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people's warExplanation Church street, Pretoria 1983. Amanzimtoti, 1985. ANC bombs remind ordinary white South Africans there is war. // The bomb that caused the biggest emotional outcry exploded in Church Street, Pretoria, in the late afternoon of May 20. 1983. 19 People were killed and 219 injured. The ANC claimed ... I don”t want to be involved in a semantic level regarding the meaning of certain words in this document. I want to emphasise that words like ”eliminate” and ”take out” for the members on the ground, who were in a war situation, referred only to killing people. There was still a war between them and us. There’s no reconciliation in fact yet, but I hope there would be next time. // People do not have energy of fighting daily. You can’t have that energy. Fighting is not a sweet thing you know, it’s not Bar One, because we lose friends, we lose ... one we need to learn a lot about in our country because the parallels are very dramatic. Some things do seem to make it worse, being in an unpopular war, an unpopular conflict is a problem. Our men had a problem worse even in some ways than Vietnam in that I’ve seen a number of people who talk ... Some of the saddest stories in history are of those who died as the freedom they fought for became a reality, the casualties of the last day of war. Bisho, 1992 was such a story, actually 28 of those stories. Freedom and democracy were upon us when those people were gunned down by Ciskei’s ... ... satisfied with Ntombela’s refusal to testify under the present TRC Committee. // ‘He’s killing my father and my brother too in the seven days war on 28 March. Ntombela … I’m sick and tired.’ // The people of the Midlands are calling for justice not revenge. All sides have buried their ... Our Truth Commission here is very different because we have television cameras recording every single moment and radio microphones, and it’s broadcast on a daily basis. Does that in your experience make a big difference? // It’s absolutely remarkable to me to watch the process here. I mean, ... Taking on a coloured identity meant far more than just a change of name. To be a convincing coloured meant giving up all vestiges of a former black identity. // The only thing that you had in mind now in order to get away from these claws that are haunting you as an African people, you had to give ... It was, as I said, a very very unpleasant event in my life and I would not have been able to put them through unnecessary physical pain. // These people were high-profile people; they were learned people. They were politically active and they had no fear of the security branch, neither did they ... Are you going to apologise to the people who died in jail, who died in Lesotho, who died in … // No, I’m praying for them. Right, let’s get stuck into that. Dr Mandela, we talked about perceptions now, but Mr. Mzizi is bringing up something else – the whole question of reopening of old wounds. He just said the healing had begun but now the Truth Commission has scratched open the wounds. Do you agree with that ... Krishna Rabilal was among the 12 ANC cadres slain that night. He was a student visiting Maputo from Swaziland. His brother saw the aftermath of the attack. // I was shocked to see the hundreds of bullet holes on the walls and the ceilings, it actually gave me an idea about the extent to which these ... I think that the most difficult, and it’s at the same time a low and a high, is the people who testify before us, especially the women, the aunties that came for the first time to tell their stories, who were thankful for the opportunity that the state paid attention – that moves me – that ... The news and these revelations are only coming to the fore now and I simply couldn”t believe my eyes and my ears as to what these people were saying. That people were saying that they had gained the impression that they were authorised to do certain things. And they are saying that they gained ... My impression with great piety your honour, my impression was that he was extremely militant because of the conflict of the black ideology and the white really came to the fore. // He was a leader among the people involved in the schools unrest. He was also responsible for chasing pupils out of the ... Enough for whom? And what is enough? Would enough be that if you murdered somebody I would be satisfied if you were executed? Is that enough? Would it be enough that you are incarcerated for 10, 15, 20, 30 years? Enough? What do you mean enough? An eye for an eye? Is that what would satisfy? I ... We’re coming as an alternative force and then we have to prove to the people that we are indeed an alternative force, and then we had to do it by means of demanding and pressurizing the government. Comrade Mzwai Philiso, he was the head of the ANC Intelligence and Security he said I know the guy so he sent people from Zambia to debrief me. The brief last about a week in a motel outside Harare. I was asked questions, everything from sexual inclination, from my birth, my schooling, my ... ... those whose release ought to have been secured? // Chairman it must have been, but only three as I said were released to me. // And did you become aware when you personally drove them to the office of Mr. Naidoo that Stompie was not amongst those? // I was aware Mr. Chairman that Stompie was not ... what I think is important is that we have to take that example as a lesson and say it can go wrong elsewhere in the country as well unless we work towards getting ourselves together as different communities, as different individuals, as people belonging to the same nation. So the moral fibre is a ... |
