hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, SUBMISSIONS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1997-05-22 ERMELO 1 JENETHA P MTSWENI JB3768 https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=55085&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/ermelo/8ermmats.htm MR LEWIN MRS MTSWENI Yes, I can hear you. MR LEWIN Thank you. Thank you very much for coming. Who is that with you, if you could tell us. MRS MTSWENI MR LEWIN She is welcome, thank you. Before I ask Mr Tom Manthata to lead your evidence, could I ask Doctor Ally to swear you in please. DR ALLY Good you please rise and raise your right hand Mrs Mtsweni. Do you swear that the testimony that you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. JENETHA MTSWENI (sworn states) MR LEWIN MR MANTHATA You are accompanied too. Who is the person sitting with you by your side ? MRS MTSWENI MR MANTHATA MRS MTSWENI She has also come to testify with regard to what happened. MR MANTHATA What is her name ? MRS MTSWENI Tembi. MR MANTHATA Tembi. Tembi. Mrs Mtsweni can you proceed to tell us about Boetie Mtetha Mtsweni who was beaten up. MRS MTSWENI MR MANTHATA Relax Mama, really. MRS MTSWENI MR LEWIN TEMBI MTSWENI (sworn states) MR MANTHATA Tembi, can you please tell us what you saw. MRS MTSWENI TRANSLATOR The witness is not audible. MR LEWIN Tembi, just take it easy and drink some water. MISS MTSWENI MR MANTHATA If I had to ask questions the first would be, where is Boetie now ? Are you still going on, sorry. MISS MTSWENI He has since died. MR MANTHATA So, July was taken to court for injuring Boetie but after he died ... (interrupted) MISS MTSWENI MR MANTHATA You say Mathews was working in Pretoria ? MISS MTSWENI MR MANTHATA Where was he working ? MISS MTSWENI MR MANTHATA Nobody in the family knows ? MISS MTSWENI MR MANTHATA MISS MTSWENI He just started work during that month that he was hacked. MR MANTHATA Had he not worked anywhere before ? MISS MTSWENI Yes, he was working in Middelburg. MR MANTHATA DR ALLY Mrs Mtsweni, in your statement you seem to suggest that Mathews and July Mtetwa actually knew each other before this incident. Is that correct ? MRS MTSWENI Yes, it is. DR ALLY Were they friends ? MRS MTSWENI No they were not friends but they knew each other because we were neighbours. DR ALLY In you statement you also suggest that what caused them to become enemies was some dispute around a tavern. Some tavern had been opened and soon after that they became enemies. Can you just explain to us what you mean by that. MRS MTSWENI They were fighting because they were patrons of the tavern, both of them. DR ALLY But why were they fighting ? Do you have any idea ? MRS MTSWENI I do not know why they were fighting but they once attacked him at some stage before they hacked him. DR ALLY MRS MTSWENI July together with his sister. He was attacked for the first time then, then this incident was the second one. DR ALLY MRS MTSWENI July was a member of Inkatha and he was a police informer and all of us at my place were members of the ANC. DR ALLY MRS MTSWENI No, we never laid a charge. DR ALLY Nothing. Your son was attacked, according to your statement, that this took place in January of 1991. MRS MTSWENI DR ALLY And you say your son died in January of 1997. MRS MTSWENI DR ALLY MRS MTSWENI DR ALLY MRS MTSWENI That is true. DR ALLY Did he recover sufficiently from this attack ? Did he ever work again after that attack or ...? MRS MTSWENI No, he never recovered thereafter. He got sick and he was undergoing treatment for the past six years for his eyes as well as for the whole of his mouth. DR ALLY Thank you very much. MR LEWIN Dr Randera ? DR RANDERA