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

CASE NO: CT/00168

TESTIMONY FROM: ADELINA NOBELUNGU MBATHA [mother]

MR POTGIETER: Good morning Ms Mbatha.  Welcome to you.  You brought a member of your family with you.

HEADMAN MBATHA: This is not my child, her name is Thabile.

MR POTGIETER: Well we thank her for assisting you, coming up with you.  Before we listen to your evidence you are going to have to take an oath.  I am going to unfortunately ask you to stand for that purpose.  Is that okay?

HEADMAN MBATHA: Yes it's all right sir.

MR POTGIETER: Thank you ma'am.
ADELINA NOBELUNGU MBATHA Duly sworn states

MR POTGIETER: Thank you very much, you may be seated.  Are you comfortable now?

WITNESS:  Yes I'm comfortable sir.

MR POTGIETER:  Now Ms Mbatha you will be speaking about an incident that happened in 1986 although you can't remember the exact date but it happened in 1986 and it's what happened to yourself and also about what happened to your son Headman.

WITNESS:  Yes sir, it is so.

MR POTGIETER:   ... like to tell us what happened on that day when you attended the meeting.

WITNESS:  There was a meeting at school.  The comrades had called the meeting.  We then went there.  When we got there it was packed with people.  Steven Mgezwa was called out to pray.  He prayed.  When he said amen there was a hippo that came.  The police said, they said we must disperse.  They had sjamboks in their hands.  People ran away, going towards the fence, I then fell.  They beat me first before I fell.  After they beat me I fell.  A lady called Ms Nel then helped me up.  We struggled until we're outside.  I got out and ran.  There were two police ahead of me, running.  I then ran and went to a house, Magade's house.  When I got there I got a glass of water, water with sugar.  I drank that water.  The police went running after people, using teargas.  People were running away.  I stayed in that house but eventually I went home with Ms Magade.  There was no unrest at that time.  When I got home I heard the hippo again, approaching my house.  I got up, the police came and asked me where my son is.  I said I do not know.  They said I do know.  They then left.  In the evening we were sleeping, five policemen came.  They knocked on the door.  I asked who's there, they said it is them, the police.  I opened the door.  As I opened the door, the one grabbed me to come closer to him.  They then asked again where my son was.  I said I do not know.  The others were already inside the house.  The continued asking.  I insisted that I do not know.  They were armed.  It was terrible.  That was a terrible day.  They left, they left.  I had no rest in my heart, they were searching for my child.  I was up and down in the location looking for my child.  I was hurting so much.  I never found my child.  I went to the comrades, I asked them where my son was.  They said the last time they had seen him was the previous day.  That was the last time I saw my child.  To this very day I want my child.  I need help.  There is no direction.  I am asking to this day, I have no strength, I do not know what to do but if I would see my child today in front of me, face to face, I would have peace in my heart.  I would have peace in my heart.  My children are still hurting as well.  I wrote a letter, writing to my son's mother, the mother said such a thing has never happened before.  All the time you took my child as a baby, how can he just disappear now?  I have never spent any time with my child.  I sought him and sought him out, I did not get my child.  I have no one with me, I am ill of health.  I continued to look for my child.  I continue even now to look for my child.  Even if he did, even if he is still alive, even if he is working somewhere, I just want to know.  I just want to know.  That is all I have to say.

MR POTGIETER: I would like to ask you a few questions but I want to, must just make sure that you are okay.  Is it in order if I...?

WITNESS:  Yes you can ask whatever you want to ask, you can ask.

MR POTGIETER:  Thank you.  I will make it as brief as possible.  The meeting in 1986, the meeting at the school that you spoke about that was convened by the comrades, what was going to be discussed at that meeting?

WITNESS:  We never got a report about the meeting.  We never even discussed anything because the police arrived so soon.

MR POTGIETER:  And you indicated that as you were leaving the school, the premises, you were assaulted by the police.  What did they assault you with?

WITNESS:  They beat me with a sjambok.

MR POTGIETER:  What injuries did you sustain in that attack?

WITNESS:  They beat me at my back, lower back, onto my thigh, that is when I fell down.

MR POTGIETER:  And when you fell down did you injure yourself in any way?

WITNESS:  I fell hard, face down on the ground onto my knees.

MR POTGIETER:  Now it is fair to say that you are a senior person.  Can I ask you what your age is?

WITNESS:  I am not sure, I am just above, over 70 I think.

MR POTGIETER:  Thank you, and then I just need to ask you one or two things about Headman.  How old was he, if you can help, when he disappeared?

WITNESS:  I am not sure but he was already working.

MR POTGIETER:  That's, that's fine.  Now our investigators who looked into your case reported to us that they have spoken to quite a few other people about the incident and about your son and they were told that your son was....

WITNESS:  Yes there are people in the location who have an idea.

MR POTGIETER:  In fact our investigators reported to us that they informed the investigators that your son was a spokesperson, a leader, a spokesperson in the township on behalf of the people.

WITNESS:  I don't know my son as a leader at the location.  It's at the meeting that I realised.

MR POTGIETER:  So they say that he would, he would speak on behalf of the people and speak about what was wrong and so on.

WITNESS:  Yes I was aware that he used to try to solve people's problems but when I asked him he never told me anything.

MR POTGIETER:  Before he disappeared did the police often come to your house to look for him, to want to question him?

WITNESS:  They came all the time.

MR POTGIETER:  Now our investigators also looked at the records of the police to try and find out whether the police detained your son or they got hold of your son but from the records there is no indication that they have detained the son.

WITNESS:  No my son was never detained sir.  He has never been detained.

MR POTGIETER:  Yes, as I say also, they, if they had detained your son at any stage, that wasn't written into the records.  I just wanted to ask you also what do you ... [intervention]

WITNESS:  Yes it would be in the police records if they had detained him.

MR POTGIETER:  I just wanted to ask you what do you think, what do you suspect happened to your son?

WITNESS:  Yes I asked myself the very same question.

MR POTGIETER:  Was there anybody else apart from the police that were looking for your son?

WITNESS:  My children were looking for my child, even the comrades.

MR POTGIETER:  Was there anybody else that came to look for him at home except the police?  Was it only the police that came to look for him all the time?

WITNESS:  Yes there were people, residents of the location who were looking for my son.

MR POTGIETER:  Okay, has your son ever been out of the country?

WITNESS:  No he only worked in the mines and then here in town.

MR POTGIETER:  So where did he work in the mines, in which place?

WITNESS:  In Copperton.

MR POTGIETER:  Was there any of your son's belongings missing, his clothes missing from the house as if he had left with his belongings?

WITNESS:  I still have all his clothes at home.

MR POTGIETER:  So would it fair to say that he doesn't seem to have packed up and left home?

WITNESS:  No he did not because when he would leave and pack his clothes he would always tell me.