hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION HEARINGS 1996-08-12 BEAUFORT WEST 1 CT/00860 NTOMBIZANELE ZINGXONDO NTOMBIZANELE ZINGXONDO TORTURE https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=54969&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/beaufort/ct00860.htm MS BURTON I am sorry we kept you waiting a long time and I know you are not feeling very well. But thank you very much for coming to tell us your story this afternoon and I am glad to see that you have somebody to accompany you, is she a friend of yours? MS ZINGXONDO Ja, she is my sister. MS BURTON Very nice, you very welcome too. Are you happy without the headsets? MSS ZINGXONDO MS BURTON All right, please will you stand and take the oath. NTOMBIZANELE ELSIE ZINGXONDO Duly sworn states MS BURTON MS ZINGXONDO MS BURTON But the incident that you are going to tell us about happened when you were living in Knysna. MS ZINGXONDO MS BURTON Was that originally the place where you grew up? MS ZINGXONDO No I was visiting people there. MS BURTON Oh! okay, well you have a difficult story to tell us this afternoon and it started in 1986 on the 17th of June 1986 when you were in Knysna and you were arrested and accused of committing an act that you say - said then and say now that you did not commit, is that right? MS ZINGXONDO MS BURTON And what happened to you then when people came and arrested you. MS ZINGXONDO On the 17th of June 1986 while I was in Knysna, two cars - two vans and a big one also - yellow ones, came to arrest me while I was at the house where I was visiting in Knysna. They quite a lot of policeman and they surrounded the house. At first they were not looking for me, they were looking for the sons of the owners of the house. But when one of those policeman saw me, he said this is the Zanele who is wanted in the George area. And they asked me to turn around, when I turned around they said ja it is Zanele, and they took me along with them. I was pushed in one of those white cars that the detectives use. One van was in front, the white car that I was in, then another car and a van behind then the big one. They drove up to the George police station where I took a brief look at this piece of paper and then they took it back. I was in a cell alone again for the weekend. Then on Monday they came to pick me up, walked up to one of their offices on the top building, where they locked the door and asked me how much I know of the death of Africa, the man who was burnt to death in George while I was there. They started smacking me, pushing me around also, captain Van der Merwe pulled me up to other side of his desk. They unbuttoned my shirt, and pulled my breast out of my bra, they emptied one drawer and my breast was squeezed, they did this several times on each of the breast up until the white sticky stuff burst out of the nipples of my breast. I cried, but it as of no use, because no-one could hear me. After that they put me back on a chair and ordered me to dress myself again. I did so, and they said that - pretending that nothing happened. I was taken back to Da Gamaskop police station where I was again locked up alone in the cell. They kept away for quite some time at first after the incident, each and every evening the police would come now and then to check if everything was still okay. Then one evening while I was sleeping - white policeman was opening the doors again. I thought he was doing his normal routine and he was not by himself. Unfortunately he was alone. He pulled the blankets off me - ordered me to take off my clothes, I refused and we struggled. The cell next to the one I was, there were two boys from Mossel Bay who were also arrested under the State of Emergency. The interrogations kept on up until August, then I was transferred to George prison, known as Rooihel, there at least there were quite a lot of woman inside, people I knew and we told each other experiences. But mine at the time were too difficult to tell. I was kept there up until 1987 June 17th again when just on my release when I was on my way out, detectives from Knysna came to pick me up, claiming that I have a case still in Knysna. They went off with me up to Knysna police station where I was again put in a cell till the next day and they accused me of public violence. I appeared in court again but a detective who had my case, was still not available and so I was free. After two days I went to Cape Town where I met doctors, gynecologist and psychologist. During that counseling I managed to publish my story in the Crisis News. And just short after that Captain Van der Merwe visited my mother, requesting her to contact me and give me his contact number, I never did. MS BURTON You have been very strong to tell us this story, I am going to ask Dr Ramashala to ask you some questions. DR RAMASHALA This is not a story that makes easy reading, nor easy listening too. Though the words used are simple and straightforward enough. It is another of those horrifying stories that one hears out in the field or on advice offices, that seldom reach the press. The young victim in this case is not a well-known person. She is an ordinary young girl, and I repeat young girl, bright and fluent in English, not frail or particularly strong. Just a young woman. This is a story of a woman who spent nearly a year in detention, who was tortured, sexually abused so badly that soon she did not trust anybody anymore, not even the male doctor who came to examine her. She did not dare tell the full story to anybody until she was out of jail and out of reach. Today there is a sense of empowerment such empowerment that Ms Zingxondo can tell her story in public, in a sense I feel ashamed as if I am a voyeur taking a peek into a brave soldiers private experience. But Ms Zingxondo wants to tell her story and she is very brave today. Ntombizanele I know this is very difficult for you because in a sense you have to relive this. And in fact when we talked during lunch, you were not sure that you would be able to go with it. I know I speak for the Chairperson and my colleagues on the panel. But your story is very humbling indeed. I am not going to ask you anymore questions, but I am going to ask you if there is anything that you believe that the Commission should know using the [indistinct] that I gave you during lunch time to remind you of the horrible experience, if there is anything else that you believe that we should know, would you please proceed. MS ZINGXONDO People in George still believe that I was part and parcel of the murder of Africa, the man who was burnt to death. I was not, I cannot until today tell where I was and I am quite sure that the person who I was with can also confirm it that I was not there during the evening on the scene, during the evening of his death. His parents are putting the blame on me also, yet I was not, my late mamma died, not knowing if I was innocent or guilty, she died having a question mark whether her daughter was a murder or not, I was not. DR RAMASHALA I think it would be very stupid of me to ask you how you are doing today and how you survived throughout this period. MS ZINGXONDO I tried to forget what happened, but it is impossible, or especially when I visit George or Knysna. DR RAMASHALA Do you want to go on? MS ZINGXONDO No. DR RAMASHALA Thank you. CHAIRPERSON We want to salute you and all those like you who have paid such an incredible price that has brought us where we are and I would ask that we - we stand as a special mark of respect for all of those like yourself. PEOPLE ALL STAND UP AS REQUESTED BY CHAIRPERSON CHAIRPERSON Will the witnesses please leave - order please - thank you.