hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, SUBMISSIONS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1997-04-07 GRAHAMSTOWN 1 NONDITHINI IRENE NOSAKELE KIVA EC0502/96 https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=55124&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/gtown/kiva.htm REV XUNDU Thank you, Mr Chairman, I would like you, Mam, to take an oath. Nondithini Irene Nosakele Kiva, please stand up. NONDITHINI IRENE NOSAKELE KIVA (Duly sworn in, states). REV XUNDU Thank you. I will lead her with questions, Mr Chairperson. We have your story here in front of us. I would like you to give us a picture of what was happening in Adelaide during this time when Andile was murdered. MS KIVA It was on a Saturday, it was on a Saturday. Andile went to visit his friends in Dubane. They were chased away by the soldiers. They found him, they assaulted him with rifle butts. The took him to the police station. When they arrived there they assaulted him. In the morning they took him to the hospital. REV XUNDU How old was Andile at the time? Was he at school or was he not at school? MS KIVA He was about 19 years old. He was not at school, he was working. REV XUNDU Was he a member of any organisation in Adelaide? MS KIVA I think so, but I am not sure. REV XUNDU What was the reason for his assault? MS KIVA It was a time when the police found you in the streets, they would assault you even if you did not do anything. REV XUNDU You are saying that the police were beating everybody in the street? MS KIVA Yes, people were assaulted that year. REV XUNDU Nobody was protected? MS KIVA No. REV XUNDU The police you mentioned here, Mbulelo Tom, you said that Mbulelo Tom said your dog is dead. Do you know him? MS KIVA Yes, I know him. REV XUNDU Did he born there? MS KIVA No, he was not born in Adelaide. REV XUNDU When he said that your dog is dead, what was the reason for him to say this? Please keep quiet at the door. MS KIVA He was in a Hippo and he told me that Witbooi is dead. When I tried to cry he said, why do you cry, your dog is dead. REV XUNDU Did they, was there any conflict between him and your son before? MS KIVA No. REV XUNDU Was there a charge laid? MS KIVA No, there was no charge laid against him. REV XUNDU Was there any inquest? MS KIVA No. REV XUNDU Did you lay a charge against him? MS KIVA No, I did not. REV XUNDU Why did you not lay a charge against him? MS KIVA I think we were not aware. REV XUNDU As you are here today in this Commission, what would you like the Commission to do for you? MS KIVA As Andile was a breadwinner, he was helping his mother to support the children, but my mother died and she left the children alone. REV XUNDU These children are Andile's sister. Nobody is supporting them and nobody is paying for their education. MS KIVA Yes. REV XUNDU Would like us to help them? MS KIVA Yes. REV XUNDU In which standards are they? MS KIVA The other one has passed standard ten and the other one is doing standard six. REV XUNDU Do you have anything else you want to add? MS KIVA No, there is nothing. They are homeless if the Commission can help them to get a place to stay. REV XUNDU Thank you. Thank you Mr Chairperson, I hand over to you. CHAIRPERSON Mr Sandi. ADV SANDI Thank you Mr Chairperson. You said that you did not lay a charge against him? MS KIVA No, we did not. ADV SANDI Were you afraid or what was the reason? MS KIVA Yes, we were afraid, because at that time it was difficult to go to the police to lay a charge. ADV SANDI Were the police protecting people in the community? MS KIVA No, the people were not protected. ADV SANDI In other words you mean that you were scared of the police? MS KIVA Yes, we were scared of the police in the community. You would not go to the police station to ask the whereabouts of your family member, they would beat you up. ADV SANDI Thank you, Mam. Thank you Mr Chairperson. CHAIRPERSON Mrs Nosakele, what is your relationship between yourself and Andile? MS KIVA He is my cousin. CHAIRPERSON Where is Andile's father? MS KIVA He passed away when they were still young. CHAIRPERSON In other words, Andile was your responsibility? MS KIVA Yes. CHAIRPERSON When you were giving your testimony, if I heard you correctly, you said this incident happened by the, the police were in a Hippo. Where was this Hippo? MS KIVA It was in Spikunye. CHAIRPERSON What happened to this Hippo? MS KIVA I do not know. CHAIRPERSON What happened to, what do you think happened to Andile? MS KIVA I am not sure, because they were chased away by the police and they ran away, but they managed to find Andile. CHAIRPERSON Everybody who was with Andile was chased away? MS KIVA Yes. CHAIRPERSON Were these members of an organisation? MS KIVA I do not know. CHAIRPERSON You said that this Hippo got an accident. Was it in Dubane location? MS KIVA Yes. CHAIRPERSON Are there any other questions? June Crichton. MS CRICHTON Ma Kiva, can you hear me? Can you hear me? There is just one question I want to ask you. There was a witness to this attack by the name of Zibangele. Who is he? MS KIVA Yes, there was a witness by the name of Zibangele. MS CRICHTON And so, he saw the whole incident. MS KIVA No, but, because he ran away, he did not see. MS CRICHTON But was it him that came to tell you about it? MS KIVA Yes, he came to me saying that they were chased away by the Hippo. MS CRICHTON Alright, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr Chair. CHAIRPERSON Mrs Nosakele, we thank you for coming to this Commission. It is very painful to see that your cousin was killed like a dog. As you have already said that Tom said that the dog is dead. It is very painful that after he was murdered there was no court case. You did not get any compensation as a family. What Tom said that Andile is dead, it is very painful. We thank you for coming here on behalf of your sister to tell the story to the Commission in order to show that Andile was not a dog, he was a human-being. We, as the Commission, we will investigate about this matter. We will make sure that the death of Andile will not be like the death of an animal. We will try to ask Tom questions if he is still alive in order to know what was happening at that time. Maybe Tom will know that the death of a person is very painful, it is not like the death of a dog. We thank you very much. We will come back to you to get some clarity on certain issues. Thank you.