age?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I am 38 years old.

NORMAN ARENDSE: What are you doing at the moment, are you working, and if so, where are you working?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I'm serving in the National Defence Force in Walmasdal(?), Pretoria.

CHAIRPERSON: I can't hear his answer.  I'm sorry about that.  Is he speaking in the mike?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I'm serving in the National Defence Force in Pretoria at Walmasdal.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes, what was the answer?

NORMAN ARENDSE: Please repeat the answer.

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I'm serving in the National Defence Force in Pretoria at Walmasdal.

CHAIRPERSON: Yes.

INTERPRETER: Can you hear me now?  He is serving in the National Defence Force in Pretoria at Walmasdal.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Thank you.
	And you said just before that, that your age was 38?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: Yes, I'm 38 years old.

NORMAN ARENDSE: When you're not in the army, where do you stay?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I stay at Molteno in the Eastern Cape in number 1184 in New Location.

NORMAN ARENDSE: How long have you now been in the army, in the Defence Force?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I started on the 1st of July this year, 1998.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Before July 1998, what was your status, what was your position?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I was in prison.  I was released on the 3rd of June.  I received amnesty.

NORMAN ARENDSE: In respect of which offence?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: It's about the Newcastle Crazy Disco Attack.

NORMAN ARENDSE: When did that attack happen?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: That was in 1994 on the 14th of February.

NORMAN ARENDSE: That attack is also mentioned by you in your amnesty application, is that correct?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: That is correct.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Just for the record, Chairperson, I refer to page 32 of the record.
	Did you go to school Walter?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: A little bit.

NORMAN ARENDSE: What do you mean by a little bit, until what standard did you go to school?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I went up until standard two.  Due to some problems in the family I couldn't go on.

NORMAN ARENDSE: When did you leave school?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: It was in 1972.

NORMAN ARENDSE: In 1972.  And since 1972, what did you do?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I was doing nothing, I was just sitting at home.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Did you become involved in politics at all?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: Yes.

NORMAN ARENDSE: And when was that?  When did you become involved in politics for the first time?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: That was in 1982.  In 1990 I became - In 1982 I was involved with the PAC and then in 1990 I became the member of the Azanian People's Liberation Army.

NORMAN ARENDSE: How did you become involved with what is referred to as APLA?  How did you become involved?  Did you join out of your own, were you asked to join?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I was recruited and I was also satisfied because I could see that that was a way for me to fight for liberation.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Is the reason why you joined APLA, or tell us why you joined APLA.

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: The reason for me to join APLA, I realised that the African land was taken from them and they were victims and they were being oppressed.  They were victimised by the South African Police and even the South African Defence Force was victimising them.  So I saw the need for me to get involved with the APLA and be part of the people who are going to liberate Africa, to protect, to liberate Africans from the apartheid regime.

NORMAN ARENDSE: And how were you going to do that, how were you going to liberate the African people from the regime?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I had to obey the orders from the commander of APLA and be involved in the operations.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Okay.  Now tell us about the - the operations that you were involved in, we know now you were involved in the New Caste Crazy Beat Disco matter, where you applied for amnesty and you have been granted amnesty.  We know about that one.  Now the others in respect of which you are applying for amnesty are some of the ones we are going to deal with today.
	Now before we do that, can you just perhaps tell the Committee, you were born in the Eastern Cape, did you at any stage come to Cape Town?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I once came to Cape Town when I was deployed here in 1990 although I was born in the Eastern Cape in Molteno.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Who deployed you?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: The only names that I know is Mzala, Mandla and Jones.  Those were the names that I was using, we were using for the comrade who deployed me here in Cape Town.

NORMAN ARENDSE: Are those three different comrades or they one and the same person, this Mandla, Power, Jones or are they different persons?

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: It's one person but we were using different code names.  For security reasons we were using different code names for one person.

NORMAN ARENDSE: When is the last time that you saw this person who has these various names?

CHAIRPERSON: And by what name are we going to be referring to him here?

NORMAN ARENDSE: When last did you Mandla, Power, Mzala or Jones?  You've said they are one and the same person.

WALTER FALIBONGA TANDA: I last saw him in 1994, in 1994 when he was giving me instructions to go to Natal in Newcastle.  After that I was arrested, I couldn't see him again.