CHAIRPERSON: Mr Maivha, what language would you want to speak?
MR MAIVHA: Venda.
AILWEI MAIVHA: (sworn states)
CHAIRPERSON: Yes, please be seated.
EXAMINATION BY MR NDOU: Thank you Mr Chairman. Mr Maivha, you have brought an application for amnesty and you remember that your co-applicants have already given evidence in your presence in a previous sitting in July last year, is that correct?
MR MAIVHA: Yes, it is true.
MR NDOU: You have listened to the evidence that they put forth for the Committee, is that correct?
MR MAIVHA: Yes, it is true.
MR NDOU: And you have now also submitted your affidavit, do you confirm that what is contained in that affidavit is your evidence?
MR MAIVHA: Yes, I agree.
MR NDOU: Now, if you may just explain to the Committee what role you played on the day in question when the deceased was killed, what did you personally do when the deceased was killed?
MR MAIVHA: I hope, I think on that day on which the deceased was killed, a meeting was held and I was present and all decisions which was taken, I was there. When we arrived to the issue of telling the deceased to leave the place, I was also there with the reasons to that respect because we were against the things which were done in that country.
As youth we were against what was happening in the country. The day in which we killed the deceased, we were simply telling him to leave the country. On arriving at the gate next to the deceased's home, what the deceased started to do is to throw stones at us with his children.
CHAIRPERSON: Yes, now you heard the evidence of the other applicants in respect of this offence. Correct?
MR MAIVHA: Yes, that is true.
CHAIRPERSON: What did you do yourself there, did you attend the meeting?
MR MAIVHA: Yes, I attended the meeting.
CHAIRPERSON: And you went with the whole group to this person's house?
MR MAIVHA: Yes.
CHAIRPERSON: What did you do?
MR MAIVHA: I, when the deceased started throwing stones, I also threw stones at him. As we were fighting with him, I also took out petrol from his car, then burnt a car which was there in the yard. That is what I did on my arrival there at the home of the deceased.
CHAIRPERSON: You threw stones at him or at his house or what?
MR MAIVHA: The stones were hitting the house and not the deceased.
CHAIRPERSON: You say in your statement that you threw stones at the deceased while he was being attacked - paragraph 46(2)?
MR MAIVHA: Yes, we threw them to the deceased, but unfortunately they were missing the deceased, obviously I was directing the stones to the deceased.
CHAIRPERSON: Oh, I see, all right. So you hit the house?
MR MAIVHA: Yes.
CHAIRPERSON: When you missed the deceased?
MR MAIVHA: Yes, it is true.
MR NDOU: That is all Honourable Chairperson.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR NDOU
CHAIRPERSON: Mr van Rensburg, have you got any questions?
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR VAN RENSBURG: Yes, just one or two, thank you Mr Chairperson. When you went to the deceased's house on that fateful day, was it the main purpose to go and kill him or to chase him?
MR MAIVHA: The main aim was to request him to leave the village.
MR VAN RENSBURG: Okay, now explain to me what political aim would there be in chasing him from the community?
MR MAIVHA: During that day when we decided to chase him, it is that the deceased was against the youth which was formed there at Mavhunga. What he did to the youth is that he was totally against the Youth Congress and the other decision is that we were suspecting him of participating in witchcraft.
That is why we ended up taking a decision of saying that he must be evicted, without the aim of killing him. The decision of killing him just came about when we were, when the deceased started to fight us. As we were fighting, then we ended up killing him, but the reason was not of killing him.
MR VAN RENSBURG: Now, then on behalf of the victims, I just have to put it to you and that is my instructions that the deceased was killed not because of any political reason, because some people in the community were jealous of his ...
CHAIRPERSON: Achievements?
MR VAN RENSBURG: I think that is a good description, thank you Mr Chairman, of his achievements?
MR MAIVHA: With Edward Mavhunga, but then I knew him very well, I think there was no jealousy that we can - we can be jealous from him. It is only that he was opposing us, the youth, that is why we took that decision and simply because he was suspected of witchcraft. I don't think there is a worse person who can simply be jealous of a person for his achievement.
The main issue was that he was suspected of practising witchcraft and fighting with the youth.
MR VAN RENSBURG: Thank you Mr Chairperson, I've got no further questions.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR VAN RENSBURG
MR MAPOMA: I have no questions Chairperson.
NO CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR MAPOMA
CHAIRPERSON: Mr Ndou?
MR NDOU: None, thank you.
NO RE-EXAMINATION BY MR NDOU
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, you are excused.
WITNESS EXCUSED
MR NDOU: That is all.
CHAIRPERSON: Mr Mapoma, it is half past three. I think we can slip in at least another one.
MR MAPOMA: Thank you Chairperson, we will be dealing now with incident 14. I realise there are three applicants involved in that incident.
CHAIRPERSON: ...(indistinct)
MR MAPOMA: The main reason Chairperson, why I call this matter is that there is a victim who is reportedly sickly, then it would be in her interest that at least we hear from as many applicants as possible today. Thank you Chair. The applicants in this matter are Tshinyadzo Daneil Mauba, Victor Mnuleni Mukheli and Freddy Davhula. Mr van Rensburg is appearing on behalf of the victims and Mr Ndou for the applicants. Thank you Chair.
MR NDOU: I call Patwani Freddy Davhula.
