REVD FINCA: We will now call upon Eric Njobo to come forward please. We welcome you Mr Eric Njobo and we thank you for coming here today.
I will hand over to Reverend Xundu to help you to take an oath after that I will ask Tiny Maya to lead you with questions on behalf of the Commission.
REVD XUNDU: Thank you Mr Chairman.
ERIC NJOBO: (sworn states)
REVD XUNDU: Thank you. He has been sworn in properly Mr Chairman.
MS MAYA: Thank you Mr Chairman. I greet you Mr Njobo. In your statement in front of us, we see that you are going to tell us about your son, Andile Alfred Plaatjie, who was killed in 1986. Can you please explain to us who was Andile?
MR NJOBO: Andile is my son in this way - I married his mother, I am his step-father.
MS MAYA: Thank you sir. How old was Andile at the time of his death?
MR NJOBO: He was 25 years old.
MS MAYA: Was he working at the time?
MR NJOBO: Yes, he was working.
MS MAYA: Did he have a family?
MR NJOBO: No, he did not have a family?
MS MAYA: Did he have any children?
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MR NJOBO: No, he did not have any children.
MS MAYA: In the community, what was he doing?
MR NJOBO: He was working.
MS MAYA: Was he a member of any community organisations or political organisations?
MR NJOBO: Yes.
MS MAYA: At the time of his killing, do you know what was happening?
MR NJOBO: No, I don't know, because I was sleeping in my house. Monde came, Monde Nanxi came in the morning. He told me to go to his home with him. We went there, when we arrived there, I saw my son sleeping in bed and I asked if he was dead there, he was stabbed in the stomach.
I asked what had happened and Monde told me they were coming from the night vigil and the police came, but Monde ran away and he ran to the neighbours house. I found my son in Monde's home and Monde told me that they were being chased by the police the previous night.
MS MAYA: In other words Monde saw who these people were?
MR NJOBO: Yes, Monde knows everything.
MS MAYA: According to your knowledge, did Monde identify any police?
MR NJOBO: Monde is right here inn this room, he can explain that.
MS MAYA: Maybe we can talk to Monde after we had spoken to you. At this time, what was the situation in the community?
MR NJOBO: Things were very bad in the community because police were all over and we were tear gassed all the time. MS MAYA: You said that you found Andile sleeping in the bed and his intestines protruded from his stomach? Can you please explain that?
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MR NJOBO: He was stabbed and I could see his intestines.
MS MAYA: According to your knowledge, at that time the police used to stab people?
MR NJOBO: No, this did not happen frequently but at that night, it was Monde and the other one who was stabbed by the police.
MS MAYA: Was this other guy also stabbed by the police?
MR NJOBO: Yes, he was stabbed by the police.
MS MAYA: According to your knowledge, was there any inquest done concerning this incident?
MR NJOBO: Yes, we went to the police to lay a charge against them, but they told us they will contact us, but up until today, they did not.
MS MAYA: Did you go to any attorneys?
MR NJOBO: No, we did not contact any attorneys.
MS MAYA: Is there any reason for that?
MR NJOBO: No, but we were confused at that time.
MS MAYA: Do you have any other thing you want to say about Andile and this incident?
MR NJOBO: Andile was coming from his work at night, he was working for me, he was supporting me. He was supporting myself and his mother.
MS MAYA: In other words, you lost a person who was supporting you?
MR NJOBO: Yes, I lost a person who was supporting me.
MS MAYA: What is your request sir, to this Commission?
MR NJOBO: My request to this Commission is that up until today, I don't know who killed my son. The police just told me they will contact me later.
My request is that I want the Commission to investigate who killed my son.
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MS MAYA: Is there any other thing you want to say to this Commission?
MR NJOBO: Yes, I lost my wife because of this.
MS MAYA: When did your wife die?
MR NJOBO: My wife died after this incident, because she was sick all the time. She died two months after this incident.
MS MAYA: Thank you. I will hand over to the Chairperson, maybe you will be asked some questions.
REVD FINCA: June Crichton?
MS CRICHTON: Mr Njobo, can you hear me?
MR NJOBO: Yes, I can hear you.
MS CRICHTON: The night vigil, can you tell me first of all who the night vigil was for, who had died?
MR NJOBO: It was Ngalo, it was Ngalo.
MS CRICHTON: The night vigils that you had, there must have been many of them at that time, was there a lot of harassment by the police at those vigils?
MR NJOBO: Yes, they were harassing people because when they attended night vigils, police used to harass and assault them.
MS CRICHTON: Did they try to disrupt the proceedings and get people away from the vigil?
MR NJOBO: Yes, they used to go to the night vigils and disrupt everything.
MS CRICHTON: There was clearly no respect for people who had died? My second question to you is, did you receive a Death Certificate at all?
MR NJOBO: Yes, I received a Death Certificate.
MS CRICHTON: What did it state as the cause of death?
MR NJOBO: The Death Certificate stated that they are still investigating. I was told that they were still
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investigating and they will contact me.
REVD FINCA: Mr Njobo, you said that Ngalo was the soldier of Umkhonto We Sizwe. Do you remember his first name?
MR NJOBO: Yes, I do. I think it was Maganda, but I am not sure.
REVD FINCA: According to your knowledge, your son was he the only one that was killed that night, or who was injured that night?
MR NJOBO: There is another one who was stabbed the same night.
REVD FINCA: Was he from the night vigil?
MR NJOBO: I am not sure, but he was also stabbed that night.
REVD FINCA: At the time of your son's death, was he involved in the organisations?
MR NJOBO: He was a member of CRADORA at the time.
REVD FINCA: Thank you Mr Eric Njobo. We remember these sad days. The days that the Umkhonto We Sizwe members were killed. We also remember that the people who were in power at that time, refused permission for others to go to these kinds of funerals and people were afraid, even ministers were afraid to attend such funerals.
They were afraid to go to give support to the families and the families were supposed to bury these people alone. We think that as you have presented your testimony, your son went to the night vigil to try and comfort the families of the soldier.
We will come back to you and to the guy you have mentioned, Monde, who was present when these things happened. Our investigating team will come back to you to get those details so that we can have some more information from you and from Monde. Thank you.
