AARON MKHWANAZI: (sworn states)
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Mr Nyawuza?
EXAMINATION BY MR NYAWUZA: Mr Chairman and Honourable Committee Members, Mr Mkhwanazi will lead evidence in Zulu.
CHAIRPERSON: Yes Mr Nyawuza.
MR NYAWUZA: Mr Mkhwanazi, we are here today on the incident that happened on the 31st of July 1990. We would wish to know your participation in the said incident.
Briefly tell us how you got involved in this incident.
MR MKHWANAZI: I was given an order by the MK to go and conduct a reconnaissance in preparation for the MK soldiers who were to follow, and to organise accommodation and everything for them.
That I did from 1989. I was up and down, preparing and engaging in political education and the church, because the Boers were saying so many things that the MK was a communist organisation, non-believers' organisation and they were telling people lies, so that there came a time when we had to rise and identify ourselves. We were oppressed, we were praying, but still there was no freedom.
In church we were killed, in funerals we were killed and there was nowhere a black person was liberated.
MR NYAWUZA: If I were to interject there. How did you happen to be in the MK? Did you join the MK at any stage or what, how did you get involved in the ANC?
MR MKHWANAZI: I went out to join the ANC, the political party, in 1980 and upon arrival you are asked as to whether you want to go to school or whether you want to go to the army. I said I wanted to join the army, because I wanted to liberate my nation so that we were sent to Angola. We were actually first sent to Zambia and then Angola, after which I was sent to GDR in Germany, to specialise in my training.
That was after the basic training in Angola, which we underwent under the instructions of the Germans and the Cubans.
MR NYAWUZA: Mr Mkhwanazi, we now come to your reconnaissance, as you have already stated that between the period 1989 and 1990, you were sent by MK to come and do a reconnaissance. Where in particular were you given instructions to do a reconnaissance, the area that you were given to do a reconnaissance?
MR MKHWANAZI: We were concentrating on Mangope's area, because when we got the news on how he was oppressing people, we knew that he was a sell-out.
MR NYAWUZA: Mr Mkhwanazi, to come back to that, Mr Mangope's area is a very large area, there is Mafikeng, there was Mavopane at that time, there was Lorutsi, what specific area were you sent to do this reconnaissance?
MR MKHWANAZI: The whole of Lefrutsi, from Gopane right up to Lekobong, Lekobong, Lebathle and all such areas.
MR NYAWUZA: Do these areas also include Braklaagte?
MR MKHWANAZI: Yes, that is correct.
MR NYAWUZA: So you did your reconnaissance, Mr Mkhwanazi. Who in particular gave you instructions to do the reconnaissance on Braklaagte?
MR MKHWANAZI: Commander Pule had already explained, he instructed us to carry out the reconnaissance, myself with my colleague.
MR NYAWUZA: And after you had done the reconnaissance, you reported back to Mr Pule and what happened? Let's come to the 31st of July 1990, what happened on that particular day?
MR MKHWANAZI: I remained behind because I was part of the community who was continuing with my preparations. I would accommodate some of them in Gopane, in Motswedi, many of the areas, we were doing this as of strategic importance, so that we should not be wiped out all at one place.
The 31st was so important because that was the formation of the SACP, the South African Communist Party. That was the commemoration day, we had to really attack the Boers. This was a reminder to them, they had to be reminded that we were not scared of them.
MR NYAWUZA: What happened on that particular day?
MR MKHWANAZI: As Pule had already explained, that the one person who was supposed to bring the vehicle that had been organised by comrade Tait, delayed, and I decided to say that we cannot let this mission fail, I know this place better than you do, "let's go out there and try and get hold of a vehicle, we will definitely get hold of a vehicle." Even if we were not in a position to hire one ...
MR NYAWUZA: How many were you, Mr Mkhwanazi when you went out to look for this motor vehicle?
MR MKHWANAZI: There were three of us.
MR NYAWUZA: And how many of you were to undertake this operation, not the hijacking, the attack on this army base?
CHAIRPERSON: Perhaps if we can just hear a little bit about the hijacking, just to, because we haven't heard about that.
The three people who went out to get the vehicle, was that yourself, Mr Sibanyoni and Mandla?
MR MKHWANAZI: I cannot recall whether it was Mandla or Mkululi, it looks like it was Mkululi, not Mandla.
CHAIRPERSON: Did the three of you go?
MR MKHWANAZI: Yes.
CHAIRPERSON: Could you just briefly tell us how you got the vehicle?
MR MKHWANAZI: We were standing on the side of the road, trying to hail a taxi down. There were no taxi's, but fortunately a white Corolla came and we hailed it down, and it came to a halt. You see, I used to speak Setswana better than these other men, and I spoke Setswana to this gentleman, requesting a lift because we were on our way to Gopane. He was convinced that I knew what I was talking about, and he trusted us, and I occupied the front seat of the car, and the others went to the back of the vehicle.
Firearms were produced and we did this to scare him, we just wanted the vehicle, and as we were approaching the township, I told him that "just drop us here", and I realised that he was not doing what we had instructed him to do. I produced my firearm, pointed it at him, and he went out of the vehicle. I drove the vehicle back to where we had left the others, from whence we drove to Braklaagte to attack our target.
MR NYAWUZA: What happened during the attack, what is it that you did take to attack this place?
MR MKHWANAZI: What Pule has said, is what I confirm. I would like to add that around five, there were roadblocks that were conducted and patrols that were conducted around five o'clock, but then we decided that around ten o'clock, they would still be fresh, and if you want to go and attack your enemy, you should get him when he is tired and dozing off.
We were not like that, we used to work 24 hours, because we were not expecting any wages, come raid or shine, whether the place was guarded or not, we would attack.
MR NYAWUZA: So you attacked the place, how did you, what led to you getting involved in the shooting, can you briefly tell us what happened? After you had got the motor vehicle, collected Mr Pule and Mandla or Mkululi, in that you are not too sure as to who else was with you when you hijacked the motor vehicle?
MR MKHWANAZI: We, I indicated at some spot that a roadblock had been conducted here, and we came across a horse and trailer that was camouflaged and there were police, they were on the roof, and apparently they were communicating with the ones in the camp, suspecting that the vehicle was a hijacked vehicle.
On our way we came across two vans as Pule had indicated. We stopped about 400 meters away so that the RG57 Bazooka should be effective, when we opened fire, and the handgrenades and other firearms would follow.
We actually wanted to destroy the whole camp, to teach them a lesson that they should never, ever dare put up a camp in the midst of the people, and we wanted to teach them how a war is conducted.
There were other young boys whom they used to fight with, they were their ones who were trained here in the township. As a result of the experience with the two vans, we were somehow disturbed. The other one went into the yard for a U-turn and came back. We were preparing for an ambush, so that they should not shoot at us, all at once, unawares.
We started opening our AK47 fire, that was for the first time the Mangope regime had an experience of an AK47. It also used to resonate right down in Pretoria and they would not know how we came in, which route we used, and they would quarrel with Mangope over our entry point.
MR NYAWUZA: You shot at this van, how were you able to identify that these are your targets?
MR MKHWANAZI: As MK soldiers were politically trained, we knew who our targets were and who our enemies were.
We would not go out and shoot wrong people, or people who were not targets.
We knew that they were looking for the so-called terrorists, following the Boers' propaganda. We then knew that the soldiers, the police and the informer, were the targets, because they were selling us out, and they were selling themselves out too.
JUDGE MOTATA: May I just ask something, could you see the occupants of that van which you attacked, what colour they were?
MR MKHWANAZI: We were not able to make that out, it was at night and dark. It was a police van that we saw, and these people too, did not know whether we were black or not, they were not in a position to say.
MR NYAWUZA: Mr Mkhwanazi, did you, when you attacked this van, were you able to say "these are Mangope police officers or they are Mangope soldiers", did, what made you attack them, were you attacking them because they were the SANDF or police officers of Mangope's soldiers, or were you just attacking because they were part and parcel of that?
MR MKHWANAZI: As we have explained earlier on that our war was directed to the SADF and the SAP, but because Mangope was allowing the Boers to come into our midst, to use our people, so that these people became the barriers, so that we were forced that we should instil fear among them, frighten them and yes, sometimes it occurred to us that these people might be black. You see, they wanted to bring their children up, they wanted to take care of their families, so to us it didn't matter whether they were Mangope's or not.
MR NYAWUZA: So, according to your knowledge, Mr Mkhwanazi, when these people were attacked, how many were injured, because I see in your application form, you are applying for the killing of about eight to nine people?
MR MKHWANAZI: We did not know how many died and how many got injured, but the van was the small one that could take eight police at the back and for four inside. There were people in front of the van, and in the back of the van, so that we did not have time to count the number of people.
CHAIRPERSON: Do you disagree with Mr Pule's evidence that he later established that four people were killed and two injured? That is what Mr Pule testified, that is the information they finally got after it was sifted through, everything else, that four were killed and two were injured?
MR MKHWANAZI: Yes, I was responding to my application, pertaining to my application. I said nine in my application, but we got information the following day in the morning, on the radio and in the newspapers, four were mentioned to have died and two injured.
We were said to have returned safely back to our base in Botswana.
MR NYAWUZA: Mr Mkhwanazi, in what capacity were you acting and were you a Unit Commander or you were a footsoldier?
MR MKHWANAZI: Within Umkhonto weSizwe, we were all trained in Commanders' courses and Commissars' courses. All of us were trained that we are all Commanders, we can take decisions and be accountable later. That was the training that we had received, trained, so that we are able to take responsibility if the other one is shot. As a Commander, the Commander should take responsibility immediately and if that one is shot or killed, the other one should resume responsibility.
MR NYAWUZA: On this particular incident, who was your leader?
MR MKHWANAZI: It was Pule, because we had agreed that he was going to assume the leadership responsibility.
MR NYAWUZA: Mr Mkhwanazi, do you regard this incident as politically motivated?
MR MKHWANAZI: Yes, it was a politically motivated incident because Mangope was towing the line of the Boers, and he was unfortunately using people, his children were not doing that. They were at school, and the children of the oppressed, were the ones used. The children of the de Klerk's and the Botha's were not in the frontline, they were at school. We were suffering, oppressed, and we had to take up arms against the ...(indistinct) army.
MR NYAWUZA: Is that your testimony, Mr Mkhwanazi, are you through with your testimony?
MR MKHWANAZI: I think I have wrapped up everything in my statement.
MR NYAWUZA: Thank you Mr Chairperson.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR NYAWUZA
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Ms Vilakazi, have you got any questions you would like to put?
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS VILAKAZI: Thank you Mr Chairperson, I have some questions to ask the applicant.
Mr Mkhwanazi, this Mkululi that you have been referring to, do you know his whereabouts at the moment, whether he is still alive?
MR MKHWANAZI: I saw him for the last time in the process of repatriation whilst we were in Lusaka. I think I came across him once at Shell House, it could have been in 1991. As to what became of him, I really cannot say.
MS VILAKAZI: So you wouldn't know if he has made any application in connection with this incident, would you?
MR MKHWANAZI: That is correct.
MS VILAKAZI: The car that you hijacked on the 31st, who drove the car from the spot where you hijacked it?
MR MKHWANAZI: I drove the vehicle.
MS VILAKAZI: Did you, were you the only person who drove the car, or did anyone else drive the car up to the point where you abandoned it?
MR MKHWANAZI: I drove it from that point where we hijacked it, up to the point where we picked up Pule, where it was driven by Tait to the point where we were going to launch the attack.
Because you see, I was going to use the Bazooka.
MS VILAKAZI: But as you were driving the car, was the car driven, at any point was it driven through the bushes or was it driven in demarcated roads only?
MR MKHWANAZI: It was used on the tar road from the point where we hijacked it, and we used the dust road from the safety house, the one bad route was on our way to Lebathle right to ...(indistinct), which was the nearest and safest route.
MS VILAKAZI: Did you have a chance to inspect the condition of the car before you abandoned it?
MR MKHWANAZI: We did. It had 20 litres of petrol behind and some few documents inside, apparently the person who was using the vehicle, was working in a furniture shop. There were wallets and everything, none of which we took.
We did say to the owner of the vehicle, that not to worry, he would get his vehicle back, we were just going to use it.
CHAIRPERSON: Was the vehicle damaged in any way, dents or scratches?
MR MKHWANAZI: We left the vehicle as it was.
MS VILAKAZI: Well, my instructions are that the paintwork on the body of the car, was scratched and that the sump underneath the car was also damaged.
Are you in a position to dispute that?
MR MKHWANAZI: As I have indicated, on our way to the exit point, we were retreating and there was no way of nursing the vehicle, to avoid being pursued, even if it drove through very pad humps and potholes and stones, and scratches from the tree and the fences. Really that was possible.
MS VILAKAZI: No further questions.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MS VILAKAZI
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Ms Vilakazi. Mr Mapoma, any questions?
MR MAPOMA: None, Chairperson, thank you.
NO CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR MAPOMA
CHAIRPERSON: Do you have any re-examination, Mr Nyawuza?
MR NYAWUZA: No re-examination, Chairperson.
NO RE-EXAMINATION BY MR NYAWUZA
CHAIRPERSON: Judge Motata, do you have any questions?
JUDGE MOTATA: Just one Chairperson. This army base or camp that you were going to, where was it situated at Braklaagte?
CHAIRPERSON: We are not getting any interpretation through.
MR MKHWANAZI: I am saying the camp was right in the centre of the village, but it was strategically next to the Chief, which Chief was supposed to be imposed upon the people by Mangope.
These soldiers or the camp, was looking after the Chieftaincy indirectly.
JUDGE MOTATA: Thank you Chairperson, that is all.
CHAIRPERSON: Any questions, Mr Sandi?
ADV SANDI: No thank you Chair, no questions.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Mr Mkhwanazi, that concludes your testimony.
WITNESS EXCUSED
CHAIRPERSON: Mr Nyawuza?
MR NYAWUZA: Thank you Chair, and Honourable Committee Members, I wish to at this stage call Mr George Sibanyoni.
