AC/2001/258

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

AMNESTY COMMITTEE

APPLICATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 18 OF THE PROMOTION OF NATIONAL UNITY AND RECONCILIATION ACT NO. 34 OF 1995.

THULANI MUZOKHONA MYEZA APPLICANT

(AM6198/97)

DECISION

The applicant applies for amnesty for 5 murders for which he has not been prosecuted.

He is, though, serving a long term prison sentence for two other murders, committed in separate incidents during 1995, that is after the 10th of May 1994, the cut off date for incidents for which applications for amnesty may be considered.

The Applicant, at the hearing, testified that he was born in Gezinsila Township, Eshowe, where he lived. There was violence in the area between the IFP and ANC. The Applicant and others approached one Dlulani Nyawuza, who was the driver of IFP leader, Prince Gideon Zulu. Nyawuza, was the IFP leader in the area. They suggested to him that the ANC members in the area be attacked and they made a pact when he agreed.

It needs to be said upfront that the Applicant, in oral evidence, contradicted much of what was stated in his written application. He was not a good witness which made it even more difficult to get to the facts and he on occasions even contradicted his own testimony.

The first incident for which he applies for amnesty concerns the killing of a Mr Zikhali. No other reason was advanced in his written application than that Nyawuza gave an order that Zikhali, who was an ANC member, be killed. In the written application, the Applicant alleged that Sbu Zuma and Vusi Myexa were conveyed by himself and Nyawuza to the area of the Tharamura School. They had arranged to pick them up at the scrapyard near Nkanyezi Magistrates' Court, which after 30 minutes, they did. In oral testimony, the Applicant said that the four of them had a meeting in which they decided to kill Zikhali. Zikhali used to bring people into the township who would then attack the residents. He had only on one occasion personally seen Zikhali doing this when, returning from the shop on his way to Nyawuza's scrapyard where he lived, he saw Zikhali's car driving past him. Ten youngsters alighted from the car and walked towards the scrapyard. He heard gunshots at the scrapyard, being fired by these youngsters. A Ndlovu boy and one of the ANC youngsters were killed. Applicant ran away.

He later testified that he saw the fighting taking place and only ran away after the Ndlovu boy was killed. On that day they were actually after the Applicant. He could see it by their actions. He was then living at the scrapyard. He had earlier been involved in skirmishes with ANC people. He was vocal, that is why they were looking for him On being further questioned, he said that he knew they were looking for him because he had been shot before. It in fact happened the previous day when he was chased by people with firearms. When he was shot at, it was because he was defending himself.

The Applicant then testified that Zikhali was a taxi operator. Because of the incident, they decided that he was no longer involved in taxis as a taxi operator but was now involved in politics. They decided to attack him. This decision was taken in 1992 or January of 1993. He was, however, only killed on 21 November 1993. Applicant was considering all the time whether to talk to Zikhali so that he would cease these activities, or to kill him. He was killed only a year after the decision because they could not get hold of him. That they only managed to do after they had heard that he had a girlfriend at Ntuli's Cottages. They had actually planned to kill a Security Branch policeman but were disturbed by a dog and the policeman came out of his house carrying an R4 rifle. They ran away. By mere coincident they saw Zikhali walking with his girlfriend. Vusi Myeza then walked up to him and shot him. They ran away. Applicant returned to Nyawuza's house but did not tell him what they did. The other two, that is Vusi Myeza and Sbu Zuma had fled to one Regina Gcabashe's home. She phoned Nyawuza and told him that the boys had told her that they had been attacked. Nyawuza handed him a shotgun and the two of them went to fetch Myeza and Zuma. On their return they drove past the place where Zikhali had been shot. There were policemen on the scene. Nyawuza praised them for what they had done. There was no attack on Myeza and Zuma. It was just a trick they used.

The Committee is not satisfied that the killing of Zikhali was an act associated with a political objective. Furthermore, apart from the different versions in the written application and in oral testimony, the Applicant was clearly making up his story as the evidence proceeded. It is not clear at all that Zikhali, who on evidence of the Applicant was a taxi operator, was involved in politics or violence or that the Applicant or any of his colleagues seriously believed that to be the case. From the evidence it does not appear that Nyawuza was a political leader other than him being the driver of Prince Gideon Zulu, which he seems not to have been at the time, at least not on a full time basis given his presence, also in day time, in the township. The lag time between the so called decision, constructed as an order and the killing into which they almost stumbled by accident, does not suggest that the killing was either planned or politically motivated. Amnesty is accordingly REFUSED.

The second incident concerns the killing of Vusimuzi Muntukaziboni Mbokazi, known to the Applicant only as Botha, who was a schoolboy of Ndlangubo Reserve. He was shot by Vusi Myeza. The Applicant was present when he was shot. He was shot at the instruction of Nyawuza, "a youth leader and the driver to Prince Gideon Zulu". Nobody was arrested for the murder.

In testimony the Applicant said that Botha was just a schoolboy who regularly visited Nyawuza. At that stage IFP students were not allowed to attend school. It became known that he was friendly with some ANC members and they formed the opinion that the reason for his visits was to see whether Nyawuza's home was guarded or not. They, that is the Applicant, Vusi Myeza and Nyawuza, decided to shoot and kill Botha.

Following questions, the Applicant again built his story. It was not a mere suspicion that Botha was spying. When Nyawuza would not be at home he would ask questions to the boys present, staying there. How did he know that? Botha was also in the company of ANC boys and he did not attend IFP meetings. But what wa this information that he wanted? He asked about when they were having meetings and where. The boys would report that to them. Usually, after getting the information, their bus would be ambushed. Was he involved in the IFP students not being allowed to attend school? He was in the forefront of hitting the IFP youth. He used to carry firearms and stab the girls. Was Botha doing this? He had warned Botha on several occasions not to do it. His reply was that the Applicant and his friends were "klovas" which is derogatory reference to IFP.

Did he see Botha doing this? Yes, at school and with his own eyes. Did he not intervene on these occasions? Yes, he would talk to him as they were on speaking terms. What did he then say? He said that there was nothing the Applicant could do because the Applicant was IFP. Did he say that he was ANC? Yes, he said that he was an ANC member and that nobody could change him.

The inquest documents revealed that Botha was killed on the 21st November 1993, that is the same day Zikhali was killed. The Applicant denied this but could not say which was the first or how far apart these killings took place. In his written application he gave the date as 20 November 1993.

The Committee finds the Applicant so incredible a witness that it has no hesitation in rejecting his evidence on this incident and found that he has not made a full and truthful disclosure. Amnesty is accordingly REFUSED.

The third incident concerns the killing of Bongingkasi Khanyile. Without going into detail, it suffices to say that the version started with an "accidental" killing of a person who was not known because bottles had been thrown by this person and three others, while sitting and drinking beer, at a bus on which the Applicant and other IFP members were travelling, returning from an IFP rally. The plot thickened. The deceased's three colleagues were known by name. One was a KwaZulu policeman. They were all known to be ANC supporters. In fact, they were all wearing ANC T-shirts on that day, including the policeman. He knew them all to be ANC supporters. It is true that policemen were recruited only from IFP supporters but his one only showed his true colours after he had been appointed.

The Committee has no hesitation in rejecting his evidence, finding that the Applicant has not made a full and truthful disclosure and amnesty is accordingly REFUSED.

The fourth incident concerns the killing of one Ngoso Dludla. The decision to kill him was taken by the Applicant, Thandazani Linda who was a guard at Nyawuza's house, Muhle Mthetwa who was from Mandini and Nyawuza himself. He cannot say why Dludla was killed. He knows only that Nyawuza was not on good terms with Dludla. Then the same pattern of answers followed the questions. Nyawuza's wife was shot at and wounded some time before. Yes, Dludla was suspected of having been involved in the shooting. He was the first to be killed. It took a long time for him to be killed since his parents had taken him away. He attended school in the Ngoma area, where Nyawuza's children were also at school. The decision was taken in 1992. They were simply ordered by Nyawuza. He was only killed in Easter 1993. He saw Dludla on that day in the township leaving his home, going to a shebeen where he stayed till late. Mthethwa and Linda happened to be in the Shebeen. As Dludla walked out they shot him. The two of them carried his body and dumped it in a passage near the deceased's home. He heard them saying that some of his body parts should be removed because a certain Invanga wanted them. The Applicant did not want any part in it and left. He did not report that to Nyawuza. He did not tell anybody.

The Committee is not satisfied that the Applicant has made a full and truthful disclosure, not that the killing was done with a political objective as envisaged in the Act and amnesty is accordingly REFUSED.

The fifth incident concerns an attack on the kraal of one Msomi. It was in retaliation of the killing of a young boy, Mbeshe Mahaye. They had received a message that Mohape, who had lived in Nyanini in the Eshowe area had been killed. A number of IFP boys got together among which were two brothers of Mahaye, a man Ngema who was in the KwaZulu police force and one Thokazani Ntuli. One of the brothers of Mahaye, Kusakusa, was also a policeman. They met in the scrapyard of Nyawusa. The message was that the people who killed Mahaye were from Msomi's kraal. He learnt later that persons had died there. From the kraal they went to other kraals in the Nyanini area and did the same to those kraals. He does not even know the owners of those kraals. He is not sure whether this happened in 1994 or 1995.

The Committee is not satisfied, given the evidence, that this was done with a political objective as envisaged in the Act, nor that the incident occurred before 10 May 1994 and amnesty is accordingly REFUSED.

The sixth incident concerns the killing of the son of Ngodini Ntuli who was a teacher and ANC member.

Nyawuza decided that he had to be killed because he was ANC. The reason was that Nyawuza and the deceased were on bad terms with each other. They argued about politics and once drew firearms but did not shoot at each other. The killing took place in 1995.

As the date falls outside of the mandate period, that is after 10 May 1994, the Committee does not have to consider this application further and amnesty is REFUSED.

The Applicant, after having testified to each individual incident, gave evidence that his real motivation was that he got involved in all these killings because he wanted to join the KwaZulu police force. Nyawuza was the one who would arrange this for him. He in fact did manage to arrange for him to undergo training at Ulundi in a Self Protection Unit for a period of six months. While in training and for a few months after training, he received a salary of R2800 a month. He would never have been involved in any of the killings was it not for the expectation of an appointment in the KwaZulu Police through the offices of this Nyawuza, the driver of the IFP leader Prince Gideon Zulu. It appears that whatever his motivation might have been related to the various killings, that he was also motivated, on his own testimony, by personal and material gain.

To summarize, therefore, the Committee finds that related to all the incidents that the Applicant applies for amnesty, that his acts were not associated with a political objective, that they were for personal gain, that he was not an honest witness and did not make a truthful and full disclosure. Amnesty is accordingly REFUSED.

DATED AT CAPE TOWN THIS DAY OF 2001.

JUDGE H MALL

JUDGE N J MOTATA

MR W MALAN

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