amntrans AMNESTY HEARING 1998-08-19 BLOEMFONTEIN 3 MOALUSI MORRISON WESSELSBRON SUPERMARKET ATTACK https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=52820&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/amntrans/1998/98081721_blm_bloem3.htm MR MBANDAZAYO Mr Chairman, I'm now going to call Malusi Morrison. Mr Chairman, I would like just before he takes the stand, because there is no affidavit except his application, just to explain to the Committee the reason why when it comes to him there is no affidavit. Mr Chairman, I had problems in getting him from Ermelo in the Defence Force, in releasing him. I have been fighting until he came here on Monday, released to be here on Monday. So that is the reason I couldn't obtain an affidavit and prepare properly for him. Mr Chairman, his evidence will only be the supply of weapons from Umtata to Welkom. CHAIRPERSON A further problem I think that you may have to meet was that despite the fact that Mr Morrison in his application refers to this incident, he was not set down as one of the applicants, he was set down as an applicant in another matter and he was only joined as an applicant in this matter I think, on Monday which would also put you at somewhat of a disadvantage in preparing for this application. The same holds good with the next doesn't it? Mr Mazete was also originally not put down as an applicant here. Carry on, we'll call Mr Morrison. MR MBANDAZAYO Thank you Mr Chairman. CHAIRPERSON Have you any objection to taking the oath? MOALUSI MORRISON (sworn states) CHAIRPERSON What are your full names? MR MORRISON Malusi Morrison. EXAMINATION BY MR MBANDAZAYO Thank you Mr Chairman. Mr Morrison, you were here when Abel Lerato Khotle gave evidence before the Committee and he made mention that the arms came from Umtata and that they were brought by yourself though he did not see you and together with Sebenzile. Now I want you to tell the Committee your role regarding the Wesselsbron attack with regard to the arms, what part did you play? MR MORRISON What happened is, the Deputy Director of Operations from Umtata, Sipho, sent me and he told me to take Sebenzile to Welkom in Tabong where we were going to meet Abel Khotle, the Regional Commander of the Free State. We would then hand over the weapons to him and the ammunition. MR MBANDAZAYO Now can you tell the Committee whether he told you Sipho - am I correct to say that the Sipho you are talking about is Sipho Xuma, Bulelani Xuma? MR MORRISON I won't dispute that. I knew him by his code name, Sipho. I don't know his original name and surname. MR MBANDAZAYO Just for the benefit of the Committee, Mr Chairman the Deputy Director of Operations in APLA was Sipho Bulelani Xuma. CHAIRPERSON Spell the last name. MR MBANDAZAYO X-U-M-A, Mr Chairman. Did he tell you what the purpose was for these arms, did he tell you why you had to take these arms to Welkom to Khotle? MR MORRISON No, but because I was an APLA soldier, he didn't tell me exactly what these arms and ammunition were going to do but as a soldier I knew what the weapons were about. I was working in a logistics department. I knew that when I was bringing arms to the Free State there was going to be war or they were going to fight. MR MBANDAZAYO Can you for the benefit of the Committee tell, you have already told them just now that you were in the logistics department, what was the role you were playing in the logistic department yourself? What were your duties in that department? MR MORRISON The role of the logistics was to supply them with ammunition, to store ammunition and to collect ammunition and arms, and I was also involved in transportation. MR MBANDAZAYO It is therefore your evidence before this Committee that you took these arms to Welkom and you knew that they were going to be used by the APLA cadres in the Free State? MR MORRISON That is correct. MR MBANDAZAYO Is it also your evidence that you did not know the specific target or you knew about the specific target which was going to be attacked or used against? MR MORRISON No, I didn't know the specific target. MR MBANDAZAYO Did you meet Khotle at Welkom when you arrived with the arms with Sebenzile? MR MORRISON No, I didn't meet him that day personally. MR MBANDAZAYO Now can you tell the Committee, what was the transport you were using to transport the arms, was it transport from APLA or anywhere? Where did you get the transport and what type of transport were you using? MR MORRISON The transport I was using was the APLA transport here in Free State when I was deployed in Botshabelo. MR MBANDAZAYO Now can you tell the Committee how then did you know that these arms were used at Wesselsbron Supermarket? MR MORRISON We read from the newspapers. There was an article about Wesselsbron, and it happened that I was arrested in 1993 and the police said that they ballistic tests and they had information that I took the weapons to Welkom together with Sebenzile. They said that the weapons that we brought to Welkom were the ones which were used in Wesselsbron. MR MBANDAZAYO Do you still remember the quantity of these arms and ammunition? How many were there, what type of weapons were they? MR MORRISON I don't remember well but there were R4's, rifle grenades, the grenades and ammunition and a lot of magazines fully loaded and some spare R4 ammunition. MR MBANDAZAYO Thank you Mr Chairman, that is all for this witness. NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR MBANDAZAYO CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR STEENKAMP Thank you Mr Chairman. Mr Morrison, can you tell the Committee what your political motivation is for your part in this incident? MR MORRISON Please repeat the question. MR STEENKAMP Can you please tell the Committee or inform the Committee what your political motivation was for your part in this incident, your part being the supply of weapons. MR MORRISON First of all, when I joined APLA I wanted to further the aspirations of the Africans to bring back the land of the Africans that was taken. A lot of things happened. If you can remember even here in the Free State. In 1993 there was a stage when the Boers had a slogan that was saying: "One taxi, one bullet", where they African were killed. Even in Ficksburg Africans were killed by Boers in that "One taxi, one bullet" and the taxi was shot at. And another thing, children who were working very hard on the farms from their mother's wombs, working very hard, pregnant women working very hard. Until labour they were working very hard, during pregnancy until labour. She never got a chance to go to school and get educated just like other people. The life of people here in the Free State, more especially in the farms that belonged to the Boers, and these Boers were members of the AWB on the farms. In 1992 in the Transkei, 1990 if I can remember well, where AWB members were training people to overthrow the Transkei Government. We were also there in that Transkei Government, we were really affected by what was happening there. Those are the things that made me realise that the Boers are really prepared to harass the Africans. MR STEENKAMP Sir, in this instance, not a farm but a supermarket was attacked and there were no AWB members present there at all. Are you familiar with this detail? MR MORRISON First of all the Wesselsbron is next to the farms and the farmers are buying there at Wesselsbron, that you cannot dispute. MR STEENKAMP Evidence will be led by myself that 90% of the people buying at the supermarket were the local black people staying there. Can you dispute this? MR MORRISON Did you hear me? I said, at Wesselsbron Supermarket, the Wesselsbron Supermarket is surrounded by farms, the whites used to buy there at that supermarket. MR MALAN Mr Steenkamp, I don't know whether this is taking us much further. Mr Morrison's evidence is that he had know knowledge that the Wesselsbron Supermarket would be attacked. MR MORRISON Correct. MR MALAN You only brought the weapons to Welkom. MR MORRISON Correct. MR MALAN And you brought in order to make it available to people to, in terms of police, continue attacks? MR MORRISON Correct. MR MALAN I don't think this questioning can lead us any further Mr Steenkamp. MR STEENKAMP Maybe just one last question Mr Chairperson, if you would allow me. Sir, are you aware what the PAC policy was at that stage, regarding the identification of targets, do you know what it was? NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR STEENKAMP MR MORRISON As a soldier I know that. MR STEENKAMP Can you please then tell us what the policy was? MR MORRISON The majority of the whites, if we happened to sport a place that is actually frequented by a majority of whites we had to target that place and attack them. Even the petrol deports, we had to target them so as to cripple the economy. The farmers were also targets, police. MR MBANDAZAYO No re-examination Mr Chairman. NO RE-EXAMINATION BY MR MBANDAZAYO CHAIRPERSON Thank you. WITNESS EXCUSED