DECISION
The applicant applied for amnesty in respect of:-
The murder of Mr Madisela during October 1993 at Wembezi, Escourt.
The applicant testified that he was a member of the IFP and was the youth leader in the Wembezi area. On the day of the incident he and other IFP members intended to travel by bus to Ulundi for an IFP gathering. During those days attacks on IFP members travelling in cars or busses to political meetings were not unusual because a situation akin to a war situation existed at the time between members of the IFP and ANC. The applicant's father was a prominent member of the IFP and it was known that the Dladla family was targeted by members of the opposing political party. The IFP members travelling in busses were alerted to the danger of possible attacks and were told to be on the look out and to defend themselves.
While the IFP members gathered around the bus and some of them were boarding, the applicant who was already seated in the bus, saw a car approaching. According to him the car's lights were switched off while it was approaching the bus. This was followed by gunshots and he and fellow IFP members immediately disembarked from the bus to counter attack. While the car was moving slowly and making a U-turn they rushed towards the car, dragged the driver from the car and started stabbing him with spears. They carried spears because it form part of the traditional weapons which they were taking to the IFP gathering at Ulundi. The applicant told the Committee that he was seated at the back of the bus and arrived at the scene of the stabbing when the deceased had already been dragged out the car and the initial stabbing had been done. He didn't recognise the deceased at the time. Had he done so he would have stopped or prevented the stabbing because he knew the deceased well and knew that he was not involved in politics. Only after his arrest and after learning the identity of the deceased he realised that the attack was a mistake because they believed the gunshot (or two gunshots) they heard emanated from the vehicle whilst it might have come from the rocks around the area where the bus was parked. As far as the applicant knows, no gun was found near or inside the car. He further testified that he was accidentally wounded by one of his co-perpetrators during the attack and had to leave for the bus where they could attend to the wound. He later received stitches to the wound at Ulundi.
According to evidence given at the trial of the applicant by Ms Nomatemba Khumalo she was given a lift by the deceased on the fatal day. The deceased dropped her near the scene and she saw somebody approaching the car while she was leaving. She didn't hear or see anything thereafter. Neither she nor any of the passengers in the bus who gave evidence at the trial, testified about gunshots having been heard and the presiding magistrate didn't mention any shooting in his summary of the evidence.
The Committee is, however, not in a position to make any finding in this regard as it didn't have the verbatim trial evidence before it and nobody else, but the applicant, testified at the present hearing.
The evidence of the applicant is not satisfactory even though there is no evidence to contradict his version. If the attack on the deceased was not related to suspected gunshots, there seems to be no possible reason for attacking the deceased. It seems, however, that the attackers mistakenly took it for granted that the shots came from the motor car approaching them and making a U-turn. On the evidence before us no other reason for the attack was advanced.
The following facts are, however, not disputed:-
The deceased was not involved in politics at all. The applicant conceded this and went further and said he would have stopped or prohibited the attack had he known the identity of the deceased at the time of the attack. He, however, stood within an arm length from the deceased when he stabbed him in the chest. Although it was dusk, it is hard to believe that he wouldn't have recognised or attempted to recognise the victim before stabbing him. He testified that he knew all the leading personalities involved in the local politics because he as leader of the youth made it his business to know his opponents. That was the reason why he knew that Mr Khumalo, who gave evidence at the trial, was a member of the ANC. It is improbable that after the killing of the deceased nothing would have been reported about the gun from which shots were suspected to be fired.
The Committee is not satisfied that a full disclosure of all the relevant facts pertaining to this offence, the role played by the co-perpetrators and the reasons for the attack on an innocent non-political involved person were disclosed.
In the result the application for amnesty is REFUSED.
SIGNED AT CAPE TOWN ON THIS THE
: DAY OF
: 2000
: JUDGE H MALL
: ACTING JUDGE C DE JAGER
: ADVOCATE S SIGODI
