CHAIRPERSON: The next witness is Jemeya Gertrude Mnisi and I'll ask her to please come forward.
Good afternoon, Mrs Mnisi, we're very pleased to see you, can you hear my voice on the earphone?
MRS MNISI: I can hear you.
CHAIRPERSON: I can hear you too, so we are now in touch with each other. Can you please tell us just to start, who is your friend who is with you, or the relative that is sitting with you?
MRS MNISI: This is my sister.
CHAIRPERSON: May I just say a very warm word of welcome to your sister as well. We are very grateful that she is being of comfort to you today. You have waited a very long time today and you must be quite tired, so we are going to start right away, because you have a story to tell about your son. Now before I ask Mrs Mkhizi to guide you in the telling of your story, Ms Sooka is going to help you to affirm the oath.
JAMEYA GERTRUDE MNISI: (sworn states).
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mrs Mkhize please.
MS MKHIZE: I welcome you and I will lead us as you tell us what you have written here in your statement. Maybe you should tell us the name of your sister so that we don't just call her your sister.
MRS MNISI: She is Priscilla Nkosi.
MS MKHIZE: Priscilla, we also welcome you. Thank you, you NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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can now carry on with your story.
MRS MNISI: On the 3rd of July in 1986, I was befell by this tragedy with my son. There was a place they used to go for their meetings. There was their camp at a place called Shangaan Hill. That was their usual place to meet. He'd been to this hill for quite a few times and at times we would even go to bed without seeing him at all and he would come the next morning. They would leave in the morning and at times they would leave in the evening and we would see him the next day. He was involved in this struggle.
The police used to come to my house almost every day, we couldn't sleep peacefully. It was one o'clock in the evening when the police came and they kicked the doors and we would open the doors and they would search for my child. One day they picked him up and they took him to the cells and they would come in, they would shout, they would insult us. They took the boy with them and they put him into the cells and it was quite a time that I didn't know what happened to my son and I said to myself one day, I haven't seen my son for a week, what happened to him? What am I going to say if the police come to me, if they tell me that I should appear before the court of law?
Things were just quiet, I was never called,I didn't know that my son was arrested. Time went by and I heard from rumours that my son was moving in police vans and I was shocked and said, "My son in police vans?" They said, "Yes". Other people were sympathising with me and every time I would walk in the streets, people would be pointing their fingers at me, and seeing that I didn't know anything I'll be surprised. Those who were brave enough
came to me and they said to me, "We've that your house is NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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going to be burned together with your mother's as well as your sister's, and I said to them, why, what have we done, because we don't know anything?
And I was now told that they want to kill him. On Wednesday my child came home, it was in the evening. I woke up on Thursday morning and I talked to my son. I said to him, "Lucky, what is it that you are doing because now my house is going to be burned, what have you done? Please leave this struggle, come back home, stay at home. And Lucky, I'm asking you not to move around the streets because even if I walk around the streets, people point fingers at me, I don't know what I have done".
It was a Thursday and I went to the women's church gathering and I said to him, "Please, do not leave today, you are now being chased and I've heard that you are going to be killed, please stay here at home. I put on my church attire and I went to church. On my way I came back just before reaching the church. I said, "Lucky please I want you to stay here, don't go!" , and I went to church.
When you are inside the church you can still see my house. I saw him moving out of the gate. We prayed in the church and at half past four I went back home. I said, "Where is Lucky?". They said to me, Luck is not here at home". I stayed till it was time for bed and he wasn't in the house. The next morning on Friday, my sister arrived. This one sitting next to me and she said to me, Lucky has passed away. He was burned to death.
I asked her what happened? Who burned him? We started crying.
MS MKHIZE: Let her drink water please so that she can
breathe.
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MRS MNISI: Thereafter I asked where he was. I wanted to know where he was and my sister said, "No they've removed him, he is now at the mortuary". We stayed at home not knowing the reasons for his killing, we prepared for the funeral, my sister personally went to the mortuary. I became brave enough and I followed. My sister said to me, "Please do not cry!" I said to her, "No I won't". My sister was there with my husband and they said," Can you please open so that we can see whether it's my son?" I turned him and I looked at him, he was stabbed 18 holes, I was brave enough to count those holes, and my sister wanted to pull me from counting them. I said to her, "Please stop it, I want to see him". My son was burned.
He was my first born and I was looking to him, he was my future.
MS MKHIZE: Take your time, don't rush yourself. We know that when memories of the past come to you, they open the wounds.
MRS MNISI: I want to know, why my son was killed? I'm here to know the person who killed him and I want to know them and they should tell me why they killed him because he was involved in the struggle. He was fighting for the freedom that we have today. There was no help at all, not even from the police, they would come to me and they would say, "We want you before the Court of Law. Come we have to go, you have to listen to the case with regard to your child". But things were quiet thereafter until today, and they even gave orders that there shouldn't be many people at the funeral but because of the family we decided that we are not going to listen to that, we want to carry on
ith the funeral. I would be very happy to see the NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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wperpetrators.
MS MKHIZE: We want to thank you Mrs Mnisi, this is a very sad story. You lost your son in a very brutal way. This was your only child and your only hope and we are sorry to be taking you back to the past but as soon as the truth is revealed, you will have peace in your heart. I'm going to ask you a few questions so that your story can be clarified.
You started by telling us that your son Lucky was involved in the struggle. They were continually going up and down this Shangaan Hill. According to your knowledge, before Lucky was involved in the struggle how old was he? What is it that they discussed when they were in their meetings at the Shangaan Hill?
MRS MNISI: Lucky was 19 years old. He was involved in the struggle because he wanted to taste the new government that we have today. I once talked to him and I said, "Lucky, you must stop talking to me anymore, and he said to me, "Mum, I am involved in the struggle and I will continue".
You know if the previous government could have arrested him and put him in the cells, my son would still have been alive today. The children that were arrested were three but I won't tell you their names. They were not even sentenced. I was waiting for the case to take place and I thought they would call Lucky and charge him with something, but that didn't take place.
MS MKHIZE: You say, when they were picked up, they were never taken before the magistrate. Now according to your knowledge, what happened?
MRS MNISI: I only heard from rumours that the government gave them guns and they saw him wearing a police uniform, but I have never seen him with my own eyes.
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MS MKHIZE: You earlier on explained that there was a time that when you were moving around the streets people would point fingers at you but the brave ones would come to you and tell you that there is a possibility of your son being killed. Did you have a chance to ask your son about the reasons why the community was now pointing fingers at you?
MRS MNISI: I asked him, I said, "Lucky, you were involved in the struggle. Now what does the policeman seek after you? And I didn't know that he was involved with the policemen, I've never seen him with any policemen. He said, "Mum they might help us in some way because they have never taken us to the cells". I said to him, "Lucky, the reason that they haven't taken you to the cells allows you to cooperate with them?" He said, "Mum they also gave us guns". I said to him, "Lucky, why?" But he couldn't give me an answer.
MS MKHIZE: You said the brave ones came to you to warn you. Now when you investigated this matter, why were they given guns?
MRS MNISI: I don't know why. I can't even tell you what they were supposed to do with these guns.
MS MKHIZE: In your statement you said, nobody from the Government came to tell you that your son was dead. Can you please tell us, how did Priscilla get the news that your son was dead?
MRS MNISI: The police never came to me to tell me about the death of my son, my sister, my son died next to
Mkalipani Secondary School where my sister stays, she stays next to Mkalipani and that's how she got to know that my son was dead.
MS MKHIZE: We'll have to look at your sister's statement because we know that she has given us one at the TRC who NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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will take a look at her statement. There is something that I want to ask you. You said you were brave enough to count how many wounds he had and you also said he was burned. Is there anything else that you noticed that might have led to his death? You said he had eighteen holes and he was burned. MRS MNISI: That was the only thing I could see.
MS MKHIZE: I want to thank you, I will now take you back to the chairperson and he will give others a chance to ask you questions.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Ms Mkhize. Ms Sooka?
MS SOOKA: Mama I would just like to ask you a few questions to clear up some of the things you said in your statement. You said that after your son was released from jail, he was no longer involved with the comrades. You also said that he was given guns by the police. And then you also said that you say him moving around with police vans. Can you tell us a little more about that please?
MRS MNISI: The police would come to my home very late in the evening and they would harass us and at the end I didn't know. For two weeks I couldn't see my son. On the third week when I saw him, it was on a Thursday and on Friday I was told that he passed away.
MS SOOKA: Once they had taken him you said that you didn't see him for a week, but then you heard rumours that people had seen him moving around in police vans.
MRS MNISI: That's correct.
MS SOOKA: What were people saying?
MRS MNISI: As I walked along the streets, people would say, "Her son is involved with the police", and you know people would be pointing fingers at me and I would check as to whom they were pointing at only to find that they were NELSPRUIT HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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pointing at me.
MS SOOKA: Did you ever ask your son after he came out whether in fact he was working with the police?
MRS MNISI: I asked him on Wednesday on the day he arrived and I said to him, "I heard rumours that you are involved with police". He said, "Yes mother, the police ended up arresting me, they took me to the cells and they assaulted me and after assaulting us we spent a week in jail and at the end of that the police gave us uniforms and they gave us guns". And I said, "Why did you take those?", and he said "Mother, I thought that they would leave me alone." You know, the Government could have arrested him, I think my son would still be alive today.
MS SOOKA: You talk about seeing him in the company of another person. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that as well please?
MRS MNISI: I would only see this car. He used to drive in a car driven by Speedy, a policeman, it was a Mazda. That is the car I saw parking at my grandmother's house and I asked, "What does this car want here, and he said, "No it's not me who put this car here". I said, "If you told me it's a boy who put this car here, can you please call him to take it away?" It's a big house and I got into the house, I don't know what time did the car leave because it was just next door to the grandmother's house, it wasn't parked in front of my house.
MS SOOKA: Who was arrested by the police, was he alone or were there other people with him?
MRS MNISI: He was together with others.
MS SOOKA: Were they also given guns and uniforms by the police?
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MRS MNISI: Yes they were also given guns and uniforms.
MS SOOKA: Do you have any names of these friends who were with him.
MRS MNISI: Yes I have their names but it is not right to reveal them here.
MS SOOKA: You will however give the information to us later on?
MRS MNISI: Yes I will. The other one passed away, he was killed, only one is still surviving.
MS SOOKA: Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON: You've been very helpful in telling your story. I think you have reminded the community again and reminded us that one of the saddest things about the whole struggle were the divisions between family and family and neighbour an neighbour and son and mother and people taking different sides. So it sounds to me as though what you're saying to us is that your son was one of the comrades, was arrested, assaulted and in the hope of being freed and having the assault being stopped, that he offered to assist and joined different sides and then people act against that. Nothing of this is right, no one has the right to go and kill people and have 18 wounds and to burn a person. But the whole struggle led to enormous divisions. I hope that if those divisions are still there, if the community is still divided, that after ten years, we will learn to come to terms with these, we don't understand everything, we cannot explain everything, but perhaps through this Commission, through the telling of your story and so many other stories we've heard, that there will come healing not only for yourself, for your sister, but also for the community, so that people can live in peace.
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That is my hope for you and for your community and I want to thank you very much indeed for coming and telling us your story. We have heard what you've said, we have noted what you have asked for and we will do our best to do what you have asked. Thank you very much indeed.
