CHAIRPERSON: We shall now call upon Shonisani Nengovhela. Welcome Shonisani. Can you hear me?
MS NENGOVHELA: Yes.
CHAIRPERSON: Can you introduce the person who is accompanying you.
MS NENGOVHELA: Yes. It is my brother who is Kanga Nengovhela.
CHAIRPERSON: Welcome brother. I will hand over to Dr Randera now to do the oath and Thomas Manthata is going to lead your case.
DR RANDERA: Shonisani, can I. Good afternoon. Can I ask you to stand please. You can just repeat after me.
SHONISANI NENGOVHELA: (Duly sworn in, states).
DR RANDERA: Thank you very much. Mr Manthata.
MR MANTHATA: I hear, Shonishani, there was a time when there were political, Venda political parties. Can you please briefly tell us how they used to relate? You know, how did one party treat members of another party?
MS NENGOVHELA: During those parties in Venda, the party which was against Venda was not tolerated and the people from that organisation were tortured.
MR MANTHATA: And how were they tortured? Can you just tell us how they were treated?
MS NENGOVHELA: From what was happening, people from other organisations, they were suffering. They were not allowed even to be seen by eyes or be met on the way. They were either beaten or evicted from that village. If a person was found working for that Government of the Venda organisation or party, that person, if he is against the other organisation, can even be expelled from work.
MR MANTHATA: How were you treated by the party that you did not belong to yourself?
MS NENGOVHELA: The way I was treated by the opposite party, was very painful and sorrowful. Even now that I am sitting here, explaining what happened at that time, I am one of those people, whom I think, they made me to suffer.
MR MANTHATA: How were you treated? I do not quite understand.
MS NENGOVHELA: They came to my home. It was during that time of those governments and they - my house was broken. And when they came to my house, they came, they wanted to fetch me. They were sent by Titi Ramaborana, who wanted me because I am one of the opposition party. In hearing that I was afraid, because before they arrived, the people were calling. There was a campaign using loud-hailers saying individual people should - those who were voting for the party which was against the current Government then, were going to experience problems. Because their party was very opposed. Well I knew that the following day it was going to be very difficult. And I knew that the torture that I was going to experience was one that was just mysterious. I also knew that it was going to be a problem to some of the people.
The delegates arrived and when they arrived they said words which really pained me. I went home as if I was still going out and then I just locked myself inside. There were four initially, but they could not take me. They only took my sister, my other sister. They could not take me.
As they had left, the following time they brought two vans along with. That was when I had locked myself in. I was so frightened. I had two kids then. My other kid was one year old. The other one was three months of age. They just knocked heavily and they did not know where I was. They tried to break into my own house. I tried to really do against that, because I was the only one inside. That is when they again tried to destroy my door. I tried, suddenly it got broken. I insisted and they realised they were failing. The other group went to the window. They broke into the window and I realised that I could not escape. That was when they got in. Some of them went through the windows. They just assaulted me. They were beating me up. They took me to the outside section and then they took me to the van. I had to, they just took me and threw me out. Well, it was a big wall, but they were able to do that. And then they dragged me to the van.
As I arrived at the van, which they were using some of them went to the front and I was at the back. Some of them were on top of me. I could not even face anybody, because I only had an ordinary skirt with my underskirt. They took me to the so-called council. As I was seated there with some other people, I realised that the second group could not go to the council. Another man by the name of Senererani, who had one kid, I said, please do not take my baby. Because there were only kids. Just wait for the other one to arrive. My elder sister was just crying there. We kept on waiting whilst they were cross-questioning me.
And even before we arrived at the council, now these police guys said, look at what you have done for yourself, because now look, the person we were following is just left behind. Why do you not call this person to come and defend you? I could not even know how to respond. As they made me arrive at the council, the chief, Mr Tomas Ramabulana, looked at me and said, oh young lady, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to be against my own country? Do you think you can do anything? You do not even know why you are following these principles. And you are now suffering. You are trying to work against me and you are electing or voting a party which never wins. Look at what you are trying to do. And those delegates who fetched me gave Mr Titi Ramabonara and order to say that I denied. I said I do not recognise the chieftainship, and when I got that message, I said I never did that. That is when I was told that I was going to be assaulted, because I was wrong. There were delegates and people who were sent and then I said I was not prepared to go. I told them that I am tired of getting assaulted. I was beaten up at home. And they said, if you do not want to be beaten, please, admission of guilt is thirty rand, because you were defending the court. The chief said there was nothing that could be done on his behalf. I said I was going to bring the money, but I said I was going to get the money from somebody else. I asked them if they wanted the whole amount. They said, no, if you are late, there will be an additional fee of thirty rand. I shed tears, as a woman. The council then dissolved.
As I went home, on my way they had an (...indistinct) to say that was just little we were still going to do more, and on my way home I was so frustrated because I just did not know who was going to defend me because I was the only one staying there. That was when .....
MR MANTHATA: We realise how difficult it was those days and my question would be, were you in a position of leadership in the party that you belonged to?
MS NENGOVHELA: Yes, I was a - no I was not really a leader, but I was just involved in one organisation.
MR MANTHATA: You were not a leader, but were you an active member perhaps canvassing for membership to your party? Were you popularly walking around in the village, you know canvassing for people to become members of your party?
MS NENGOVHELA: Well we were just in favour, just to celebrate and demonstrate, just to say if we are supposed to belong to this party this is how it can be like.
MR MANTHATA: Who was the leader of that party?
MS NENGOVHELA: You mean that time?
MR MANTHATA: Yes.
MS NENGOVHELA: You mean the one we were operating under or the one we were in favour of?
MR MANTHATA: To which party did you belong to?
MS NENGOVHELA: I belonged to the VIP.
MR MANTHATA: Right. That is why ask, who was the leader of the VIP?
MS NENGOVHELA: The leader of the VIP then was the late Bongani Gilbert.
MR MANTHATA: Okay. Thanks. What finally became of that party through all this harassment, assault and so on? Is it still there?
MS NENGOVHELA: You mean the VIP party?
MR MANTHATA: Yes.
MS NENGOVHELA: VIP, well we are now in ANC.
MR MANTHATA: You are now in ANC. I do not know whether this would be a difficult question, do you think that in a country there should be more than one party? Do you think that in a country there should be more than one political party?
MS NENGOVHELA: Well I think it has to be one.
MR MANTHATA: It has to be one. What do you think of the one party? What do you think will it mean to the people?
MS NENGOVHELA: Politically a one party state, it means that most of the people would be in favour of it according to the development that it would have made then.
MR MANTHATA: But at this time in Vendaland you wanted more than one party, there was the National Venda Party, whatever you call it and then the VIP. Why didn't you, at that time, didn't you believe in one party?
MS NENGOVHELA: Could you repeat the question.
MR MANTHATA: My question is, now you say you believe in a state, in a Government that has one party. Right? And yet at that time, you were fighting that there should be two parties. Okay, do not worry if you do not do the question.
MS NENGOVHELA: Well, during that time, if there were two. Well, of course they were recognised, but no, they were aspiring for different goals. Whichever party reached the goal was going to be the one in leadership.
MR MANTHATA: Yes, but this time you seem not to believe in that statement that you are making. Because now you say you believe in one party.
MS NENGOVHELA: Yes.
MR MANTHATA: Okay, no further questions. I hand over to the Chairperson.
CHAIRPERSON: Dr Randera.
DR RANDERA: Ms Nengovhela (speaker's mike is not on), sorry. Ms Nengovhela, can you please tell us what happened to your husband, if the opposition did this to you did they leave your husband alone?
MS NENGOVHELA: At that time my husband was working in town.
DR RANDERA: So he was working in Johannesburg or in?
MS NENGOVHELA: Yes, he was working in Johannesburg.
DR RANDERA: Was it also common to, were there other people who were also assaulted and humiliated as you were, at the time who supported the opposition party?
MS NENGOVHELA: At that time the people of the National Party were only prepared to humiliate the people from other organisations.
DR RANDERA: But were there other people who were humiliated besides yourself in the village that you lived in, or were you the only person who voted for that party?
MS NENGOVHELA: I am not the only person.
DR RANDERA: Right. I just want to understand. You were taken to the chief's kraal, you said. So were the chiefs supporting the opposition party at the time and recognised that party as the only important party?
MS NENGOVHELA: The chief, Mr Timoze?
DR RANDERA: Well that chief and other chiefs in the area as well.
MS NENGOVHELA: It is this chief who made it possible that we were humiliated because he was in the National Party.
DR RANDERA: Thank you very much.
CHAIRPERSON: Dr Ally.
DR ALLY: Ms Nengovhela, when you were speaking you said that these two parties had different aims and objectives, the Venda National Party and the Venda Independent People's Party, can you tell us what the difference was, what the different aims and objectives were of these two parties?
MS NENGOVHELA: Could you please repeat the question.
DR ALLY: What was different about these parties, the Venda National Party and the Venda Independent People's Party? How were they different from each other?
MS NENGOVHELA: The difference was there because the VIP was fighting for the people not to be humiliated and that we must be independent, not to live under the aapartheid.
DR ALLY: If I can just try and understand. Are you saying that the Venda Independent People's Party wanted independence for Venda, or is that what you say?
MS NENGOVHELA: What I know is that the VIP was fighting for stability and liberation and peace so that we can live with peace and no segregation. So that who is in this position or this one rich or not.
DR ALLY: And the Venda National Party?
MS NENGOVHELA: From what I have experienced is that since that the National Party was that we must remain suffering. Because the people who were sent were not working. Most of them who, some of them are now the policemen, some of them were given better positions by that time after doing that crime to us.
CHAIRPERSON: Shonisani, you say in your statement that you were attacked because you voted for the VIP party how did they know you voted for VIP, because under this new Democratic Government we have secret ballots and nobody can know which party you have voted for? How did they know that you had voted for the VIP party?
MS NENGOVHELA: During that time there were rallies in which we were going to the VIP rallies. During elections, the election entrance, there were National Party people and the VIP people aand when we get inside for elections we have to mention the name of the person we are electing.
CHAIRPERSON: We are sorry for the humiliation you experienced and we thank you so much for coming here. But I think at the end of the day you must be very proud that since our democratic elections of 1994 we are now striving for a culture of free and fair elections and a culture of political tolerance. So all your efforts during those hard days were not in vain. Thank you very much for coming.
